I CANNOT no matter how many times I try, do the "petal" effect on cakes! My circles end up globbing together and they don't look anywhere near like what they should .. so frustrating .. everyone makes it seem so simple yet .. it's not!!! cry cry cry!!
what's this? there is no crying in cake decorating.. unless you drop the cake. .icing falls off... okay...okay.. so there is some crying. lol..but it sounds like you just need a tissue.. a minute to scream and then back to practicing with all of us cheering you on.... go get those petals !!!! show them who's boss!!
hahah!! I am holding the white flag .. I am defeated in the petal department!
I'm not even entirely sure what you're referring to as "the petal effect."
Are you thinning the petals out with a balling tool
practice making the petals on a practice board first. You just have to get the feel of how big of a ball to pipe and then how much pressure you need to smoosh and drag. You may want to play with the consistency of your buttercream as well. A stiff buttercream isn't going to drag out as much as you would like, but too thin is not going to hold its form.
AOk I'm with james on this one, what is the " petal effect "??? And why have I never heard of it??? ( its making me feel kinda dumb )...
Not even sure if I'm calling it the right name .. It's little balls of buttercream piped up in a single row, and then one at a time dragged by the round end of your spatula and then the next row of balls go into the fanned out area .. I'm sure I'm not explaining it right, but if you search for petal cakes you should see what I mean .. some of them are so gorgeous and mine looks cruddy!! I've tried it three times on this cake alone today, and four other times in the past .. none of them were keepers!
AOoooh you mean the "ombre effect", yeah I suggest that the consistency of the BC would be key here. Take your time and just practice,practice,practice!!! Don't lose hope you will nail it eventually!!
Thanks everyone, for the support! See, I guess I was calling it all wrong too 
Eh, oh well .. you win some you lose some!! Looks like a smooth sided cake with some flowers on top for mom's birthday!!
AMy biggest advice on that technique is to make sure you wipe off your spatula after each squish. And use a stiff buttercream, I have only ever done it with ABC.
What is ABC? My icing is pretty stuff .. I just struggle with keeping the balls of icing equal I guess .. when I go to 'smear' the glob they all start running into each other .. I wonder if I should do less balls and larger ones instead?
AABC=American Buttercream
Are you putting all the icing balls on, then trying to squish them? I think you need to pipe a bit of icing on, use the spatula to squish/smear it, then do the next ball of frosting, etc.
Ahttp://www.thehungryhousewife.com/2012/04/blue-ombre-petal-cake-tutorial.html
Here is a great photo tutorial.
I'm doing it just like that tutorial .. but mine just don't come out like that at all .. her swipes are all very defined, very nice looking .. where mine end up all running into each other .. It's so hard to explain how I'm doing it wrong, I just know I am because of what mine look like vs the ones like in this tutorial or in the galleries ..
AHmm, maybe it is just the icing consistency then. Can you make the icing thicker, or maybe chill it a bit? Just throwing some ideas out there. Oh, is the spatula maybe too large, or the icing tip too small?
I was using tip 12 .. and my small offset spatula .. maybe it is my icing .. though I never really have problems with it in any other way any other time .. but maybe this technique it needs to be altered some?
Can you post a picture of what is happening with yours? How high is the cake and how many blobs are you putting in your vertical line. Are you practicing with just one color or the ombre colors? I wonder if you need to use more pressure and make bigger blobs. If you look at the tutorial, the blobs are about the same size as the spatula. And yes, it is time consuming cause you need to scrape the spatula with each blob.
Next time I attempt it I can post a pic .. I scraped off what I had done on this cake and just smoothed the icing .. My cakes run about 4in high and on average I've been doing five blobs of icing .. so not huge by any means .. but maybe I should go bigger, and try only four blobs next time? I've only ever tried this technique with white icing .. I do wipe the spatula after each smear though ..
Ooooh you mean the "ombre effect", yeah I suggest that the consistency of the BC would be key here. Take your time and just practice,practice,practice!!! Don't lose hope you will nail it eventually!!
"Ombre" refers to shades of colors graduating from light to dark. What the OP is referring to is commonly called the "petal effect."
Hang in there, OP! I use a medium-soft consistency of ABC and a small offset spatula. I crumb-coat my cake first. You can do it! :)
Thanks you guys .. I have some leftover icing so maybe once this cake is out of the way I can do a bit of free style practice without the stress of ruining yet another cake! I'll post pics if I have the same problems ... thanks for all the hints and confidence boosters! Goodnight!
Hi there, I have just made 2 petal cakes. It is time consuming for sure, if you take your time it will work out. I think is might be the angle that you are swiping at and maybe the pressure. but a little blending on the smeared part is ok, since you will be putting another drop on it. hang in there, and this may sound crazy but if you feel believe that it's going to give you a hard time it will. think positive that you can do this and it will happen.
Atry this next time you practice. make your icing blobs on the cake, But instead of using the spatula, use a spoon. it gives a great curve quality to the petal, and you can make it easier by having a glass of very hot water with a couple spoons in it, pick up a spoon touch the back of it to a paper towel to remove excess water, then you have a very warm spoon that will not only give the petal a smooth look but is hot enough to work with stiffer icings. try it, you will like it. oh almost forgot to tell you to bend the spoon handle so that the handle fits in your hand and the spoon part fits your thumb.
press the icing blob with your thumb in the spoon and it gives you better control of pressure and uniform shape, then pull the spoon away. perfect petals.
AOoops @ Cakepro- sorry ive only ever heard of them as ombre cakes, sorry to the OP too must have confused ya lol!!
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%