So I'm trying to make roses and they always come out looking like carnation petals. You know, more jagged. Is there a certain BC recipe that works well with roses that I'm needing. I did the BC Dream recipe from this site. It's pretty stiff. I'm going to try and soften it a bit more and see if that helps.

Any tips???

TIA

My instructor said that if the edges curl or crack apart then that is a sign that your icing is too stiff. HTH

WELL! I guess that could explain why I feel like I've got CARPUL-STINKIN-TUNNUL!!!! However you spell that...hee hee

Really, though. My hand and arm are about to fall off and I've only made around 20!

Will try a thinner icing with my next attempt tomorrow at more colors...

THANKS

Have you tried using royal icing to make your roses? Before I used royal it seemed like I had the same problem no matter what I did. Also, I've learned that I love making roses with wilton tip #97. It makes a more victorian looking rose and to me they come out a tad smaller but it's alot easier, atleast for me. You don't have to bend your wrist so many different ways because the tip kind of puts the flair on the edge of the petals for you. HTH
** edited because I forgot to mention that someone here on CC told me to try using a little piping gel in my BC to do roses and it seemed to help alot. You might want to try that!

I gave up and now use a rose cutter and petal paste - heaps easier! Good luck with the buttercream though, I admire you if you're sticking with it.

I find when my roses are a bit jagged (I find that appealing since some roses are actually that way) it just takes awhile for my hand to warm up the bag and get it going smoother. I dont know if others have that warming affect on the bags, but sometimes I have to work with an ice bowl. I do most roses with bcream just cuz its more commercial (we dont have any royal in the store) and at home it seems its always thinning and then too thin, etc when working with bc. I have NEVER worked with royal yet !! They dont use it in the store, and I am still learning so I am going with ...thier flow. But at home, anything goes. Cept I dont eat sugar !! Darn, I have to consider it just as more a craft process. But I can get creative and thats the thrill of it.

Thanks for all the replies and tips!

Is petal paste edible? Does it taste GOOD?

I've never made royal icing, but did I hear it isn't really tasty? I'm always trying to use ingredients that TASTE great on my cakes. I don't like making a product that looks great, is meant to to be eaten, but tastes yucky. I suppose this is why I haven't gotten into making very intricate flowers and such. I hope when I get back to the states I can evolve a bit more in my decorating. I haven't taken the Wilton class but it's one of the first things I want to do when I get back!

Thanks for all the help!

I would definitely recommend adding piping gel to your stiff bc icing. When I was in my Wilton 1 class, one of the girls had to add it to hers in class because her icing was so stiff. After that, she piped the most beautiful, realistic bc roses that I have ever seen. Truthfully, Ive never seen one as beautiful since. Unfortunately, I have no idea how much to add, but I hope this helps you out.

Roses:

http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-65833.html

Here's a thread that has a b/c rose tutorial:

http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-81821.html

HTH

I just finished taking wilton course 1 and my instructor suggested using mashed potatoes to make the roses until we got the hang of it. She also said it would help us learn the consistency of the icing better.