I Can't Make A Buttercream Rose To Save My Life! Help!
Decorating By Susieindy Updated 2 Jul 2007 , 9:48pm by MessiET
Can someone tell me how to get my icing the right consistency for making a buttercream rose? I can make them out of royal icing just fine. But I tried making a buttercream rose the other day out of stiff consistency icing, and they turned out horrible! Maybe I'm not making the icing correctly. Can anyone tell me how you make your icing (for roses)?
bless your heart! It is impossible to make a buttercream rose unless your icing cooperates. If it is too stiff you can't pipe it out without a vice grip, and the edges all split and it ends up looking like a carnation, and if it's too thin they wilt and won't stand up. Just use your regular stiff icing recipe, but think about humidity... are you in a humid area? adjust the water you add (by drops) to adjust either way.... or if it is too lose add a pinch of powdered sugar. Let me know how it is going. Kit
I find that if I add a little piping gel to my stiff consistancy icing it doesn't tear so easily on the petals when I pipe them. Sorry I can't help you with consistancy as I just do it by feel. I do know that if it is too soft you can add more powdered sugar to thicken up again or a bit of cornstarch.
I have trouble with this too. I haven't tried this tip yet but someone else posted in the last month (?) with the same problem. Somebody else said that sometimes the tip needs to open up a teeny bit more and that seemed to help a lot of her students. I plan to try that out. I wish I could remember who it was that said that because I want to thank her for the suggestion. Maybe it can help you too.
a little glucose or corn syrup will do the same thing as piping gel, and the corn syrup, especially is mucho lesso dinero.
I know sometimes the heat from my hands makes the BC too soft. Place your bag in the freezer for about 10 minutes or so to make it a little stiffer. If you have time that is and don't have a lot of them to do. I also go by feel, next time I'll try the corn syrup, sounds like a good idea.
Good luck
Kat
I know sometimes the heat from my hands makes the BC too soft.
I have that problem too 
My hands are so hot lately that they melt the buttercream... Can only do a few roses from the same bag before the BC gets too warm.
The piping gel does help with the ragged edges.
i hadn't thought of piping gel in the stiff icing for roses. Could be brilliant, just don't add much to start with because it will make them flop fast! LOL Kit
I know my instructor told me that unless you are naturally talented, making a BC rose isn't easy until you've made about 5,000 of them. Well, a year and a half later and I'm not there yet.
I am getting much better though. I do believe it's how the icing comes out of the tip and opening the tip does help.
Also, try making them in phases. Make all your tip 12 starting cones and then put them in a fridge. Then when they are firm, you can add the petals. It really helps the formation of the petals so they don't all melt together. I also put the completed rose in the fridge until I place them on the cake. Royal gets stiff fast so the cone is stiffer when you start the petals. That's the way it seems to work for me anyway.
Barby
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