I Give Up, I Give Up! *&@#%^&$@* Roses!
Decorating By justfrosting Updated 29 Aug 2006 , 10:07pm by cheffie
I cannot even get the first petal to look normal.
Why did everything else come so easy but this is such a pain in the booty!
NO! Don't give up -- you can do it!! Roses are one of the most common flowers on a cake, but they are not as easy as they might seem! It took me forever to get the hang of it. I literally did a hundred or more to get it down - I had sheets of funny looking roses. And now since it's forever between doing them with buttercream/royal icing I have to practice for a while whenever I try to do them again. I prefer fondant roses myself 
. What do you make yours with?
I've heard of using a hershey kiss for the base of the rose and then decorating around it, but I'm not sure what to tell you about the petals. Just don't give up and keep trying. they are not easy to do, but one you get it- and I'm sure you will- you'll be sitting pretty and able to do them till the end of time.
The hersey kiss is a brilliant idea--thanks!
I have been using BC but tried for hours last night using Royal. It was ridiculous. They all just looked like mounds of goop.
The good news, I guess, is I perfected my drop flowers.
Try the dowel stick roses. That's how I learned!! I had ntertayneme teach me too!! Great teacher!!
http://cakecentral.com/article50-Making-Buttercream-Roses-on-a-Stick.html
I think that learning on buttercream is the best. I got so frustrated with royal frosting that I almost gave up decorating! I could never get the consistancy right! Now I just use buttercream and MMF. Maybe one day I will try Royal again, but for now, it is my arch nemisis!
BTW, I end up doing them my own way, not exactly like Wilton. It took me some time to come up with a way that I was comfortable with and worked for me.
Stephanie
I know what you mean. When I was in class, I could do them just fine. Now I'm not so good. I tried the Hershey's kiss, but guess I didn't make the roses big enough. If you look at my photos, I used it on the Harley cake. You can kind of see the kiss.
I have a wedding cake to do next weekend and she wants the dreaded roses. I want to do them in royal, but the humidity here is 73 percent right now.
I cannot even get the first petal to look normal.
Why did everything else come so easy but this is such a pain in the booty!
Everyone has their sugar "waterloo"..lol
It took me 5 years before I dared to make my first rose..and I had a crash course because by that time...I was a WMI..hahaha!
Sorry, just been there..dont' give up!
I know just what you mean, my roses always look more like cabbages! I haven't had nerve to try them in a long time, I avoid them at all costs. Keep trying, or you will kick yourself everytime you think a cake should have roses, and you have to come up with another idea.
I can pipe a decent BC Rose, but I prefer Fondant.. I make much nicer Fondant Rose. Piping to me can sometimes be a major pain.. The results sometimes depend on how your BC came out before you can pipe a really pretty Rose. All I can say is keep praticing and don't get discouraged. But maybe also try experimenting other types like fondant, maybe you would be more comfortable in that area. just a thought.. take it easy..
very cute prettycake!!
I also have a hard time w/roses. i did while taking the classes and i stopped trying, it's been a year now since i learned and stopped. i'm scared to try them, but i did recently w/some left over bc. it was the ugliest thing ever. I also tried w/fondant and couldn't get the idea of how to in my head, so i gave up w/that too. BUT.... Last wknd i bought this play-doh toy to use w/fondant. i put the play-doh to the side, my daughter got a hold of it and started playing. i hate having play-doh at home, i see the mess all over the carpet. anyways, i started playing w/it and trying to take it away from her. little by little i created a flower or what i will like to call i rose. So definately give fondant a try!! it might be easier and/or faster to do it this way.
have fun!
If your having trouble making roses with BC - RI is a whole different game. Try this - using an all shortening recipe (no butter) for BC - make your bases and let them air dry for at least 24 hrs. This will give you a firmer base to work with (so things don't start "leaning" when you pipe the petals). If you need to do RI roses - do the same thing - make the bases first and let them dry completely before piping the petals. I just did a wedding cake (in my pix) with over 100 royal icing roses. Royal needs to be very stiff when piping roses - it seems to soften much quicker than BC and they do look like blobs of icing if it's not stiff enough. They seem to just melt right before your eyes. Consistency is key with RI. Don't get too frustrated with roses. It will come to you in time. Make sure your bag positions are correct for each layer of petals. Think of a clock 
The back of the bag should be pointing to 1:00pm for the center wrap, 2:00 for 3 petal layer, 4:00 for 5 petal layer, and 5:00 for 7 petal layer. This is for a right handed person making roses. Hope this helps. 
Don't give up! I had a heck of a time with
ALL the flowers, my husband took class with me and he even did better than I did. The trick I learned with roses was icing had to be stiff. You just have to play around with it till you find the consistency that works for you. Also I live in a desert town and it is always hot! Had to make sure house was cool and I kept a bowl of ice next to me to put bag in between flowers or when they started to look goopy. I looked at video demo over and over till I got the angle right and the hang of turning the flower nail. I was so nervous my hands would get sweaty and found if I put a strip of duct tape around the nail it helped. Now I make great roses still have problems with the other flowers. But I'll keep trying, if my husband can do it then their is hope for me. DON'T give up!!!
I think everyone at some point or another has trouble w/ roses.
Here's the best info I can give you.
Some people will do the rose using just tip 104, while others will combine tip 12 and tip 104 - choose the easiest method that will work for you.
Take your flower nail, and place a dime on top, trace around the dime w/ a permanent marker - this will help you to create a sturdy enough base for the "kiss"
Take a piece of floral clay -a small piece, and stick it to your flower nail. Place a 1" square piece of parchment on top, lightly press down so it sticks to the floral clay.
I find it easy to use tip 12 and 104 to make the rose, so start w/ tip 12
and create a "kiss" -make sure it's got some height, but not that much.
Switch to tip 104 -and w/ the number "104" facing up, make the first petal starting at the tip of the kiss and working down to the base (kind of visualize wrapping a coat around the "kiss") Then you have your next 3 petals -again the number "104" needs to be facing upwards" -visualize making an upside down "U" w/ the three petals, then you'll go to the next 5 petals using the same technique, and the next 7 petals. Just remember that in order to have the rose "bloom" you'll need to adjust the angle of how you're holding the bag as you work on the 5 and 7 petals.
Using a bit of piping gel will also help to prevent the "ragged" edges.
You gals are so sweet, thanks for the info and collaboration!!! 
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