Help! My Wilton Flower Petals Are Ruffled
Decorating By au_decorator_76 Updated 27 May 2010 , 4:54pm by TexasSugar
I'm having problems with my Wilton flowers! I've tried 3 different homemade buttercreme recipes. My instructor said the consistancy was good but maybe add more crisco so I did that and the petals came out nicely but it was too soft and they just fell apart and never crusted. The only time my flowers came out pretty was when I was using the canned Wilton icing but that stuff tastes so nasty I'd never put it on a cake.
Please I'd welcome any suggestions. We have our graduation cake this weekend and I'd really like to put roses on it.
Maybe try Indydebi's bc recipe.....I agree with adding corn syrup too!
Try adding a little corn syrup to your icing...
Doing just this FINALLY helped me get nice points on my leaves. Up until then every time I'd try to pipe a leaf the tip would come out broken or split in half. Very frustrating. I just added a couple tablespoons of corn syrup to my regular buttercream and it worked like a charm. Might work for your flowers, too.
By "ruffled", if you mean jagged edges, your buttercream is too stiff, you need to open up your tip, or possibly use tip 124.
You also said "too soft and won't crust", then your buttercream needs more powdered sugar.
When you mention "just fell apart", I can't imagine why roses would fall apart... even if the buttercream is too stiff, the petals shouldn't fall apart from one another. Perhaps you're saying they melted???
Keep trying... you'll get it! Good luck.
peg818 - thanks for that tip about the corn syrup. I'll try that! I'll probably try to open up my tip too.
Minstrelmiss - I tried that recipe last time and added more powdered sugar because it was too thin.
Unlimited - by fall apart I mean exactly that. The layers wouldn't stick together, it slid down on the side I was tilting my nail to... I mean literally fall apart. Not crusting is what happened when I added more crisco to get the petals smooth which worked but it didn't have enough sugar to crust and stay together. When I added more sugar to get it to a better consistancy it ruffled again but the roses stayed together and crusted so it's kinda of a catch 22. So I'm thinking it may be the tip.
My instructor said the consistancy was good but maybe add more crisco so I did that and the petals came out nicely but it was too soft and they just fell apart and never crusted.
Okay, I thought you meant they fell apart after they were made while you were waiting for them to crust. Sounds like they were too soft if the petals were falling over or falling off while you were piping them. I assume you're making them on a flathead Wilton rose nail.(?) I know it can be difficult for some folks to try to make them on a stick, but I find it much easier. The rose nail gets tilted so much beyond vertical in order to get those last rows of petals in between the previous row and the nail head which can be disasterous if the BC is thin. However, when using a stick, you're able to keep it more vertical and let the petals extend down the stick more as you go which doesn't change the end result of the rose's appearance once removed from the stick. So, if the icing is thin, it won't fall off as easily because it's still closely attached to the stick rather than extended outward from the blob of the rose's base. (I'm not recommending thin icing, as stiff as you're able to squeeze from a bag is good for me... as long as the petals aren't jagged!)
Thanks for the replies! To answer your question, yes I'm using the flathead Wilton nail that came with my kit 1. I've seen the stick method demonstrated but have been too scared to try it but it looks like it would be a lot easier once mastered.
I'm taking course II right now. We did the roses in courses I and II. All of us who took course I are now taking course II, so we have gotten to know each other.
On the instruction sheet for course II was a different way to mix the buttercream. I used the course I book to may my buttercream, but others used what wad on the sheet. My buttercream was not the right consistency. We were talking about it during class and the other ladies said that the way it is made on the sheet was better. So I used that and had better sucess with the roses.
So how are you making your buttercream. On the sheet you combine sugar and meringue powder in large bowl and set aside. Then in your mixer cream the shortening, flavorings and water. Gradually add dry sifted ingredients to creamed mixture. Mix thoroughly on medium speed till creamy.
There is also indydeb's recipe on here that will work well also.
HTH
This is something I typed up for my students since I often go over it alot in class but know it is hard for everyone to remember it all when they get home. Maybe some of it will help you. 
Trouble Shooting - Roses
Problem: Ruffled/Rough egdes
Cause: You are turning your flower nail to fast while not squeezing your bag hard enough. This will cause the icing to pull and stretch thus leaving your roses petals with cracked edges.
Fix: Don't fill your bag so full that you have to struggle to pipe. You will need to squeeze your bag harder as you pipe.
--- --- ---
Problem: Petals are not sticking or are falling off the base.
Cause #1: You are not putting the large end of your tip directly against the base.
Solution #1: Be sure you are placing the large end of your tip against the base as you are piping every petal. If it is not touching the base your petals will not attach and will fall off.
Cause #2: Your icing is too dry.
Solution #2: Test your icing to see if it is too dry. Take a small amount of the stiff butter cream and roll it into a ball. Take that ball and hold it between your thumb and first finger. Squish the ball with your finger and lift away. If the icing did not stick to you at all it is too dry. The perfect icing for roses will feel sticky/tacky to the touch but you will not have a lot of it actually stick to your finger.
If your icing is too dry add about a tablespoon of Crisco to every cup of icing OR about a teaspoon of piping gel. You may need to add more, just depending on your icing, but either will add creaminess to your icing that will help it stick against the base better.
--- --- ---
Problem: Base keeps falling over.
Cause #1: Your icing is too soft.
Solution #1: Make sure you are using stiff not medium icing for your roses. Use the same ball test as above. If your icing sticks to your finger leaving icing on it, then it is probably too soft.
If your icing is too soft you can add powder sugar to it.
Cause #2: Your base is too skinny or too tall.
Solution #2: Make sure you are piping the bottom of your base the width of a dime and are only piping it about an inch tall.
--- --- ---
Problem: The rose slides around on the flower nail.
Cause: If you are using a metal flower nail keep in mind that metal is a heat conductor. Some people have very warm hands and this will heat up the flower nail and could cause the whole rose to slide left and right as you are piping. The rose will also leave a wet or greasy place on the flower nail.
Solution: Put your flower nail down (or in the fridge) every so often to allow it to cool off. You can also put your bags in the fridge if you find your hands soften the icing in them too.
Wilton also makes a plastic flower nail now, and this may also be a fix for you, since there is no metal to warm up and cause the sliding around.
--- --- ---
Problem: I can not get my center petal closed in tight.
Causes: Placement of time is incorrect.
Solution: Make sure that you have the tip angled to the correct position. The end with the little opening should be pointing to 11 oclock if you are right handed and 1 oclock if you are left handed. If your tip is turned straight up and down you will not get a closed in center petal. If you are still not getting it closed in, tilt your tip more to the 10 or 2 oclock position.
Another important thing is that you have half of the tip actually above the rose base. The large end of your tip needs to be touching the base, but the small end will not be touching the base or at the same height as the top of your rose base.
--- --- ---
Problem: My rose is not full and open. My petals are all standing straight up.
Cause #1: You are not holding your bag in the correction position.
Solution #1: You want the bag of your bag to be off toward your shoulder. When you have your bag position at the flower nail you are at a 4:30 clock position on the flower nail.
You do NOT hold your bag off to the side or at a 3:00 position. If you do this, it doesnt matter how you turn your tip, your petals will all come out in the same position. Another problem with this is that you are usually drawing on your petals rather than spinning your flower nail and holding your bag in one position.
Cause #2: You are not following the correct tip positions.
Solution #2: As stated above, make sure you are holding your bag at a 4:30 clock position.
Right handers:
For the center petal your tip will be turned to an 11 oclock position. This means the small in of the tip will be pointed to that position. For the row of three your tip will be straight up and down. On the row of five (second row of petals) your tip will be turned out to a 1 oclock position. And for the last row of seven you will have your tip turned out to the 2 oclock potion.
Left handers:
For the center petal your tip will be turned to a 1 oclock position. This means the small in of the tip will be pointed to that position. For the row of three your tip will be straight up and down. On the row of five (second row of petals) your tip will be turned out to an 11 oclock position. And for the last row of seven you will have your tip turned out to the 10 oclock potion.
Everyone:
If you are not turning the little end of your tip out for each row your petals will all be standing up straight and your rose will look like it has not bloomed. I suggest sitting in front of a mirror and looking at your tip positions from that point of view to see if it helps.
Also make sure you are holding your hand at your comfortable position and actually adjusting your bag/tip rather than tilting your wrist out to the different clock positions. If you turn your wrist out while piping almost every time you will end up back at the straight up and down position, since your hand is going to go back to where it feels more comfortable.
--- --- ---
The best advice I can give to make pretty roses is to stop thinking. I know it sounds silly and next to impossible but when you are stressing less about making every petal perfect you will like the final outcome better. Relax and just pipe!
I hope you do Marthajo. I actually also tell them the story about how I sucked at doing roses when I took the class but did get better. Some people can come in to a class and do roses perfectly with in a few times, and there are others, like me, that really had to work on it. There are so many parts to it to try to get correct, but once you do...
TexasSugar -
Thank you!
I'm printing this out. And reading it over and over and over.
I just finished class II tonight. I was going to take the new class II (whatever it is called) in June, but have conflict. I may just go straight to the new fondant class and not take the new class II. But that won't be til August. In the meantime I can practice on those roses. 
And I'll have your great troubleshooting instructions in front of me.
OH wow! Thank you TexasSugar for the tips as well as everyone else.
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%