Chaka, what's the difference between the 402 and the 403 (it's kind of hard to tell by the pictures on Wilton)?  Are they the same shape, just one's bigger?  Which one's bigger?

I'll let you know how it goes when I try it.  :)

The 403 is MUCH bigger. I don't know if you can see from this picture on Amazon, I looked up #402 but if you scroll down a bit it also shows the 403. Hope you can view it.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000VM4HG/?tag=cakecentral-20

Here's another pic of #403 on Amazon. This one says is an Ateco brand. I think that's what mine is. And yes, it's the same basic shape as the 402 just a lot bigger. Look around and you may find better pricing elsewhere. It's the shipping that costs ya.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008GUYI72/?tag=cakecentral-20

A403's the same, just bigger. Wilton tips are numbered sequentially so the larger ones are also larger in size. I think Ateco's the same way.

Stiff buttercream and a pulling squeezing motion are what you need.

I saw this today on White Flower Cake Shoppe's facebook page. They will be offering a kit of piping tips and from the picture, I can see that the tip on the far right is a #403. The post is from today, February 19, so you may have to scroll down a bit. It looks like a black bag with pink and white dots.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-White-Flower-Cake-Shoppe/66339013871

I think they use that style of tip in various sizes depending on the size cake/cupcake.

Chaka, thanks so much for telling us.  The 403 is the one that I bought, yay, just waiting for it to come in the mail now. 

A[IMG]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3189249/width/200/height/400[/IMG]

I wonder what they mean by custom Order? I wonder if it IS the 403 or what! :/

It certainly looks like the Ateco 403 tip.  Maybe they put that they custom ordered it because it's so hard to find.  Plus if they say that they custom-ordered it, more people will buy their kit.  I so hope it's the 403 tip.  As soon as I get it, I'll try it out and let you know how it works.

If you have a 402, like I do, just pry it open a little wider.  It makes a HUGE difference!!  I'm going to wait to order the tip they actually use and I'll come back and report what it is, exactly! ;)

AivaCake, I just bought the Wilton 402 tip today.  What do you mean by pry it open?  Lengthwise or wider?  I guess not wider right, because you wouldn't really want a thicker petal?

I thought this tip would be bigger, so I'm glad I bought the 403 tip online... still waiting for that one to come by mail.  I can't wait to try it out!

A[IMG ALT=""]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3190667/width/350/height/700[/IMG]

Like this. When I kept it tighter together, it created a very thin petal that wouldn't curve as much. This was my first time and it doesn't look exact but I thought it was close! [IMG ALT=""]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3190668/width/350/height/700[/IMG]

Lauren - Your cupcakes look great!  I ordered the 403 tip from Amazon, and it does have a fairly wide opening - maybe 3/16ths of an inch (just under 1/4").

Look forward to having the time to try it out!

Liz

AThank you! Yes, the wide tip makes a ton of difference! It's all in the wrist, and the consistency makes a bit difference! You'll have to curve your wrist like you're making a "C" but staring from the bottom and overlap the petals. Otherwise they'll fall.

Hey Lauren - Just thought I would share a find on Pinterest tonight . . . this same style flower made in royal icing.

Sorry this pic is so big.  I have to make some royal icing next week for some other decos, so I'll give this a shot and let you know how it turns out!

Liz

Aaaah! That's beautiful! Was there a tutorial?  I want to watch someone make it SLOWLY so I can figure out how to move my hand/wrist! LOL  The girls at the WFCS said they plan on making a video on how to do it soon, but I don't know what soon means in their book! haha

Wow, I love the flower on top!!! I just can't imagine my frosting holding that shape for long.....

Cakegirls have posted their recipe (on their site) for piping buttercream which is supposed to hold shapes well........but honestly I can't imagine finding the right recipe to hold the shape of that flower. If anyone has that perfect recipe....I hope they post it....please.

AviaCake:  Awesome job on the cupcakes and thanks for the idea of opening the tip more.

I was reading on their FB page, that they (The White Flower Cake Shop) use Swiss Meringue Buttercream.

The royal flowers on that cake from Pinterest are gorgeous!  Thanks for sharing the picture.

About a year ago I saw a thread on the White Flower Cake Shoppe flowers (don't remember if it was this thread...) and was fascinated with the giant flowers.  I purchased a DecoPac tip 403 [these are hard to find] and made these cupcakes.  I'll attempt to share the resized photos below.    First pic is size comparison.  Smallest tip is the Wilton tip 81, the next size (for comparison), is a Wilton 2D, and the largest tip is a DecoPac (not Wilton) tip 403.

http://www.decopac.com/detail_11082__15-73.html

I played around with the stiffness of my regular buttercream (will provide link to recipe below) and played around with how to create each petal.  For a first time out, not too bad.  You can see that it may take practice to eliminate the "bulge" at the bottom of my petals and develop the muscle memory (pressure, pull, stop pressure, release) to make these quickly and correctly.

The buttercream was sufficiently stiff to hold the shape.  I ended up freezing these and gave them as gifts later.

I use a buttercream recipe provided by a Wilton forum member, Bunnywoman.  BUNNYWOMAN'S CRUSTING BUTTERCREAM: (a lovely lady on Wilton.com)
http://www.wilton.com/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=7&threadid=132579&STARTPAGE=1&FTVAR_MSGDBTABLE=

Stitches - I tried this today with the end of a bag of IMBC (made with meringue powder) and it held fine.  But, I am really interested in the royal icing version, because when dry they can be set at an angle on a cake.  The IMBC version would only work on the top of a cupcake or top of a cake like the White Flower Cake Shoppe does.

Liz

Hi Everyone!  I have been fascinated with the White Flower Cake Shoppe flowers too!  Just today I posted the cake I made for my daughter's birthday.  I bought the Wilton 402 and 403.  My cake is 6" and I use the 402 for the flowers on top.  The flowers made with the 403 were too big for my 6" cake.  It would probably be fine for a bigger cake.  I used a medium consistency buttercream and I did pry open the tip a little bit.  Mine aren't very good but I thought they turned out OK for a first try.  Definitely need a lot more practice!!!

Those look really nice!

Liz

Ellie, you did a great job!  Love it!  Thanks for sharing!

That's awesome. Definitely better than how mine turned out. I tried once and gave up. I need to pull that tip out again and practice. Great job. Thanks so much for sharing. I'm sure your daughter loved the cake.

AThere was a shop that was doing these buttercream flowers piped directly onto the cakes and cupcakes years ago...it wasn't white flower, it was someone else. I have their book at home, i think. Will look it up because it had a bunch of instructional stuff in it.

Thank you Liz, The-_Sugar_Fairy and chaka1!!!  I appreciate your nice comments! 

I emailed WFCS and asked if they would do a tutorial or online class that people could sign up for. I havent heard back yet. I also asked Melissa over at My Cake School if she could do a tutorial. She said she also likes their style of cakes and will experiment with these buttercream flowers in the future. 

I have tried and tried making these flowers and I cant get them to stay up either. I really love them. 
Maybe it's not buttercream they use. Maybe it's Swiss meringue buttercream. ?

I think you guys are making this way too complicated...just get some tips and start messing around and practicing. Most piping is trial and error, not having exactly the right tip. You'll be able to get some good results if you have something similar and just play with it enough that you get the hang of how it works for you.

I found the book I was thinking of, it's the Cupcake Cafe, and she's been doing piped flowers on cakes for 20 years. This is nothing new...here's a video showing her piping some of the flowers directly onto the boards and the cakes, so you can see what she's doing. The flower decorating part starts at about 3:00. She said that she uses a cooked sugar buttercream with whole eggs, but you could use any kind of icing to do these kinds of flowers.

You have to develop your own style by practicing, so just go get some piping tips and have fun, don't worry about getting exactly the same tips or a tutorial. It just takes practice.

AThat sure was some glossy shiny butter cream. Almost melty looking.

ACupcake Cafe does use oil-based colors, and I think they use FBC or IMBC. Their buttercream work is beautiful.

I agree with costumeczar about playing around and not making it harder than it has to be. Make some icing of different consistencies and try out a bunch of tips. This is so straightforward that I'm not sure a tutorial is going to help. It just takes practice.