Hi all, I am trying to practice making roses, but they are sliding off the parchment paper. It's Reynolds grease-proof parchment, but the grease seems to seep right through it. It is about 53% humidity right now, so I'm sure that has something to do with it. I am using a shortening based thick buttercream. The roses seem to glisten after I get done and the next day when they are semi-hard, I pick them up and the bottoms are very greasy.  I pipe the bud and it slides around, can barely get it to stay in place. The parchment sticks to the nail, just can't get the icing to stay in one place when I turn the nail.

I'm guessing I need to use a butter-based one? Or just turn the thermostat down? This is the Wilton recipe, as I didn't want to use my usual recipe on practice flowers. These will be going on top of a cake covered in ganache.

One more question, do you usually crumb coat the cake before pouring the ganache on top? My cake is going to be a chocolate cake with a raspberry buttercream.

And yes this will be refrigerated until serving. :)

My guess is that a combination of the heat/humidity of the room and the heat of your hand is breaking down the icing somewhat.  Did you add meringue powder to you icing?  If not - try adding a couple of Tablespoons.  That might help.  You could also try cutting back the amount of shortening just a tad and cut out any flavorings since this is for just the decorations anyway.  Also, keep an ice pak beside you to cool down your palms every now and then.

Also, I tend to suggest that students use waxed paper as opposed to parchment.  Don't know if that really makes much of a difference...  lol  just thought I'd throw that it and see if it happens to work better for you.

Another idea:  why not just pipe the roses directly onto the nail and use a small scissors or the Wilton Rose lifter to move them off the nail and onto a cookie sheet covered with waxed paper?  that is what I have done for years....just make rose after rose, slide them off the nail and make several rows of roses on the cookie sheet and leave it in a safe place to dry.   You could pipe your rosebuds directly onto the cookie sheet (waxed paper) as well. 

And yes- crumb coat your cake before covering with ganache.   :)

Good advice, use waxed paper, not parchment.

Thank you! I'll try again today with the thermostat turned down and try the wax paper. I also realized I wasn't making my center tall enough... only figured that out after about the third video I watched. So off I go to try more flowers :)

Thank you! I finally posted my flower and cake in my gallery. I used a recipe with meringue powder by Toba Garrett that I found on here.

Yes, you do crumb coat a cake and refrigerate it before covering it with ganache. It makes for a smoother and more professional look.