How to Create a Textured Buttercream Petal Effect

Here’s a new twist on the buttercream petal technique: pipe the buttercream with a star tip to create more texture! The textured effect is so great because it looks polished, but hides any small imperfections.

You might have seen this technique done with a large round tip. Using a round tip creates petals that look a bit like scales. It’s been a popular way to decorate ombre cakes, mermaid cakes, etc.

To create a different look, I piped the buttercream with a large french star tip. I also decided to create the pattern diagonally to create another interesting dimension. Watch the video below to see how it’s done, or read below for written steps!

Textured Buttercream Petals – How to:

Step One: Prepare a piping bag fitted with a large french star tip. You can use any size tip, but I recommend a larger one (try a Wilton 8B or Ateco 869) to keep the most texture. Fill the bag with buttercream frosting in your choice of color. For the pink cake, I filled the bag with several shades of pink frosting so that the color would gradually change as I piped. You could also use a few different bags to keep the colors distinct.

Step Two: Decide which direction you would like the pattern to move in: horizontal, vertical, or diagonal. Pipe one large dot of buttercream, then smooth down half of the dot using a small spoon or spatula.

Tip: If you are making horizontal or vertical lines, you can pipe a whole row or column at a time, then smooth all the dots at the same time to be more efficient.

Step Three: Pipe the next dot, overlapping where the previous one was smoothed out.

Step Four: Continue piping and smoothing all around the sides of the cake. When you get to the top of the cake, smooth the frosting right over the edge. After the sides are done, continue the pattern on the top of the cake. To continue my diagonal pattern, I simply spiraled the dots towards the center of the cake.