You’ve seen them all over Pinterest and Instagram. Those gorgeous cakes and cupcakes covered in buttercream flowers always catch your eye!
But how the heck do you actually pipe those amazing flowers? You must need some insane natural talent, tons of practice, and a million different piping tips, right?
Well, I won’t say you don’t need any practice. At the same time, it’s easier than you might think to get started piping buttercream flowers!
Now let’s talk about those piping tips. There are so many different piping tips you can use to make flowers, but I’m going to break them down into three categories for you: drop flower tips, Russian piping tips, and petal tips.
Drop Flower Piping Tips
What do drop flower piping tips look like?
Drop flower tips look a lot like star tips. They have a star or flower-shaped opening, but there’s a small metal rod in the middle. That little rod keeps each section, or petal, separate rather than piping out one large blob of frosting.
What kind of flowers do drop flower piping tips make?
Drop flower tips make drop flowers! Ok duh, but what do they look like? Drop flowers are just simple, one layer flowers with slightly swirled petals. Most of the drop flower piping tips I have make either five or six petals.
What kind of frosting should you use with drop flower piping tips?
Drop flower piping tips work great with royal icing, and you can also use them with buttercream frosting. I always prefer Swiss Meringue Buttercream or Italian Meringue Buttercream, but you could also use American buttercream.
Whichever type of frosting you’re using, it just needs to have a fairly stiff consistency so that the petals will keep their shape when piping.
How do you use drop flower piping tips?
Drop flower tips are fairly easy to use. You hold your piping bag vertically, then pipe while twisting to create the flower shape. Because of this twisting motion, you’ll also hear people call these “swirl drop flowers.”
I have a whole post and video about piping buttercream flowers with drop flower piping tips, check them out here: How to PIpe Basic Buttercream Drop Flowers
Russian Piping Tips
What do Russian piping tips look like?
The first thing that might surprise you about Russian piping tips is that they are huge! Rather than coming to a point, the end of a Russian piping tip is flat and has several holes cut into it to make the flower pattern.
What kind of flowers do Russian piping tips make?
Russian piping tips make an all-in-one-motion flower, like drop flowers, but they’re a bit more complex. The inside of the flowers will look different depending on which tip you choose, but they all have the same cylindrical shape.
While drop flowers come in different sizes, Russian piping tips are pretty much limited to one size. You can’t make them smaller or larger in width. You can play around a bit with the height, but they tend to look best at a certain height. If you go too tall you’ll start to lose the pattern.
What kind of frosting should you use with Russian piping tips?
Russian piping tips are designed for buttercream frosting. You’ll need a medium to stiff consistency frosting for the flowers to pipe out cleanly. I recommend Swiss Meringue Buttercream, Italian Meringue Buttercream, or American Buttercream.
How do you use Russian piping tips?
There’s definitely a knack to using Russian piping tips, but it’s quite easy once you get the feel for it. You’ll want to hold your piping bag vertically, then pipe with a quick firm squeeze and pull away.
You need to pipe quickly and confidently, or else the buttercream will start to build up and you’ll have problems pulling the tip away or keeping the petals distinct.
You can read more and watch a video about using Russian piping tips here: How to Use Russian Piping Tips.
Petal Piping Tips
What do petal tips look like?
The simplest petal tips have a slit-shaped opening that is thin on one end and thicker on the other end. The difference in size helps the buttercream to curl a bit as you pipe, and the thin end of the tip is usually what makes the edge of your petals.
There are also many other kinds of curved and specially shaped petal tips.
What kind of flowers do petal piping tips make?
Petal piping tips make the most realistic looking flowers because they give you the most control when piping. You can use petal piping tips to make the simplest buttercream flowers or more complex, upright flowers.
What kind of frosting should you use with petal piping tips?
If you’ve already read the rest of this post you probably know what I’m going to tell you! My favorite buttercreams for piping are Swiss Meringue Buttercream and Italian Meringue Buttercream. I love these buttercreams because they are not too sweet, they are very sturdy, and they have a glossier sheen than standard American buttercream.
If you’ve never tried a meringue-based buttercream, I would try starting out with Swiss meringue buttercream. It’s a little less intimidating to make and it tastes almost identical to Italian meringue buttercream.
American buttercream can also be used for piping flowers. It’s a lot sweeter, and it tends to form a crust from all the powdered sugar, so it won’t have a glossy sheen.
How do you use petal piping tips?
If you’re using a petal piping tip, you’ll be piping buttercream flowers petal by petal. It’s a lengthier process, but you have so much control and creative freedom!
Buttercream Flower Basics
If you’ve never piped any sort of flowers before and you’d love some simple, straight forward instructions, my Buttercream Flower Basics course might be just what you’re looking for!
In this course I show you everything you need to know:
- How to prepare Swiss meringue buttercream AND how to get the right consistencies for piping flowers
- How to use a petal tip and a flower nail
- How to pipe basic flat flowers, layered flowers, and upright flowers
- How to add leaves and fillers and arrange everything on your cake
I want to show you that piping really beautiful buttercream flowers can actually be a simple and easy process, so the whole course only uses one type of petal tip! I know it sounds crazy, but using just a 104 petal tip (or something similar) you can pipe so many different styles of buttercream flowers! There’s no need for a bunch of different tools and piping tips.
Every flower you learn in the course demonstrates a different core technique. So while I consider them “basic” buttercream flowers, they’re also a good foundation for learning any other type of flower. In fact, once you go through the course and practice each different style of flower, you’ll probably be able to figure out how to pipe new kinds of flowers by adjusting those core techniques!
The course includes both real-time video demonstrations and a downloadable ebook in case you like having written instructions while you practice. Once you sign up, you’ll have lifetime access to the course plus any future updates!
So if you’re ready to get confident with your cake decorating skills, click here to get more details and sign up for Buttercream Flower Basics.
More Resources
If you’re ready to jump in and get started with petal piping tips, check out this video: How to Pipe Simple Buttercream Flowers.
If you want a deep-dive on the set-up, tools, and type of buttercream you need for piping flowers with petal tips, check out this post: How to Make Realistic Buttercream Flowers.
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