Learning how to make a buttercream flower is the ultimate cake decorating goal. For novice cake bakers, this can be the difference between "that's a nice cake" and "WOW!" I'm going to show you how to make a beautiful buttercream flower that is so simple, anyone can make it - even beginners!
Tools for a Buttercream Flower
In order to make these buttercream daisies, you'll need a few inexpensive tools. I promise, you'll get plenty of use out of them once you learn how easy they are to make!
- Wilton Tip 104
- Flower Nail
- Parchment squares (simply cut parchment paper into 2" square pieces)
- 2 Piping Bags
- Offset Spatula
- Flat plate or small serving tray
- Small mixing bowl
- Buttercream frosting recipe
- Yellow gel food colouring, I used this shade of yellow by Wilton
Flower Frosting
For these buttercream flower daisies, I've used my personal favorite - the vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream frosting recipe. You can also use my American Buttercream frosting, as it can be more forgiving in terms of firmness while decorating. American buttercream can also better when decorating in warmer weather (hello, summer buttercream!). This tutorial will work with either recipe you choose, and it's completely up to your taste preference which one you choose!
How to Make Buttercream Flower Daisies
- Begin by making your buttercream frosting.
- Next, fill one piping bag with the frosting. Attach the Wilton 104 tip to this bag.
- Put the remaining frosting into the small mixing bowl and add yellow gel color. Mix until evenly incorporated.
- Fill a second piping bag with the yellow frosting. This bag doesn't need a tip because you only need to snip off the pointed end of the bag for this technique.
- Attach one of the parchment paper squares to the top of the flower nail with a small dab of white buttercream. This keeps the paper in place while you make the flower.
Step-By-Step Technique Tutorial
Time Stamped Instructions
- 0:00 So for this one we’re going to be making a daisy. I have my piping nail with my parchment paper on it.
- 0:06 I’m using a Wilton 104 tip. You will see that the wide base part of the tip is going to be the one that is touching the flower nail and that the narrow part of the tip is on top.
- 0:24 I’m at a 45-degree angle here, I’m applying moderate pressure, moving up and down.
- 0:30 As I squeeze and apply pressure, I move up and I gently release the pressure as I’m pulling down.
- 0:38 Make sure that you start each next petal at the bottom of the prior one.
- 0:46 You’re going to keep doing this until you fill in that whole daisy.
- 0:52 We’re going to switch to yellow buttercream, which I just have in a piping bag with the end cut open.
- 1:02 I’m going to start piping some dots in the center to fill out that center.
- 1:10 So there you have it. We have our daisy using our Wilton 104 tip, and then just yellow buttercream in a piping bag with the end cut off.
- 1:21 You can add some green leaves using your Wilton 352 tip if you like, I’m just going to leave mine plain here.
Finishing Touches
You will use the remaining piping bag of white buttercream to attach the flowers to the cake, so remove it from the fridge about an hour before you start this final step. Once your flowers and your frosted cake have sufficiently chilled, it's time to place the flowers! Pipe a small dab of buttercream onto the cake, then slide your offset spatula under the flower and gently lift it off the parchment paper. Transfer (with clean and dry hands) the flower to the spot where you placed a dab of buttercream.
FAQs + Other Great Tips You Want To Read
Use your offset spatula to gently slide the parchment paper - and flower - off the nail. Set the paper with the flower on a serving tray. Once you have made all the flowers you need, place the serving tray in the refrigerator for a few hours. This allows the buttercream to harden and it makes transferring to a frosted cake so much easier.
Place your piping bag back into the refrigerator for at least a half an hour to allow it to firm back up to piping texture.
Sometimes powdered sugar is very lumpy out of the bag, depending on the humidity level in which it was stored. Sift first, make buttercream second.
If you have prepared and chilled flowers, you can easily add them to the side using the same technique as the top (as listed above). Make sure your hands are clean and dry, and work quickly to make sure the flower doesn't melt on your fingertips.
Want to Learn More About Decorating?
Join our monthly cake & cupcake decorating program "Decorate with Blair"! No need to spend hours Googling, YouTubing, or searching Pinterest "how do I make that cake?" It's perfect for anyone looking to master cake decorating skills while building confidence. Join a community of other cakers in monthly fun-filled live sessions and learn new techniques released four times each month, with a monthly special guest tutorial. This includes access to our private Facebook Group!
When you make these flowers, take a photo and tag BAKED by Blair on social media – don’t forget to add #bakedbyblair! I would love to hear how you enjoyed this Buttercream Flower tutorial, so comment below! If you want to pin this recipe and save it for later, go ahead and click the pin button above and save it to your favourite desserts board on Pinterest! ENJOY!
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