But as you can see from these buttercream peonies, the results are worthwhile.
I’ll admit that this does require some practice, and I’m still improving my method.
You’ll also require a flower-nail, which is a nail affixed to a circular base with a diameter of 2 inches.
Put a little square of parchment paper on top of the flower nail after dabbing it with icing.
The paper will be momentarily held in place by the frosting so you may create the peony.
As you make the flower, the flower-nail will assist you in twirling the paper.
Twirl the nail as you squeeze the frosting from the piping tip.
You may more easily layer the icing by rotating the flower-nail to provide the rotation required.
To guarantee that the flower stays in place as you frost, you must maintain the parchment paper and platform level.
The direction of the icing’s fall will depend on how you hold and move the Petal piping tip.
To create a more closed, peony-like petal, pipe with an inward motion.
Simply remove the parchment paper off the nail head and set it on a baking sheet after the flower has been made.
In the refrigerator, the buttercream flowers will solidify, making them simpler to place on the cake.
I used two six-inch circular pieces of cardboard this time, which you can purchase in the baking section of your neighborhood craft store.
Apply the frosting on the layers between the two pieces of cardboard using an offset spatula.
After smoothing the icing with a spatula or scraper, take off the top cardboard layer and frost the cake’s top.
A similar method is used in an article I wrote earlier this year titled How to Frost a Cake. This post can be seen again HERE.
The dried flowers will easily peel off the parchment paper after chilling.
The bottoms of the flowers should be coated with frosting before being adhered to the cake.
You may fill in any spaces between the flowers with the piping in the shape of leaves, so don’t worry.
To make the leaf shapes needed to fill in the spaces, use pipe tip #66.
You can see how beautifully they turned out considering this was the first time I’ve ever used a leaf tip.