The Contemporary Buttercream Bible (15 page)

(Sugarflair Eucalyptus)

• Piping bags

• Small leaf nozzle (Wilton 352)

• Large leaf nozzle (Wilton 366)

• Cocktail stick (toothpick)

• Ruler

• Scissors

Colour 400–500g (14oz–1lb 2oz) of buttercream

yellow, 150–250g (51⁄2–9oz) teal and the rest white.

Cover both cakes in white buttercream and give

them a smooth finish (see Covering Cakes in

Buttercream Basics). Dowel and stack them (see

Dowelling in Buttercream Basics) and place on a

stand or covered board. For the bottom tier, pipe

the first texture described in the tutorial in

alternating yellow and white lines. For the top tier, pipe the second texture described above in yellow.

Finish off the veritcal gap where you began your

first row of leaves with a line of yellow dots (see

Dots in Piping Textures and Patterns). Snip off the

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end off a piping bag to pipe dots in teal around the

top and bottom edges. Using the large leaf nozzle

(Wilton 366), pipe a large sunflower on the corner

of the bottom tier in teal, adding dots in white

buttercream for the centre (see Sunflower and

Leaves in Piping Flowers).

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Shells and Fleur-de-lis

The technique of piping shells and fleur-de-lis using a star tip has been done for many years, with shells

commonly used as borders. But we will give it a

twist. By using vibrant colours and combining the

patterns in interesting ways, we will make this

age-old technique into contemporary art.

1 For our variation on basic shells, we have piped a

stylized flower using the basic shell technique. To

do this, use a round cookie cutter or a cup or glass

that fits nicely on the side of your cake and mark a

guide circle (A).

A

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2 Pipe ‘shells’ using a star tip nozzle (Wilton 21)

starting at the edge of the guide circle. Hold the

piping bag straight onto the cake with tip of the

nozzle touching the guide circle. Firmly squeeze the

piping bag until the buttercream builds up and

creates a fan shape, then slightly lift the piping bag and pull down towards the centre of the guide circle

as you also gradually relax the pressure to create a

pointed end (B). Pipe shells next to each other to

finish one layer. Repeat the same process and pipe

two more rows, each row getting shorter as it draws

nearer to the centre of the circle (C).

B

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C

3 For the fleur-de-lis, using small star nozzle

(Wilton 16), pipe each one by starting with a reverse shell. Hold the piping bag straight on to the cake

and pipe a short shell but pull your strokes

upwards,
not down (D). Then pipe another short shell that starts on the left side then curls slightly up then meets the central shell, do the same on the

on the right. Both strokes join in the centre (E).

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D

E

Tip

Use differently sized star nozzles to create

various effects. To make your designs more

interesting, use the two-tone technique as

discussed earlier in the Piping Textures and

Patterns chapter.

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To create this cake…

• 15 × 15cm (6 × 6in) round cake

• 1.55–2.05kg (3lb 7oz–4lb 10oz) buttercream

• Paste colours: purple (Sugarflair Grape Violet),

light

orange

(Sugarflair

Tangerine),

orange

(Sugarflair Tangerine), dark orange (Sugarflair

Tangerine)

• Piping bags

• Star nozzles (Wilton 16 and 21)

• Silver edible balls (sugar balls)

• Tweezers

• Cake stand or covered cake board

Colour 400–500g (14oz–1lb 2oz) of buttercream

violet, and 250–350g (9–12oz) each in light orange,

orange and dark orange and leave the rest plain.

Cover the cake with plain buttercream (see

Covering Cakes in Buttercream Basics) and place on

a stand or covered board. Blend violet buttercream

into the background coating at the top and bottom

of the cake (see Blending in Palette Knife

Techniques) and give the cake a smooth finish (see

Covering Cakes in Buttercream Basics). Mark guide

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circles around your cake, spacing them evenly, then

pipe the ‘shell’ flower following the tutorial using all the orange colours. Add silver edible balls in the

centre using tweezers. Starting about 1.5cm (5⁄8in)

from the bottom of the cake, pipe the fleur-de-lis in violet, following the tutorial, all around the base,

and add one silver edible ball to the centre of each.

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Scrolls, Lines and Zigzags

In this technique you won’t need any special tools,

just a simple piping bag. We could call this

technique ‘line art’ because just by piping curved

and straight lines you will be able to create an

illustration. This looks great on a nice, smooth and

simple background that allows your design to really

stand out.

1 Measure and cut greaseproof (wax)paper to create

your pattern – here we’ve made equally spaced

triangles – and mark them on your cake using a

cocktail stick (toothpick) (A).

A

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2 Put an ample amount of buttercream of different

colours in separate piping bags and snip off the tip

of each bag to create a small hole. Pipe on top of

your guide all around the cake in one colour, then

use the rest of the colours alternately until you

cover the whole surface of the cake with zigzag lines (B).

B

3 To make floral patterns, use flower or petal cookie cutters, positioning them on to the cake and mark

your guide lines (C). Pipe around the guide then

pipe some repetitive lines in different directions to fill the spaces of your pattern. It is nice to mix some straight and curve lines (D). After filling the main