Buttercream Flower Cupcake Class - Prep + Technique

Buttercream Flower Cupcake Class - Prep + Recipe

Swiss Meringue Buttercream 

Ingredients: 

• 600g Sugar 
• 450g Egg whites (pasteurized) 
• 675g Butter (soft and unsalted) 
• Vanilla to taste 

Method: 

In a large bowl over a bain-Marie combine egg whites and sugar and cook occasionally whisking to allow for even cooking. 

The Mixture is ready when it's warm to touch and sugar is dissolved completely (rub the mixture between your fingers, continue to cook if you feel the texture to be gritty.) Transfer to an electric mixer bowl fitted with a whisk attachment and whisk until it is cool to touch, usually around 25 minutes.Add softened butter gradually and whip until incorporated, then add vanilla or the flavours of your choice. Flavor the buttercream however you like, whip in extract, melted chocolate, fruit purees or even Oreo crumbs, let your creativity shine!!!Buttercream Troubleshooting 

The number one problem with buttercream is splitting, if this happens try one of the following solutions. 

With heat - Warm Buttercream slightly, this can be done by microwaving it of 10 second blasts whisking each time until it comes together. If you like, remove a tablespoon of the mixture, melt it completely in the microwave and add it back to the mixture. 

With friction - Continue to whip buttercream in a stand mixer, sometimes it can take approximately ten minutes to come back together. 

With butter - Add more room temperature butter, do this one tablespoon at a time until the mixture comes back together.

Vanilla Cake/Cupcake Recipe 

yields at 12 cupcakes 0r one 6" cake 

Ingredients: 

• 40g Butter, Softened, Unsalted 
• 140g Sugar 
• 1 Egg 
• 120g All purpose flour 
• 7.5g Baking powder 
• A pinch of salt 
• 120g Milk 
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract 

Method: 

Combine the first two ingredients. Cream until colour turns pale.Add egg, Scrape the bowl and make sure everything is combined. (if increasing the batch size add eggs one at a time scraping down between adding).Combine the dry ingredients.Combine the wet ingredients.Alternating between wet and dry ingredients, whisk together. (It is best to do this in smaller additions then larger ones as going slowly will help reduce lumps).Portion into cupcakes cups (fill 2/3 full), or 6" cake pan depending on use.Bake as cupcakes for 10 to 13 minutes at 325°F, or 25 to 30 minutes for a 6” cake.Vanilla Chiffon Cake 

Yields at 36 large cupcakes 

Sponge cakes are moist and light, with a bit of a spongy texture, are easily eaten plain without any type of frosting. Sponges are a versatile cake and made with a minimal of simple ingredients; eggs, sugar, flour and vanilla. There is no leavening agent in a sponge cake. 

• 5 eggs, separated, room temperature 
• 100g Sugar 
• 1 Teaspoon vanilla extract 
• 85g All purpose flour, sieved 
• 42g Melted butter, unsalted 

Using an electric mixer with a wire attachment, whisk egg whites and sugar together until stiff peaks.Lower the speed and add egg yolks one at a time. Add vanilla extract. Mix just until it is incorporated.Fold in the flour with a rubber spatula.Add melted butter to the batter.

Buttercream Flowers Class - Tools and Techniques

Tools:

Parchment paper 

Scissors

Plastic wrap 

Flower nail

Piping bags 

Couplers

Gel colours 

Litre container or liquid measuring cup (to easily fill a piping bag)

The following piping tips:

#104 or #105 petal 

#352 or #356 Vtip

Tips and Tricks before getting started

The buttercream you use is key:

We choose to use swiss meringue buttercream at our bakery because we find it gives us the most stable product. Swiss Buttercream is not as heavy or dense as American Buttercream so your petals will not get weighed down. When preparing your swiss meringue buttercream you want the mixture smooth and creamy. Too firm a buttercream and you do not get a smooth edge to your pearls, too soft and your pearls do not hold their shape.

Have plenty of tips and couplers handy:

Use tips and a coupler to easily interchange piping tips and avoid the mess and hassle of preparing a new bag of buttercream.

Always add Foliage to your flowers:

Greenery will make your flowers look more realistic as well as hide any gaps between your flowers and cake. Foliage will also bring all your flowers together to look like a beautiful bouquet.

Make different sizes: Making your flowers in a variety of sizes will mimic nature and give your creation more depth. It is also a great way to fill in gaps you may have in between your larger blooms. 

Parchment paper and your freezer are your keys to success:

For easier transfer of blooms, place a small square of parchment paper on the flower nailhead, then make your blooms on it. Once complete, transfer the finished bloom from the flower nial to a baking tray, repeat. Once your tray is full of blooms, place them in your freezer to harden. When your flowers have hardened you can take them from the freezer, remove the parchment paper from the back of your bloom and begin to place them on your cake. 

Summary: Making beautiful buttercream florals is a labor of love, but remember to have fun!  No two flowers are the same in nature, so embrace your imperfections!

How to’s 

What type of dye coloring to use:

Gel colors are more concentrated and thicker than food coloring, so you do not need much for coloring. Food coloring is typically  watered down gel color and therefore you are only able to achieve a light color. 

Since the gel colors are highly concentrated, you do not need very much of it to get a bold color. You can find gel coloring at your local cake supply store, bulk store, or online.

Food coloring is most commonly found in the grocery store and usually comes in 4 basic colors like red, yellow, green and blue. 

The color palette you choose may determine whether you use gel or food coloring for your buttercream needs.

How to color buttercream:

The amount of buttercream you need to color will vary depending on what you are making and how many colors you need. We recommend starting with 1 cup. You can always darken your color by adding more gel or lighten your color by adding more uncolored buttercream.

For soft pastel color, ¼ drop or less is usually enough for 1 cup of buttercream. Use a toothpick to add the gel color to your buttercream. After the toothpick comes in contact with the buttercream, do not touch the gel color bottle with it again. You can contaminate your bottle with buttercream that can then become rancid. 

If you are dying a whole batch of buttercream the same color, start with 1-2 drops and gradually add more. For darker colors you can start with 3-4 drops and go from there. Be careful when trying to create a dark color as the buttercream can easily start to taste like the dye and stain the inside of our mouth. For this reason soft pastel seems to be the color choice when it comes to decorating.

Buttercream is naturally off white due to the yellow coloring of the butter and vanilla extract. If you are planning to color your buttercream you can alway use a clear vanilla extract. Additionally you can add a touch of purple gel color to your buttercream to achieve a color that appears whiter. You can try out this trick if you are looking to keep your buttercream white for masking and decorating. 

How to fill and handle a piping bag- 

Fit your piping bag with a coupler and then with the piping tip of your choosing and cut the point of your piping bag so the coupler fits through. Attach the tip to the coupler and tighten with the top of your coupler. Roll your piping bag inside out half way so it is easy to fill with buttercream. Fill the bag half to two-thirds full with buttercream and secure the end tightly with a chip clip or close pin. Hold the bag at the top.It’s always best to apply pressure from the top rather than right by the tip. (Think of a tube of toothpaste.) As you use your buttercream you will periodically need to tighten your bag by re-securing the top. 

Types of piped flowers 

5 petal flower using a petal tip:

You will need a pearl tip (#104 or #105 would be best), a very small round tip, a coupler and a flower nail 

Hold the flower nail in your non- dominant hand and the piping bag in your dominant hand. 

Squeeze some buttercream on the flower nail and add a parchment square on top. 

Place the wider end of the piping tip towards the center of your nail. 

To shape the first petal, begin to apply pressure on the piping bag and pipe away from you creating a rainbow shape. 

Stop applying pressure as you finish the shape. Repeat this rainbow motion all the way around the nail until you get 5 petals and complete your flower.

Prepare a decorating bag with a small round tip with a contrasting color. 

Hold the bag straight up and pipe a dot in the center of the flower. 

Rose flower using a petal tip:

You will need a large round tip (#7 or #8), a petal tip (#105 is best), a coupler, and a flower nail.

Fit your piping bag with the coupler and the large round tip and fill your piping bag. Hold your flower nail with a parchment square on it in your non-dominant hand and your piping bag in your dominant hand. Pipe a “kiss” shape of buttercream onto the parchment square. This will act as the bud for your rose. 

Switch out the round tip for the petal tip. Now pipe three slightly overlapping rainbows that cover the “kiss” or bud, twisting the nail as you pipe and tilting your tip towards the bud.

Begin your second layer of rainbows, this time starting in the center of a previous petal or rainbow shape. Continue to pipe rainbow shapes as you move your tip around the “kiss” , always starting and finishing the rain shape in between the center of a previous petal. 

The goal is to overlap the petals so they mimic nature. 

As a pipe each layer or petals you will need to increase the number of petals while also changing the the tilt of your piping bag slowly from towards to bud to away from the bud. This will give the effect  of the rose opening .
The more layers of petals the larger the rose. You can also create buds by piping a single layer of petals. Remember, a variety of sizes is best when decorating a cake with buttercream flowers.

Leaf with a leaf tip:

You will need a leaf tip (#352 or #356 Vtip)

Once all your flowers are placed on your cake, you can pipe your leaves. Pipe with the piping bag at a slight upward angle from the flower surface. The point of the tip should be upright, like a bird’s beak. Squeeze hard to form the base of the leaf. As you squeeze, slowly pull the tip slightly away to form a leaf point. With no pressure, pull the tip away to finish off your leaf. 

Summary:

Continue to practice your buttercream designs. Practice makes better! Once you are happy with your flowers and the variety you have created, store them in the freezer until your tiered cake is ready to be decorated. Piped buttercream flowers last up to 3 months in the freezer, stored in a container.