I tried to make rose out of mousseline buttercream but it was too soft. What can I do to make it harder to pipe out roses?

Hi! TCB on page 407 states the icing consistency has to be stiff for roses. Also page 396-397 gives a recipe for practice buttercream and tells you have to make thin and stiff consistency icing.

I’m still learning myself but maybe the pro’s on this site will be able to chime in and help you out…

Bagmanic, since you are in Singapore, it probably was too warm which is why it’s too soft. Just chill it in the fridge for a short while until it’s firmer, then it will be OK to pipe roses.

angelcakes - Thanks! I read page 407, it states stiff, not sure now can I make the buttercream stiff, it looks soft to me after it soften from the fridge.

shimi - Thanks too! mmm… maybe… I have to fill up the piping bag and if is too soft, then I will have to fridge it first before I can make any petals. Really too soft. Not like the “stiff” texture that Rose made in her video.

The kitchen where this video was taped was unusually cold, about 72oFm

If your mousseline doesn’t get this stiff as shown on the video, at 72oF then u probably didn’t heat the sugar to 248 to 250oF

Thermometers are so inexpensive nowadays, I wouldn’t make mousseline without one.

hector - I bought the thermometer and did the mousseline once, during my first trial I did not heat the sugar till 250F. So is soft, i can understand. But yesterday is my second trial, I did heat the sugar till 250F and it went up to 253F. Before I add the butter into the whites, I ensure it is between 65-70F, then I add the butter in. I think I did follow closely. After adding the sugar syrup to the white, it was hot, so I beat with medium speed till it cool before adding the butter in to beat.

The mixture turn “sort of” watery but did not curd till I add the last bit of butter, it thickens up. So I continue to beat and it just thickens as it is. But it did not show the kind of stiffness. My kitchen measures 83F. I do this buttercream in the evening as it was much more colder then the day. I am going to try beating the buttercream tonight (after thaw from the fridge), hopefully it will show me signs of stiffness….

Help me ROSE…. I wanted to write to her in the “contact me” column. I can click the Post/read comment but I can’t post comment…. What can I do to post the comment?

Tonight I beat the buttercream again…. But there is no signs of stiffness…. :( (SO SAD…) Or did I not add the 90g liqueur? Then the mixture will not become stiff? The whole recipe I did not add fruit puree or the liqueur…. Will the buttercream because of the either missing stuff not turn stiff?

I do not have liqueur at home… :( And I do not have the fruit puree…. :( Is it because of this????

hello bagmanic, there is a very long and informative posting about mousseline.  hope it helps:  http://www.realbakingwithrose.com/2007/04/mousseline_buttercream_in_a_to.html

i am not sure how “stiff” you want this buttercream to be.  you may be looking for a different type of buttercream.

The mousseline is really not going to be stiff or strong enough to pipe flowers with stand up petals like roses in the kinds of temperatures you’re having.  The best solution I can offer is to make a batch of buttercream using shortening (white vegetable fat) and confectioners sugar and take some of the mousseline and some of the shortening frosting and use this combination to pipe flowers.  There is another baker named Liv Hansen of the Whimsical Bakehouse bakery who published a book a few years ago; she bought the bakery and inherited a recipe called “House Buttercream” which her clients wanted her to continue to use.  You can find the recipe on her blog/web site (http://www.whimsicalbakehouse.com).  I used this recipe because I had an order this past weekend for cupcakes with vibrantly colored buttercream and my usual meringue buttercream just won’t achieve the colors that a vegetable shortening frosting can; so I can tell you that it will definitely pipe beautiful roses.  You may want to fill and cover your cake with the mousseline and just make the flowers out of this other frosting.

hector - Thanks! I will read this link. I read from TCB about this buttercream that it can be used to pipe rose. I tried piping rose out of this buttercream but the base cone is soft I can’t even complete piping out a full rose and it slide away from the wax paper. For the petals, it just seems to stick together “mergering” at the bottom till you can see that each petal is sleeping on top of each petal. This is too soft consistency to pipe rose. That is why I am wondering why my buttercream is “soft” and not “stiff”. Did I not add the fruit puree for the extra 90g liqueur required?

I’m really troubled cos I need to make a finale cake on this coming sat for my cake deco class. The requirement needs at least 5roses. In the class, I am taught to use shortening but this is too oily I will not want to put this inside my mouth let alone to let my family members eat it when I myself don’t dare to consume. Maybe from young, the buttercream I knew is never “oily” that is why I don’t want my tasters eat it.

Jeanne - Thanks! I think if worst come to worst, I will have to give up this buttercream for the rose. But definately I am going to forst the cake with this buttercream, it is SIMPLY so tasty! I will check it out on Liv Hansen’s website!

Bagmaniac - I am in Singapore too and I can testify to the fact that it’s VERY CHALLENGING to make mousseline roses if you are not in an air-conditioned room.  It is virtually impossible to sit in 33-35 degrees C temperatures and have the roses form properly, without chilling your hands, and chilling the bag of buttercream between each rose.  You’ll definitely need 2 bags or even more of buttercream to rotate among.  And the rose needs to get into the refrigerator immediately after piping or it’ll droop.  Keep the rose cones the centres) chilled as well.

If anyone else from Singapore and Malaysia has managed to overcome this problem I’d love to know how PLEASE.  But piping mousseline roses drives me up the wall and my poor refrigerator can’t stand all that opening and closing every 2 minutes.

I know Hector works in tropical conditions as well but Hector is, well… Hector

hehehehehe…. Last night I tried to put some liqueur in but still no change in the texture. So I simply put this in the fridge and going to put the buttercream in my cake.

Now I am using another kind of buttercream, the cone is too soft, so I got this idea to put it in the fridge. After piping two cones, I put them in fridge with the piping bag. After a few mintues , I pipe the rose and remove the rose into the container. BUT…. the soft flower got smash after my careless transfer…. :( So after piping the rose, I fridge the whole rose on the flower nail and when it become hard, I transfer the rose with wax paper into the container.

BINGO!!!! I did it!!! Same here… my fridge will be open and close on and off…. hahahahah…. I will have to try this method on mousseline buttercream some day!

Thank you LittleIsland for your input! Maybe some day we can catch up on cakes making and decorating!!! Hope you can bear with me as I am just a very new beginner with cakes.

Cheers!