I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time. Finally had a chance!

I made a practice buttercream and pipe using the 1M star tip. Here are the results. I’m pretty happy with it.

Now just have to do this on a cake .

Oh, Jenn, those came out reallly good!  I really like the middle and bottom scrolly things in the last picture—they’re really unusual and pretty!

The nice thing about the roses in the first pic is you can always pip them on your mat, get ‘em good and cold and then lift them onto your cake.  Note, this is the voice of theory, rather than experience, talking!!!!

Jenn, those look picture perfect!  Much better executed than most of my piping!  Are you going to save them and apply to a cake?

Anne, I’ve done that - freezing the roses for a few minutes until they’re firmer and then applying to the cake.

Julie, thanks for the compliments. I still think your shell border and french tips piping are better . I already scraped the buttercream off and put it away - will practice more! I think sometimes it’s easier to pipe well when there’s no pressure. In this case, as it is practice it turned out better than I had expected.

They all came out beautiful Jenn.

those are all lovely. which buttercream did you use to practice with?

Thanks everyone for the compliments.

gpears, I used equal quantity of butter, shortening, margarine, and powdered sugar. Whipped until fluffy. It’s pretty soft but it doesn’t get melted/too soft fast with the warmth of my hands.

Hi - I have just come across your wonderful piping ‘practice’ examples. Have you ever used Roses’s Golden Neoclassic Buttercream to pipe some of these simple shapes with because that is what I would like to use on cupcakes. I just want to pipe one simple twirl like the one in the first picture. Any tips?

Hi George,
Yes I’ve used the neoclassic as well as the mouselline to pipe simple swirls like the first picture. The swirls are pretty easy. Just make sure that your buttercream is at a good consistency and temperature. If you are intimidated I’d suggest practicing a bit on a parchment or silpat like I did. I used a 1 M piping tip and a good piping bag (Wilton makes reusable ones). I’d prefer the reusable than the disposable plastics. I hope that helps. Please come back and post your results. We’d love to see it!

Jenn, thank you for your reply. It most certainly helps and has given the confidence to give it a go. I really do apprecaite our advice.

Piping is the easiest thing to decorate a cake. It is also the quickest way. That is great practice. Practice makes perfect.