I’ve been spending a bit of time lately studying and practising trying to replicate the lovely buttercream flowers from The Cupcake Cafe.  These are my version, made for a niece’s birthday party over the weekend. 

I was almost despairing of being able to turn out non-droopy mousseline buttercream roses, until I hit upon moving my piping projects to the living room and cranking up the air-conditioning there.  It keeps the buttercream in the piping bags at the perfect temp and consistency for the flowers. 

The biggest pain is how long it takes to colour the buttercream.  I know some will be shuddering at the amount of colour used - as you can see these would have left (and did leave) my little eaters with brightly coloured tongues and mouths.

Also, does anyone think the addition of fruit curds and purees soften the buttercream a little and make it harder to manage the piping of flowers?  I’ve never had problems with fruit mousseline borders and shells, but always had the darndest time with roses and flowers.  I’m wondering if my using only vanilla mousseline this time also had anything to do with this success or if it was merely the temp of my room.

I can’t answer any of your questions, because I can’t pipe beyond the very basics, but I can do this:  I can say WOW!!!!!  Those are really, really beautiful!

Ditto to what Anne said… I don’t have any answers for you but I have to tell you that your cupcakes are stunning! Wow, really amazing. I had to go and check out Cupcake Cafe’s website to see what you were talking about as I hadn’t heard of them. You’ve inspired me to attempt a similar design. Thanks for sharing your pics!

Very beautifully decorated cupcakes.  I remember when I first started decorating cakes, I made a mickey mouse cake for my son.  And of course it had black icing.  Everyone at the party ( just family )  ended up with black tongues, teeth and gums.  Everyone thought it was just hilarious…except me.  I was so embarrased by what I did to my guests.  I should have bought them all toothbrushes and toothpaste.  Since that day, I have never used black icing again.  What brand of coloring did you used to color the buttercream such vibrant colors.  They are very pretty.

Absolutely gorgeous!

It does seem to me that adding fruit purees can make mousseline a tad softer- harder to pipe, maybe, but better to eat!  Temperature is the key to getting the right consistency, even with puree added.  I think it’s Hector who keeps two bags going, one in the fridge and one to use, then he alternates between them to keep them cool.

Thank you Julie, and all others with your lovely comments! 

Yes I did think adding the additional liquid or curd would soften the buttercream more.  Although my all-time favourite (and that of my son) is passionfruit mousseline, I definitely found it easier piping the flowers with plain vanilla mousseline, and might stick to that for flower piping in future.

However, today I’m making caramel Silk Meringue Buttercream and also the Apricot version, and shall see how well that pipes.  I’ve done the SMB before and found it softer and harder to manage with piping (not to mention I’m always afraid of breaking down the creme anglais, having messed it up before) but it’s worth another try I suppose.  Especially when everyone on this forum just raves about it.

Liza - I used mostly Wilton pastes, except for the red (which was a mixture of Wilton and Americolor) and black - Americolor.  It took a LOT of red gel and paste to make the red.  Next time I’m going to try coloring my buttercream a day before and with only Americolor to see if I get better results.

That is one beautiful batch of cupcakes!!!

Pardon me while ai add another rave about the caramel SMBC.  It is awesome!!!!!!!!!

LittleIsland,
I can’t imagine how many man hours it took to prepare and to decorate the cupcakes, but they are awesome!

Your cupcakes are beautiful!  What a wonderful gift to give to your niece.  Wow!

These are so beautiful! Love them!!