How To Make Flower Buttercream On Cupcakes

For a newbie like me, making flower buttercream on cupcakes was quite daunting. I kept thinking I will make mistakes while I learn, but there’s joy in baking right!. The most important thing is that you’re willing to learn and it goes along with the process. You will add more knowledge and experiences, and never stop trying.

Buttercream flowers are one of the easiest and prettiest ways to decorate the cupcakes or the cake. In this tutorial, I will show you the process from the beginning of what to prepare in order to create an easy and beautiful buttercream flower on cupcakes. 

What do you need : 

• Step 1 : Prepare the ingredients for cupcake and buttercream. I will show you the ingredients for Vanilla cupcakes and Korean buttercream. 
• Step 2: Prepare the baking tools

List of the things you need to make flower buttercream on cupcake:

• Cupcakes
• Choice of buttercream
• Piping Tips no : 103, 27, 1M, 81 and 68
• Flower nail (optional)
• Parchment paper square, cut to 3”x3” (optional)
• Food Coloring
• Miscellaneous items such as piping bags, paper towel, couplers, spatula, cupcake holder 

Ingredients for the cupcakes :

• ⅔ cup of all purpose flour ( 213g)
• 1 cup of granulated sugar (200g)
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder 
• ¼ tsp kosher salt
• ¾ cup of unsalted butter ( 170g), melted
• 3 eggs whites room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (15ml)
• ½ cup of sour cream (120ml), room temperature
• ½ cup of whole milk (120ml), warm

Ingredients for  Korean Buttercream :

• 100 gram granulated sugar
• 80 ml water ( ⅓ cup)
• Extra 60 grams of granulated sugar
• 160-170 grams of egg whites
• 300 grams of unsalted butter temperature room
• 2 tbsp meringue powder
• 1 tsp cream tartar

Instructions on how to make Vanilla Cupcake:

• Preheat oven to 350 degree F / 176 degree Celsius
• Place cupcake papers in the cupcake pan. 
• Sift the flour, sugar, salt baking soda and baking powder into a large bowl, whisk together.
• Separate the eggs. You can use the eggs yolks for a custard or any other cake recipe.
• In another bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients until combined. ( the batter may be clumpy, do not worry!
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients 
• Mix until combined 
• Distribute the batter evenly into cupcakes papers, filling each paper with about ⅔ way up.
• Bake for about 18 minutes or until the centre is springly to touch.

Instructions on how to make Korean Buttercream :

• Make sure all the utensils are grease free by spraying a lot of vinegar on it.
• Put the egg whites, meringue powder and cream tartar in the mixing bowl with whisking attachment. 
• Start boiling 100 grams of sugar and 80 ml of water with the candy thermometer inside the pan to check the temperature.
• Once the boiling sugar reaches 200 degree F, start whisk the egg whites mixture until bubbly and add in extra 60 gram sugar in it.
• Monitor the boiling sugar until it reaches 240 degree F soft ball consistency.
• Pour the boiling sugar into the mixing bowl slowly, be careful not to burn your hand.
• Let the mixture do their job until the bowl is not hot anymore to touch.
• When the bowl is ready at room temperature or cold, add the butter gradually.
• Keep mixing it, don’t worry if the mixture looks soapy at the beginning, just keep mixing until it becomes smooth. Add any flavor as desired.

Buttercream should be smooth and bubble-free, make sure you mix it on low with paddle attachment for 10-15 minutes after you make it. If the buttercream is watery, you can simply put the buttercream on the fridge for 15-30 minutes, then you can put it back in the mixer and mix it on low until it is smooth and ready to use.

How do you make an easy flower buttercream;

• The next step is preparing the piping bag and the food coloring. 
• Color your buttercream with your color of choice. I choose yellow and dark brown for sunflowers, pink and white for rose, and white for hydrangeas. 
• Unscrew the coupler and place the larger piece into the piping bag. Cut off the tip of the piping bag so that half of the coupler can fit through the hole.
• Attach your 103  piping tip for rose to the coupler and screw on the cap to secure the tip. 
•  27 piping tip for making sunflower 

Rose piping tip no 103 :

• Start by piping a dollop in the center to create a bud.
• The first inner circle has to have 3 petals. The technique is like creating an arch from left to right overlapping the first arch.
• Likewise, the next circle needs to have 5 petals. Create small petals in the beginning and as you reach the very end the petal size increases.

Sunflower piping tip no 27:

• Start by applying a base coat of yellow color onto the sides of your cupcakes.
• Holding the piping bag at an angle say around 30 degrees to the cupcake, apply some pressure to release the buttercream, leave the pressure while dragging the piping bag towards you at the same time to a height that you are satisfied with to create a pointed end. Repeat the process to complete one circle of petals on all around the cupcake.
• Holding the piping bag at an angle would give the petals a lifted look. You will be applying this little trick to all the other cupcake flowers too.
• To create the second layer of petals, the starting point would be the center of two petals. Refer to the attached pic below for clear understanding. Again this would be the same trick for all the other flowers too.
• Repeat the above step to create this inner circle of petals.

Hydrangeas piping tip no 1 M

This is one of the easiest ways of decorating with buttercream. Looks so intricate and complicated right with the purple petals and simple white center but you will be surprised to learn how easy it is to make one.

Buttercream Colour:  White, purple  or plain

• To a piping bag fitted with your nozzle add in the purple buttercream. With the back of your spoon spread the buttercream onto the sides of your piping bag creating a hollow center.
• Fill in the hollow center with plain or white coloured buttercream.