Working With Russian Tips

Take a deep breath. Not every flower is going to be perfect!

Today we are using a modified American Buttercream Icing to make it stiffer. There are some other icings that you can use such as Custom Ice, a frozen whipped icing. You need to be sure that any icing is very stiff. Each icing behaves differently with the tips, so practice before putting the flowers on a cake.

The large ball tip works best to make flowers and put in the freezer to set. American Buttercream is best as The Custom Ice will not harden. Add color and interest by striping bags. You can do that with a paint brush and piping gel directly into the bag. Another way is to layer colors. On a piece of plastic wrap, spread out a 8” x 8” layer of icing. Spread another color on top not quite going all the way to the top and bottom edges. Fold the sides of the plastic wrap in to meet. Roll and elongate. Lift up and twist both ends. When inserting in to bag, cut one end close to where the icing starts and put that end in first.

Leaves are essential to go with these tips. My favorite is the 352. It looks like a V. Use it where the points of the V are vertical to each other.