I just love ruffles—and am so happy that they are still going strong as a trend in fashion as well as cake decorating! In this video, I am demonstrating how to pipe buttercream ruffles onto cakes and cupcakes! This is a design that I often see done in fondant, but I think that you will like the buttercream version just as well (or better!)
I am also discussing the Ombre technique — this effect simply means a gradience of color. I love the look!
Supplies!
Here are the basic supplies that I used–
Americolor Teal (to color various shades of buttercream)
Buttercream (I’m using the Fluffy Recipe, medium consistency) –A crusting recipe is nice, but not essential. See below for note about Cream Cheese frosting.
Tip 104 (but you can experiment with other petal tips also. I had no luck with an extra large petal tip)
White Sanding Sugar (optional) -I used to sprinkle over the top
White Sixlets chocolate candies–(optional) –I used these for my pearls on my cupcakes
Pearl Dust (optional) -If you are making pearls for your cupcakes, this will make them realistic.
****A note about Cream Cheese Frosting: We’ve had a couple of members post that they did not have good luck with this technique using frosting that they had stirred a bit of cream cheese into. I think that the consistency was just too soft. I can only say that our crusting buttercreams (fluffy and classic) work well with this technique. If the buttercream seems too soft, just add a little more powdered sugar.
**** The gum paste flower is going to be in a separate video—CLICK HERE for the flower tutorial!
**8/5/22- Hello from the future! ;0) – This is one of our early, early videos! You can tell because for one thing– what I look like, lol- and also this is in our pre-tripod days when Mom was filming me by trying to keep her arms as steady as possible lol- not so easy! Haha- Anyway, this is still a great, easy technique- Hope you enjoy the video!!
Fantastic video! This has given me a major itch to make some ruffled cupcakes! ;)
It came out beautiful! Can’t wait to make this cake!
now this is just stunning!
Gorgeous! Can’t wait for the flower tutorial!!
So glad I joined. Your ideas inspire!
I can’t wait to do these techniques! BTW I love ombree!!!!
Beautiful cake nice technique. Thank you!!
This is awesome. I did a ruffle cake with fondant petals and it took forever! I will definitely do this next time. I can’t wait for the flower tutorial!
LOVE IT!! Especially the cupcakes and flower. Looking forward for the flower video tutorial. Thanks, Melissa!
Very pretty! Love it!!!
Verry nice! Love the cupcake ideas, too!
Wow that is beautiful! Can’t wait for the Flower Video! :-)
Beautiful! It is amazing in that you used one piping tip and one method so to speak and have made something elegant that can be used for a number of occassions. Thank you, keep ’em coming. Looking forward to the flower video.
Simply loved the tutorial. Looks easy and elegant. Waiting for the flower tutorial! Thanks.
I am learning so much from these Tutorials. Thank you.
So beautiful & not difficult!! Thanks so much!!
Thanks! The cake is so beautiful!! :)
I’m so excited to try that flower I can’t wait for that video to be posted :) Beautiful
Thank you so much for doing this video! I absolutely love the look of the ruffles and the gradation of the color. I can’t wait to give it a try. And, I too, can’t wait for the flower video.
Stunning! I just love the look of the cake, but the flowered cupcake is gorgeous!
Can’t wait to try this!! Love it!!
i love that you included the bloop! beautiful cake melissa. i cant wait to give it a try!
Definitely will try this one.
I love this tutorial! Such a simple cake with great effects!
I would love to view this tutorial but cannot get it to play. All others seem to be working fine, is this one just temporarily down?
Hi everybody—I’ve had a few complaints with not being able to view this video for some reason. Not sure why this would be, but I’m going to re-upload it tonight. Maybe there was some weird glitch with the upload that made it incompatible with some computers? Not sure…but I’m working on reloading tonight.
Okay—just re-loaded–is it working for you?
Yes it is….and thank you Melissa for sending a personal email. Very kind of you. My cake is crumb coated and I’m excited to give it a try! You are awesome!
Good!!
Melissa, will this ruffle look work upside down?????? To give it the skirt look?
Hi Lisabeth, yes it will
this is just so cool! Thank you so much love it and can’t wait to try it out!!
I am going to try this cake. I love love love the flower. I have really enjoyed watching your tutorials, they are very informative.
I love this ruffle look! I think it would be a beautiful wedding cake! Thanks
Wow I really love this look! You said you used 6″ cake…but how many and did you use any support? I’m really new so Im sure I’ll have lots of questions! Sorry :)
Ansa
Thanks for all of your comments! Kimberly, I agree–this technique would make a beautiful wedding cake!
Ansa–I believe that this cake was three 6″ layers. There were no supports necessary. Just the cardboard cake circle beneath the cake cut to the exact size of the cake. :0)
This cake is beautiful Melissa. I hope to make one real soon. That is a lot of piping, I noticed you said your hand was hurting. I recommend wearing compression gloves when you have a lot of piping to do. They are like a support stocking for your hand and they make a world of difference. You can get them at WalMart… here’s a link. http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sm-Md-Compression-Support-Glove/14264842 When I worked for Cookies by Design and was decorating 100s of cookies a day, I didn’t think I was going to be able to work past my first Christmas there because my hands hurt so bad. These helped!!!
Can I use a dummy cake to practice this design? Any suggestions r welcome. Thank u. Have a bless day……
Hi Debbie, you could practice on a dummy cake, maybe if you wrap it in plastic wrap. It is so difficult to wash the buttercream from those. You could also use a tube pan and turn it upside down to practice your ruffles
I am not getting video to pop up. Can this be fixed? Thanks.
Stacy
Hi Stacy–Can you click on the Member FAQ in the right side bar and skip to question #5– there is a link to updating your Adobe Flash. I think that this is likely your issue–but please send me an e-mail if the problem continues and we’ll look for other answers. (info@mycakeschool.com)
love itttttttttttttt
My daughter is getting married this summer. What a perfect idea for a shower cake and cupcakes! Thanks so much!
Love this!!
If you were doing this as a wedding cake, would you do the ruffles before or after stacking tiers?
Hi- You could make it work either way…but I think I would do the ruffles first and then stack. You could always pipe the last (bottom) row of ruffles on each tier once they are stacked so that you can easily shift the tiers if you need to without the worry of damaging the ruffles.
Hi Melissa when you say medium consistency is that the exact recipe for you Fluffy buttercream or do you add more liquid?
Hi–yes, the frostings that I use most often (“Classic” and “Fluffy”) should already be medium consistency without having to add more liquid. As long as it holds it’s shape nicely, and flows easily through the piping tip, it’s “medium”.
thank you and again love love your site
Thanks Lori! (and you are welcome) ;0)
For the fluffy buttercream frosting, do you need the full 12 cup recipe for the ruffles?
Hi Melissa, we were working on a small 6 inch cake so I’m sure we didn’t need the full 12 cups. I don’t know how many we used because we just make a big batch of frosting and freeze to use later as needed.
I just used this method for a cake order last night and I love it!!!! I will post a picture in the members gallery, but have to say that this technique was simple and so beautiful once it was completed!! I can’t wait to do more like this!
Chris
Great! Looking forward to seeing it.
Hi Melissa! This is such a stunning cake! Can we have a tutorial of this with fondant/gumpaste? Pretty please.. =) I see plenty of photos like this using gumpaste and would like to know how they attach it to the cake. Thank you!
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, IT!!!
Hi Melissa!
I love how pretty this design is and tried it the other day for my MIL’s birthday cake. I did have a little trouble with the ruffles–they seemed a little thick and heavy (didn’t have that pretty delicate ruffle look) and started to slide down the side of the cake after a while, revealing the white crumb coat and collecting at the bottom :0( Any idea what did I do wrong? In case it has something to do with why my ruffles slid, I used the high ratio fluffy buttercream recipe (with fat free milk), but found that it didn’t really crust much until the next morning (after I was already done piping).
Thanks for your help!
Alex
Love this cake. I’m gonna try it for mother’s day
@Patti & Danielle, thank you!!!_-
@AJane–I’m sorry to hear that! We’ve had a couple of members tell us of similar sliding issues when using a very soft icing like cream cheese….but I’m surprised that you had this issue with the high ratio.
I’m not sure why it would have come out too thick, assuming the thin end of the petal tip was up.
Did you happen to see any condensation on the crumb coat–had it by chance just come out of being in the fridge for several hours? I’ll be thinking….I’m sorry that this happened!
Can I use the classic or fluffy buttercream for this cake? I tried the fluffy but is seemed very soft and did not make good ruffles. Any suggestions? Should the buttercream be really cold? Thank you!!! : )
Hi Nicole–I’m sorry that you had trouble getting the ruffles! Did you try adding more powdered sugar to thicken up the frosting? That is the best way thicken the consistency. Chilling does firm things up, but I hesitate to do this (unless your icing is actually melting rather than a super soft consistency at room temp)- I would make a note to add a little less liquid next time and then if it seems too thick, you can add the milk in just a tiny bit at a time. This should help with the ruffling.
Just to make sure we’re on the same page..did the icing actually seem too soft in the mixing bowl…or was it just the heat of your hands as you held the piping bag that softened it?
Thank you for the response! It did just seem soft kinda like it was coming out of the bag to fast and not holding good shape if that makes sense.
I am going to make this cake for a new co-workers birthday in July. I love the fact that your videos are real & not touched up so that everything is perfect-it shows me how to correct problem areas….I have learned soooo much since joining…thank you
Thank you Rosemarie!
Amazing Video! Love the Butter Cream icing ruffles! Hoping to try it out soon for my friends Birthday cake… Thank you for the great video!
If I don’t have any high ratio shortening would it be better to use Crisco or make the classic frosting? Im in Texas so I was thinking the Crisco.
I made this cake tonight with the high ratio shortening. The closer I got to the bottom the more gooey my icing got. I don’t know if the coloring changed the consistency of the icing or what? But it wouldn’t even hold it’s shape. I was using americolor pink. The top half was perfect! Did I do something else wrong?
Hi Leslie- Did you do an ombre effect with the pink (varying shades)…with the darkest pink being the last rows that you piped? If so, then the extra coloring could possibly have changed the consistency. The remedy to this is to stir in more confectioner’s sugar. However, if you were using the same shade of frosting for the entire cake, it could be that the icing simply got very warm in the piping bag from the heat of your hands. If this is the case, you can always chill your piping bag in the fridge for a few minutes to firm things up. I’m sorry that you had trouble ! I think that with these tips in mind, next time will be perfect!
Loooove the ruffles! Soon my little girl will turn 1 so this would make a perfect design for her birthday cake. However, we really don’t like the taste of regular buttercream-way too sweet, so I usually only use SMBC. I understand from the comments that SMBC is a no-go in this instance, since it’s too soft. Could I use the chocolate frosting from your recipe section though? Or, if all else fails, do you have any tips on making regular BC less sweet?
Thanks, in advance!
Hi Sugargirl, you could use the chocolate recipe, just be sure it is stiff enough to hold its shape. Also, when piping some people have hot hands. If the frosting in your piping bag starts to become soft, put your bag into the refrigerator for just a few minutes until it firms up again.
About the sweetness of buttercream, you can add salt to decrease the sweetness. We like to use popcorn salt because it dissolves more quickly, or you could dissolve your salt in whatever liquid you are using in your buttercream.
This video is missing today?
Nevermind – after refreshing a few times, it appeared! :)
Good :0)!
Thanks Melissa, I love your tutorials. I was wondering if you could actually give a tutorial on how to do the layered ruffle in sugarpaste. Thank you
hiii
if i want the ruffles going up side down can i make the same steps but only with the tip to the other side?
Hi Melissa, Yes, do as you said but start at the bottom of the cake and work your way up, slightly overlapping the ruffles as you go.
ok i wll made that :D tnks!!!!
Love your tutorials!!! I made this cake for the first time using the ruffle effect! Thank You so much! It turned out just beautiful! I do have a question though, I used the fluffy buttercream recipe which turned out great and right consistency, but where I had my problem was that after I would get a few rows on the cake the icing ruffles kept wanting to fall off. I did crumb coat my cake and it was chilled, I didn’t have aton of buttercream for my crumb coat. Could that maybe have been my problem? I would like to make this again practice practice practice! But, I hoping it will be easier next time! Any tips? Thanks
Oh, Also what I did was start at the top and worked my way down! Also, I am left handed, I wouldn’t think that would make any difference though! Thanks
Can I use your Swiss meringue buttercream for the ruffles?
Hi JoAnne, yes you can use our recipe for SMBC for the ruffles.
Great thank you.
How is this technique for transporting? I’m hesitant to do this for a wedding cake just because I’m scared to death by the time I got the cake to the venue the icing would have fallen off. Do you have a tutorial of this ruffle technique with fondant?
gorgeous thank you for sharing… look forward to trying!!!
Hi I tried using the fluffy buttercream for this cake.After I took it out from the refrigerator it stayed beautiful for like 10 minutes them the top layer of the ruffles slowly started falling down and all the layers were squished and it looked messy. What would have gone wrong?
Hi Sanjna–I’m sorry that you had this problem! I have not had this happen to me, but I have heard of this happening before–probably even in the comments above.
I think that what happens is that sometimes people may pipe their rows of buttercream mainly on the row of buttercream above it…rather than making sure that their buttercream is actually coming into contact with the cake itself as you pipe (and of course it will touch the row above it too.) — You need that extra security of the piped ruffles coming into contact with the cake itself–otherwise, row after row of piped ruffles can become heavy if it isn’t properly secured to the cake and could cause sliding.
If you are in a very humid climate, that can take a toll on buttercream as well…especially if it is hot and the cake is cold. However, my first explanation I think is the most common cause of sliding.
I’m sorry that this happened! Hope this helps!
I love the look of this cake and am getting more and more requests for buttercream, however, twice now I have had a section of the icing fall off – I’ve read above and will try to make sure I’m attaching the icing to the cake but it keeps sliding… Any tips to prevent this would be great! Thanks for all the great tutorials….
Hi twiceasnice–I’m so sorry that you are having this trouble. I wish that I could see your cake in person to get a better idea of what the cause may be. Are you using a basic American buttercream recipe like one from our site (the classic, fluffy, or high ratio for instance?) — Does it seem very soft? Are you in a humid area or is there any chance that your cake could have condensation on it at the time that you are applying the buttercream?
I finally took the time to watch this! And I am so glad I did! I love ruffles too! I have been trying to transition into doing fondant but I am old school and so happy to see something with buttercream! Yay! And the cupcakes were awesome too!
Thank you for your nice comment, Sheila.
hi, i really want to do this technique on a dummy cake so i keep for a display, will it harden up enough and keep. cant wait to try this :)
Hi Sharon, yes, as the buttercream dries out it will harden and you should be able to keep it quite a while. Keep in mind that if your buttercream is colored, the color will fade in sunlight and florescent lighting.
Hi Melissa,
I am going to make this flower for a cake this weekend and have 2 questions:
#1- Would I be able to use a “jewel” from the craft store ,in the middle instead of a gumpaste ball? Would it hold the weight? If so, should I put it in gumpaste to attach?
#2- Have you ever tried this flower in white chocolate or would it not be able to have petals thin enough?
Thank you. Can’t wait to try it.
Hi–Glad that you are making this! – I don’t see any problem with using a jewel from a craft store–it should hold the weight just fine. I would think that a small piece of gum paste would hold it just fine….or if the jewel is transparent, piping gel.
I have never tried this flower in white modeling chocolate. I think that you could get a similar look…but as you mentioned, the thinness of the petals may be a bit more difficult to achieve. If it isn’t important to you for the flower to be edible, I’d probably just go with gum paste.
I made it in gumpaste, made the center ( couldn’t find a jewel) and it turned out beautiful. Picture posted. They loved it- thank you once again Melissa! You make me look good.
Can you use chocolate ganache for the ruffles? If so, what ratio for the recipe? Thanks!
Hi cmartinez—I really can’t say for sure since I’ve never tried. I would probably start with a 2:1 ratio of chocolate to cream for a good piping consistency. I would definitely do a test run before trying it out for an order. Let us know how it goes if you experiment with it!
I love the ruffles supper cute!!
Hi! I really love this technique and gave it a try, but had some major problems. On the first try my ruffles slid off the cake overnight. The next day I scraped it off and tried again. This morning when I woke up the ruffles had just fallen over. :( I have no idea what I did wrong. I used the fluffy vanilla buttercream.
Hi Kelly, this is a post that Melissa made earlier about this problem. I hope it will help.
I’m sorry that you had this problem! I have not had this happen to me, but I have heard of this happening.
I think that what happens is that sometimes people may pipe their rows of buttercream mainly on the row of buttercream above it…rather than making sure that their buttercream is actually coming into contact with the cake itself as you pipe (and of course it will touch the row above it too.) — You need that extra security of the piped ruffles coming into contact with the cake itself–otherwise, row after row of piped ruffles can become heavy if it isn’t properly secured to the cake and could cause sliding.
If you are in a very humid climate, that can take a toll on buttercream as well…especially if it is hot and the cake is cold. However, my first explanation I think is the most common cause of sliding.
Also, it can be helpful to have your cake crumb coated before you begin adding ruffles. And if your ruffles are drooping and not holding their shape you will need to stiffen the buttercream. Just as a caution, cream cheese frosting is not a good choice to pipe ruffles. I hope this helps,this is such a pretty technique for a cake. Let us know how it goes.
Thank you!
So pretty:)
I made this cake, it turned out beautiful but the layers started sloughing off. It didn’t want to stick to the sides. I was so disappointed. What did I do wrong?
@rachtx- I’m so sorry to hear that! I need to see if I can duplicate the problem in our kitchen because every now and then a member has this issue and I know it must be SO frustrating.
I remember that one of our members said either in a discussion here or in the forums, that crumb coating the cake right before applying the ruffles (rather than letting the crumb coat crust over for hours before applying ruffles) helps the ruffles to really grab onto the cake.
The other possible causes could be if there was condensation on your cake from removing from the refrigerator which when paired with the weight of the ruffles, caused them to slide down.
Another possible cause could be just not making sure that the ruffle is coming into contact with the cake. For instance, if the ruffles were just attaching to the ruffles on the previous row rather than to the cake, it could cause the frosting to become too heavy and slide.
I’m not sure if any of these issues would apply to you but I hope that something listed above helps you! I’m very sorry that you had to deal with sliding– uggh! Let us know if you have any more questions!
Would I be able to apply these buttercream ruffles to a ganache covered cake?
I need to make a two tier ruffled cake. Would you ruffle first, then stack? Or stack first? I thought of ruffling the top tier almost all the way to the bottom, then stacking it, then adding the final bottom ruffle. What do you think?
Hi Lori, We would ruffle the bottom bottom tier then place the second tier on and ruffle. I think your method would work fine also, there is always more than one way. Remember it is easier to move and stack a decorated tier if it is well chilled. Hope all goes smoothly.
I had a one layer cake left over so it don’t look the best but still came out ok
Would the Pipeable Cream Cheese frosting work for this method? I’m making a Red Velvet Cake would the fluffy buttercream taste ok with Red Velvet? I’ve only ever used Cream Cheese for this type of cake.
Hi Sharon, I haven’t tried a ruffle cake with the pipeable cream cheese recipe –although it works great for most piped designs, I’m not sure that I would trust it to hold up without at least a trial run. I’m afraid it may be more prone to sliding just because of the weight and angle of the ruffles. If nothing else, you could fill the layers with cream cheese frosting and pipe your ruffles with buttercream. If you try it, let us know how it goes! I’ll have to try this myself sometime.
@Paulawilson- I missed your photo before, you did a beautiful job!
Hi Melissa,
I was planning on making this cake using your white cake recipe. That fills 2 8″ pans. Does that mean it is appropriate for 3 6″ pans like the one you’ve made above. Hope my question makes sense.
Best regards
Hi Urooj, yes, you can use three 6 ” pans, baking time will be 25 to 30 minutes.
Thank you so much Bebe