I love cake designs that incorporate lots of piping or texture. Buttercream petal cakes are a perfect example, and this pretty “Petal Effect” around the sides is one of the easiest techniques there is. You will love how quickly these elegant petal cakes come together, and how simple the method is to learn!
In this video, I’m using vanilla buttercream (“Fluffy” from the Recipes section) — which is my usual medium consistency. My bag is fitted with a Wilton Tip 12 (medium sized round tip).
You will also learn to create a gum paste flower for the top of the cake using several gum paste petals (14 to be exact) that were dried & pushed into a small mound of buttercream. This is a really quick trick for assembling gum paste flowers (and best done close to the time of the event.) We love the look.
Enjoy!
Loved the instructions, so easy and yet it packs a powerful punch…everyone loved it. Thank you…
I just love this cake so beautiful!!!!! Such a great tutorial!!!! Thank you for sharing!
This is awesome!
Hi Melissa,
I tried this design out yesterday….Normally I work with only fondant but thought I would give buttercream a go…and it turned out so beautiful and pretty, it was alot easier than what I thought it would be.
thanks so much for putting up this tutorial will definately be doing it over and over again :)
Yay Genelle! So glad to hear that :0)
Hi Melissa,
Need your help, I wanted to get the tool you used and I google it as AKA DRESDEN TOOL and can’t find it, can you let me know where you got it please? I am traveling back to Mexico next week and would love to take it with me… Thanks
Nona
Hi Melissa! I just wanted to let you know that I made a mini cake using this effect and it turned out great! I actually first saw this type of frosting elsewhere but your video really helped me get a sense of what to do. Here’s my photo/post http://www.6bittersweets.com/2011/11/pretty-sweet-potato-cake-for.html
Hi Xiaolu—what a great job you did!!! The cake is perfect–thanks for sharing it!
Nona–I’m sorry, that is my fault. I should have spelled out “also known as”, rather than typing the abbreviation AKA. If you do a Google search for “Dresden tool”, you should be able to find a lot of online cake supply stores that carry them. I’ll see if I can figure out where mine came from.
I made a square cake covered on top and side with the method. It turned out very pretty. The only “issue” was that the fluffy buttercream was full of air and not smooth at all. It didn’t bother me and my friend loved the cake.
Hi, can I do this technique using chocolate cake? if so, do you have any suggestions of what kind of frosting i will use? Thanks in advance.
Hi Ann–Yes, chocolate cake would work fine too! – I’ve only used this technique with chocolate and vanilla buttercream. (You can find what I refer to as “fluffy” and “classic” versions in the Recipes section—fluffy contains shortening, classic is all butter).
Melissa, thank you so much for this tutorial. I made this cake today. I love how it came out. I would have never thought to make loose petals then arrange them in the buttercream. Awesome tip!
This was a great tutorial and I can’t wait to use it. It looks very simple and fast. This would be a great alternative to a last minute cake idea.
This is the cake that got me interested in your site in the first place:) I now finally have the opportunity to make one but the client wants a Red Velvet Cake with Cream cheese Frosting. Will this type of frosting work for this technique?
Thanks everybody!! —
@Kate, the cream cheese frosting on our site is a little on the softer side. I prefer it more as a filling. If I were using as a frosting (petal effect included), I would either combine it with some regular vanilla buttercream to thicken it up, or I would use the Crusting Cream Cheese frosting (which contains shortening) that you can find on CakeCentral.com—Good luck!!
Thanks Melissa. I didn’t realize there was crusting cream cheese recipe out there. I will try that:)
Wonderfu turorial! Can’t wait to try this one. Thank you so much.
Thanks Norma! ;0)
Lovely cake and easy to follow tutorial, thank you Melissa, I will definitely try this soon and also try the flowers with the petals as that looked amazing x
Thank you so much for this tutorial. I overbooked myself this weekend and didn’t have a clue on what I could do for an elegant birthday cake and this is it! Melissa your cake school is the best investment that I have made since starting my cake decorating business!
Thanks so much, Angela!! I really appreciate it and am so glad that you will be making this cake! ;0)
I Love this cake!! Can’t wait to try it!!
Hi, Melissa. What size cakes did you use? It’s always hard to judge by the picture.
Hi Lanette, Well, we don’t have notes on this cake. We try to always do that now. I know that each tier is 3 layers. I would say it is a 9 inch, six inch or a 10 inch 6 inch
This is so beautiful and making a flower out of petals is really smart. I’m thinking of doing this for an anniversary. Thanks for sharing.
Simply adorable, Melissa..another wonderful tutorial and one that I can use over and over again. You and your mom are the best!!!
Tried this today with the fluffy buttercream and found it hard to work with – it kept cracking and splitting – not the smooth look I was going for. I tried beating it some more, which only helped a little and I also warmed up my offset spatula which helped but took a lot longer. You didnt seem to have that problem! Would another frosting work better, like Italian Buttercream?
Thank you!
Emily
Hi Emily, I’m sorry you had a problem. If it is cracking and splitting, sounds as though you need a bit more liquid added to the fluffy buttercream recipe, making it softer and easier to spread. Swiss Meringue works well for this technique. We haven’t used Italian meringue buttercream but it should be find also.
Melissa, I tried this today with a 3-layer chocolate cake and your fluffy buttercream. It worked like a charm! I also tried making a hydrangea using your technique. This was my first attempt but your tutorials really helped me (as always)! Thank you so much!!
@shelltchr- Yay! Your cake is beautiful! You did such a great job. Thanks so much for sharing! xo
hi i do like to earn how you make your buttrecram
I tried this effect but when i got all the way to the other side before the spot where I began I didnt know what to do because if I pulled it it would grab some of the begging do you have a video were you put it on the cake all the way through
Hi Vees, Melissa does have a video on this technique, here is a link https://www.mycakeschool.com/video-tutorials/petal-effect-around-sides/. She talks about your question at about 5:01 minutes into the video, you can skip ahead to that time. Hope this helps.