The flowers below are easy to pipe, dainty, and work well as fill-in flowers. The flowers can be piped directly onto the cake when using buttercream. Pipe royal icing flowers on parchment paper and allow to set for several hours. When hardened, put in a container. The flowers will keep for several months. Adapted from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1589236696/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wwwcraftfoxes-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1589236696">"The Complete Photo Guide to Cake Decorating"</a> by Autumn Clark, published by Creative Publishing international.
To make drop flowers, start with the pastry bag at a 90° angle, touching the surface.
Apply pressure while turning the tip a quarter turn, keeping the tip touching the surface.
Continue with pressure while turning. Release pressure and raise tip straight up with a slight jerk to break off icing.
Use a contrasting color and pipe a dot in the center.
To make star flowers, start with the pastry bag at a 90° angle touching the surface.
Squeeze the pastry bag to pipe a star. Continue squeezing the pastry bag until the star is the desired size. The bag should not be lifted until the star is formed. Stop pressure and lift pastry bag.
Use a contrasting color and pipe a dot in the center.
Tip: A stiffer buttercream icing will create cleaner lines on your flower while a thinner icing will create a ruffled look. To thin your frosting, simply add a little more water.
This frosting flowers how-to is excerpted with permission from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1589236696/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1589236696&linkCode=as2&tag=craftfocom-20">"The Complete Photo Guide to Cake Decorating"</a> by Autumn Clark, published by Creative Publishing international.