Lesson 5: The Victorian Rose

 

This is the most beautiful cake I have made to date. It was almost painful cutting into it as it had to be eaten. Last week (I am finally up to date with my posting) we learned to pipe Victorian roses with the Wilton petal tip #97

They weren’t as difficult to learn as I originally thought but without my teacher showing me exactly how it’s done they might not have turned out as well. The Wilton book shows you the positioning of the bag and the angle of the tip with accompanying pictures. So if you follow you could create the rose, although you might find that it does not look as good as the picture. Even after seeing my teacher do a demo, my roses either looked flat or wonky. I was getting frustrated.

She came around to me and held my right hand and showed me how to pipe it. Learning to create roses, I realize that it is crucial where you position the tip and how much pressure to use when squeezing out the buttercream. Of course your left fingers (if you are a righty) have to twirl the flower nail smoothly too with the right amount of increments.

Sound hard? Well, it is not simple but it is definitely do-able! I chucked quite a few roses when I thought they look wilted or like someone trampled on them. Not pretty. The buttercream colours were a choice of pastel yellows, peaches and pink with an accent of violet. It made the cake look like it came right out of an English rose garden.

Can’t wait to try it somewhere else… a cupcake perhaps?