How to Make Frosting Roses

Assemble Your Supplies

There are many different ways to make roses out of frosting, but we feel that this is one of the easiest and most basic methods, and produces a nice large flower (final result pictured above). You can use any buttercream recipe to make these flowers, or a medium-consistency royal icing recipe will also work. Buttercream recipes will harden in the refrigerator or freezer but become soft again at room temperature, while royal icing recipes will harden completely and can be stored at room temperature indefinitely.

To Make Frosting Roses You Will Need

• 1 batch of frosting
• a pastry bag fitted with a coupler
• a large rose tip
• a rose nail
• small squares of wax paper

Prepare the Rose Nail

Fit the piping bag with the rose tip and fill it with your frosting. Hold the piping bag in your dominant hand and the rose nail in the other. Pipe a small amount of frosting onto the top of the rose nail, and press a small square of wax paper onto the frosting, using the frosting to secure the paper to the nail.

Create the Center of the Rose

• Position the tip onto the top of the nail, with the wide end touching the nail. The tip should be angling inward.
• The key to using the flower nail is to synchronize your hand movements. You need to squeeze the frosting out of the bag at a steady rate and move the piping bag while also turning the nail slightly in the opposite direction. Apply gentle pressure on the bag and squeeze out the frosting in a slow continuous stream, spinning the nail in one full circle to produce a cone shape that is wide on the outside, tapering to a fine point on the inside. This is the center of your rose.

Make the First Layer of Petals

• Next, make the first layer of petals around the cone. You will have three petals total, so try to make each petal about one-third the circumference of the cone. Position the tip on the side of the frosting cone, slightly above the base of the nail—the top of the tip should extend above the top of the cone so that the petals are higher than the center of the rose. Squeeze the piping bag and move the tip in a slight arc while you rotate the nail in the opposite direction to form the first petal. If done properly, the middle of the petal will be slightly higher than the sides and will have a gentle outward fold.
• Place the tip so that it overlaps with the very edge of the first petal and repeat the procedure to form a second petal that slightly overlaps the first. Repeat once more so that you have three petals total that encircle the center of the cone.

Add a Second Layer of Petals

• Now that you have your first layer of petals, it’s time to form the second layer—this one will have five petals total. Position the tip on the outside of one of the petals, again placing it slightly above the head of the rose nail so that it arcs up and outward. Repeat the squeezing and turning to form your petal.
• Continue to create the petals of this layer, being sure to overlap each petal over the previous one so that they form an unbroken circle around the center.

Finish Your Roses

• This is usually the last layer we create, and it is composed of seven petals. As you create your petals, be sure to space them evenly around the rose. Try to make this last layer tidy and to ensure the bottom ends of the petals are angled inward instead of splaying messily outward. If you have extra room on your nail and want to make a larger rose, you can continue to add layers around the center.
• Once your flower is complete, carefully slide the wax paper off of the nail and place it on a baking sheet or other flat surface. Repeat the procedure to create as many flowers as you need (and a few extra in case of emergencies!) If you are using buttercream, place the flowers in the refrigerator or freezer to harden if you are not using them right away. Once hard, they can easily be removed by hand or spatula and placed on a cake. If you are using royal icing, leave the flowers at room temperature to harden. The outside will harden almost immediately, but the bottom (the part touching the wax paper) will take longer, so give them 24 hours to fully set before removing them from the paper. They can be stored indefinitely at room temperature.