Russian Piping Tips Tutorial - Buttercream Flowers

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These floral buttercream cupcakes are the simplest, easiest and quickest way to dress cupcakes for a quick party or give away. Today, I will show you how to use these Russian piping tips effortlessly. And, using my recipe for buttercream flowers will make sure you make these perfectly every single time, and also have fun doing it. 

These Russian flower tips all over the internet has driven me crazy. I kept seeing them everywhere. But, there was no information on where to buy them. So, guess what? I finally found a place to buy them. However, it took forever to get them here. 

And then, a week later, they were selling them everywhere!! Amazon had them eBay had them, and so did most cake decorating stores. Hence, this is the last time I'm going to drive myself crazy over a product. Next time, I'm just going to wait until everybody else has them. 

And, the worst thing about wanting to have a new product first are the prices. In fact, I paid a lot more than I would today. Not to mention the shipping. And yet, I must say that these are worth every penny. I mean look at these babies. Like... wow!! 

How many Russian piping tips are there?

These are the tips I used for this set of cupcakes. They are an investment but not really so expensive. Furthermore, they are so versatile that you can also use them for cakes. And, they come is really a wide variety and plenty of new designs now.

When I got mine, they were the first set of 9 tips available. Since then, the cake decorating world had gone crazy over the possibilities of these Russian tips. Honestly, if you using them for the first time, buy just a few - don't buy the whole set. You can always buy more. In fact, I have a few that I have yet to use. Know what I mean? 

Recently, I saw they come in a set of 21 tips and set of 18 tips. And, also a set of 64 Russian flower tips with everything from piping bags to couplers added.

In fact, I highly recommend buying the coupler so you can change the piping tips to create different designs. I think it gives you a lot more options and flexibility.

Video - How to make flowers with Russian tips

 

What is the best buttercream for Russian piping tips?

• Buttercream recipe - The first key to piping these flowers right - buttercream. You must have the right buttercream recipe for this.
  For example, in this video, I have used my velvet American buttercream recipe, which is very close to my heart. But the best buttercream recipe for piping flowers is my recipe Stiff Buttercream for piping flowers.  I guarantee that you will make the best buttercream flowers with this recipe. Works for me every single time. 
• Buttercream consistency - You need to make sure your buttercream is STIFF peak consistency. This will give you beautiful well-defined buttercream flowers. Just like when you pipe buttercream ruffles or roses. So, follow the above recipe closely.
• Also, do not whip your buttercream too much. Air pockets are not fun when piping.
• Coloring the buttercream - I prefer to add color gels to my buttercream. You have to take into account that adding color affects the consistency of your buttercream. So, make sure to accommodate that when you work on any buttercream recipes. For example, I add much less liquid to my buttercream if I plan to do any piping. And, in my buttercream recipe for piping flowers, I have taken this into account.
• In addition, mix colors without adding too much air into your buttercream.
• Some of these tip designs will look a lot better if you add two different colors instead of one. Adding two colors to your piping bag can make a huge difference to the overall look of these cupcakes. You can see below some have shades of pink and purple and some peach and pink. 
• And, do not skip on the leaves. Leaves will bring out the flowers beautifully. Make a bag of green buttercream - also with the same stiff buttercream recipe and use a leaf piping tip.
• The colors will deepen as they sit - so once you start the cake - make sure you finish the cake.
• And, if you store buttercream for later - the color may not be the same as the ones in on the cake. The colors shades will be different. In this case, it's not critical.

Can I use meringue buttercream with Russian tips? 

In fact, I have used both Swiss meringue and Italian meringue buttercream with my Russian Buttercream tips. And, the truth is that you can, provided you have a perfect buttercream. What does that mean? If the egg whites are whipped well and adding the butter has not lost its meringue, and you have used the right amount of butter. And, if you are new to using Russian Piping tips, I highly recommend using my stiff buttercream recipe first. Master the Russian Tips first then go play with different buttercream flavors and recipes. 

You can use these tips on cakes too. I have shown you how I piped the green Russian Tulips in this video here. And, the other is Mothers Day Cake with Rusian Piping tips. It uses the techniques I have already shared with you in many of my videos. 

These are just one color for simplicity. I was still new to these tips myself. I have used two colors in some as you can see above and in my post Mothers Day Cupcakes with Russian Piping Tips. 

Save this recipe on Pinterest for later.
You can also find a collection of my tutorials and recipes here on Pinterest.

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