Buttercream Russian Piping Tips

A buttercream cake made with the tulips Russian piping tips can be a quick and easy way to make a celebration cake. Whether you want to make a mothers day cake or a birthday cake. This beautiful cake was made in a few hours from start to finish.

This cake was a last minute order for a mothers day cake. Yes, one of my regular customers called in a panic and said: "Veena I forgot today is mothers day!" I need a cake or something so I can gift my mom. Since, I lost my dad last year and I don't want her to get depressed. Can you help?

Well, at a time like this there is nothing you can do but help. Now, this guy knows that I usually need minimum two weeks booking for my cakes orders but he still chose to call me because he knew that I will not say no. This is a great relationship to have with your customers. However, such a last minute order can derail all planning you had for the day. You know what I mean.

And yet, I'm a big believer in buttercream cakes that can be a lifesaver for times like this. So, I used a couple of easy recipes and a few of my Russian Piping tips and this cake was done in a few hours from start to finish.

Timeline for decorating a cake

This cake totally defied all predictions I make in the post on the timeline for decorating a cake.

• You know my one bowl vanilla or chocolate cake Recipe. Well, that works great at times like this. Since, you just keep measuring ingredients into one bowl, mix it up, bake it and voila you have a baked cake.
• Then, I immediately wrapped the cake in the plastic/cling wrap and placed it in the freezer while I worked on my buttercream colors. And, an hour in the freezer does a great job of cooling the cake just enough so you can decorate it.
• Now, it is important to mention that normally you would not put a hot cake in the freezer if you want to store it for a longer period. In fact, it's best to cool the cake completely first, then wrap it up well before you place it in the freezer. However, since this cake is going to be cut today it was ok to do this quick freezing method.
• This is the 'star of the show' on this cake. If you plan to pipe buttercream flowers, this is the buttercream icing you need. Stiff and holds its shape. Also, great with humidity. In addition, taste absolutely delicious.
• And, while my cake was baking, I made this buttercream recipe ready and set to go.
• Then, while my cake was chilling in the freezer, I colored and prepared my buttercream bags with the piping tips. Notice I have some two-tone buttercream colors too.
• These are basically done by adding more than one color frosting in each bag.

And, you can also use these tips on cupcakes. In fact, I have shown you how I piped with these Russian Piping Tips in two videos: these Buttercream Flowers with Russian Piping Tips here, as well when I shared the green cake here Russian Buttercream Flowers.

About these piping tips

These Russian piping tips are a huge success when it comes to making buttercream flowers at the last minute. And, if you have the right frosting, this is as easy as piping borders. You have seen me decorate a similar cake when I made my floral buttercream cake with Russian piping tips. It's as simple as squeeze and release. The longer you squeeze the bag the taller your tulips become. However, remember this is buttercream so you need to keep them not too tall so they will hold their shape.

Also, these tips are now much more affordable. Back when I first bought them, I paid a bomb!!  Yup, expensive stuff. Now, they are affordable and can also be shipped to anywhere in the world.

So, once I had the buttercream in the piping bags and ready to go, the top of the cake took me about 20 minutes. And, the basket weave does take a tag longer, but still very simple and easy.