I made some in class that were awful. Then I thinned my icing slightly at home and made gorgeous ones.


Now I"m trying to make them "for real" and they're awful again. I used wal mart brand confectioner's sugat b/c they were out of Domino. And I think it may be too thin now. Ugh.

HELP!

I do have the hubby (who's running errands) bringing me home some Domino.

Brandy[/img]

Your rose look beautiful to me.....

Thanks!

The problem is that was the good one and I can't do them again. I made a few the other night like those for practice, and now I'm making them for on my cake and they really big (using hte right tips) and the icing is drooping, my base is leaning to the side as soon as I start to put petals on and it won't come out of the tip in a smooth petal.

I just use whatever powdered sugar is on sale or bulk like from Sam's Club, never seen a difference in the consistency or texture. Maybe put your icing in the fridge to stiffen it up a bit.

Walmart brand icing sugar is 4x. I called and asked. Domino's is 10x.

Most people think that that is the number of times it is sifted but it really means the fineness of the sieve it goes through. So the higher the number the finer the sift.

In Canada Lantic is coarser than Redpath. It's 6x I believe. Also, there is more cornstarch in the lesser numbers. You can really tell the difference if you put them side by side. You can always resift and that can help.

I do not have great advice. I have trouble with the buttercream roses too! I started making gumpaste flowers, and I have had much more success although it is very time consuming. I have thought about renewing my efforts with the buttercream flowers after I saw someone make a cake on Amazing Wedding Cakes the other day. It was gorgeous!

Good luck to you!

Your rose is very pretty. I still can't get the hang of it. My rose flops over, my edges are jagged, you name it. The best description I've heard is "cabbages" and that's what mine look like.

Some folks have told me that when I get the jagged edges my BC is too stiff, I can see that being an issue. But, I'm worried that if I try to thin it, I'm going to end up with even droopier roses.

I use Domino powdered sugar for the most part, but I have used a store brand when they are out and it doesn't seem to make a difference in my failure / success rate (actually just failure rate, I haven't had what I would call a success yet, lots of cabbage, no rose).

Good luck!

I forgot to say that your good rose is lovely!

I don't like making them at all and would rather spend the time on a gumpaste rose. it seems that I make so many buttercream rejects I could have made one in gumpaste. Having said that, now that I'm teaching Wilton classes I have to pretend to like making them.

Sometimes in class it's a little harder to make them when everyone is watching. My Wilton manager says that the canned wilton frosting is perfect for making roses. I just bought a can and am going to give it a try.

Make a bunch of centers on waxed paper squares and put them in the freezer. Let them firm up and then take them out one at a time and pipe the petals on.

Thanks all.

A new question. I was having such a hard time with the icing I colored purple...it seemed stiff enough when it was white and then when I colored it it seemed thinner. (I used the wilton icing colors)

I made plain white roses then...out of the exact same batch of icing. And they were much better.

Could my coloring have altered it? Its not supposed to...

OR

Could I have stirred it too much to mix the color in thoroughly? It was definitely different consistency after I added it... And if so, how DO you mix your color in...

Brandy

Thanks all.

A new question. I was having such a hard time with the icing I colored purple...it seemed stiff enough when it was white and then when I colored it it seemed thinner. (I used the wilton icing colors)

I made plain white roses then...out of the exact same batch of icing. And they were much better.

Could my coloring have altered it? Its not supposed to...

OR

Could I have stirred it too much to mix the color in thoroughly? It was definitely different consistency after I added it... And if so, how DO you mix your color in...

Brandy

Thanks all.

A new question. I was having such a hard time with the icing I colored purple...it seemed stiff enough when it was white and then when I colored it it seemed thinner. (I used the wilton icing colors)

I made plain white roses then...out of the exact same batch of icing. And they were much better.

Could my coloring have altered it? Its not supposed to...

OR

Could I have stirred it too much to mix the color in thoroughly? It was definitely different consistency after I added it... And if so, how DO you mix your color in...

Brandy

Thanks all.

A new question. I was having such a hard time with the icing I colored purple...it seemed stiff enough when it was white and then when I colored it it seemed thinner. (I used the wilton icing colors)

I made plain white roses then...out of the exact same batch of icing. And they were much better.

Could my coloring have altered it? Its not supposed to...

OR

Could I have stirred it too much to mix the color in thoroughly? It was definitely different consistency after I added it... And if so, how DO you mix your color in...

Brandy

Thanks all.

A new question. I was having such a hard time with the icing I colored purple...it seemed stiff enough when it was white and then when I colored it it seemed thinner. (I used the wilton icing colors)

I made plain white roses then...out of the exact same batch of icing. And they were much better.

Could my coloring have altered it? Its not supposed to...

OR

Could I have stirred it too much to mix the color in thoroughly? It was definitely different consistency after I added it... And if so, how DO you mix your color in...

Brandy

Sometimes I will have thinner icing with the darker colors. I don't add more sugar than the recipe asks for, when I make roses I add a little extra shortening. It has to flow out of the bag and not be too stiff to pipe.

Sometimes I will have thinner icing with the darker colors. I don't add more sugar than the recipe asks for, when I make roses I add a little extra shortening. It has to flow out of the bag and not be too stiff to pipe.

Sometimes I will have thinner icing with the darker colors. I don't add more sugar than the recipe asks for, when I make roses I add a little extra shortening. It has to flow out of the bag and not be too stiff to pipe.