I keep making buttercream to pipe roses onto cupcakes for a bouquet but the buttercream doesn't seem to come out very well. The first rose always looks great but then the rest look sloppy, even if I refrigerate the buttercream for a while, I get cracks all on the tops of the petals (as you can see in the picture) I also get loads of holes in the buttercream.

My buttercream is either sloppy and the petals merge into eachother, but if I thicken it with icing sugar the ends of the petals have lots of cracks in them.

My recipe is just butter and icing sugar plus flavoring and colour.

Thanks in advanced!

Usually when buttercream cracks it's because it is too stiff, but that is what you want to pipe roses. Add a tablespoon of white corn syrup to your buttercream while mixing. That should help with the cracking. You can add up to 3 tablespoons to a full batch of buttercream. Don't do this if you are using SMBC or IMBC. As for the drooping and sloppy looking roses, that will happen to me because my hands are warm and the buttercream softens too much while I pipe. Run your hands under cold water after every couple of roses. That helps, also monitor the humidity and temperature in your home/kitchen. That can also be a culprit.

Good Luck, The Cupcakes Look Great !

Do you not have any liquid in your icing either milk or water. It looks like your icing is too thick. Also check your tip that it is not pushed together at the opening that is looks uniform.

There are a few issues for cracks.

#1 You your icing is too stiff/dry.

#2 You aren't squeezing very hard and are turning fast will will pull and stretch.

#3 If you have alot of holes in your buttercream, those can leave rough edges. To avoid holes in buttercream, mix on a lower speed when making it, or follow something like Sharon aka Sugar Shack, where you fill the mixer up very full. Also when you are coloring your icing you could be mixing in air.

Right on TexasSugar
Your icing is either over mixed (too high a speed) OR *under* mixed. Let it mix on slow speed for 5 to 10 minutes.
The pictured roses are those of a new decorator Wilton instructors see this all the time Just keep practicing. You most likely are not squeezing hard enough while turning the nail.

Rough edgesit's probably too dry. Add shortening to make it creamier.