
I did a 3 tier rosette cake for my friend's wedding shower this morning. The good news is it tasted fabulous and everyone thought it was gorgeous. The bad news is I was up till 1:30 last night crying trying to fix the stupid rosettes!
Here's the problem - the first rosette cake I ever made, the rosettes fell off the side of the cake by the next morning because I think my icing was too wet (that's the only thing I can think of, but my icing is usually fine). So this time, I made my icing SLIGHTLY stiffer than usual. Well with the stiffer icing, I couldn't get the rosettes to stick to the cake! They would just peel off when I tried to finish each rosette. I am really disappointed in it and thought it looked very messy. Oh well.
For those of you who have done a rosette cake, did you have trouble piping them on the side of the cake? Any suggestions for next time?


Did you frost the entire cake and smooth it before you added the rosettes? If you were trying to pipe them directly onto a bare cake, that may have been the reason they wouldn't stick.

Was the cake cold when you were piping on the rosettes? If so, it may have developed condensation between the cake surface & the piping. That would cause the rosettes to slide.
Rae

Nope, the cake was at room temp and I did a smooth crumb coat first. The icing was room temp too. I used just my regular buttercream recipe that I use for everything - 2 lb ps, 3/4c shortening (hi-ratio), 1/2c water (maybe 1T less), 2 tsp vanilla, 1 tsp almond, 1 tsp cream bouquet. I used the 2D tip because the rosettes looked nothing like the rosettes I saw in tutorials using the 1M tip...when I tried the 2D they came out perfect. I will try to post a pic in a bit when my husband gets off the computer!


Nope, the cake was at room temp and I did a smooth crumb coat first. The icing was room temp too. I used just my regular buttercream recipe that I use for everything - 2 lb ps, 3/4c shortening (hi-ratio), 1/2c water (maybe 1T less), 2 tsp vanilla, 1 tsp almond, 1 tsp cream bouquet. I used the 2D tip because the rosettes looked nothing like the rosettes I saw in tutorials using the 1M tip...when I tried the 2D they came out perfect. I will try to post a pic in a bit when my husband gets off the computer!
Well, from my experience, that's a lot of liquid and kind of low on fat.
The Wilton standard BC recipe uses 4TBSP of milk per 2lbs. of PS & a cup of fat (butter and/or crisco).
My American BC recipe uses about 6 oz. of heavy cream per 2 lbs. of PS and 2 cups of hi ratio.
With a cake like that, you may not want a really smooth crumb coat, especially on the sides. If you apply the crumb coat and then dab at it to raise small peaks, it'll have more surface area and the rosettes should stick to it better.
HTH
Rae

When I did my rosette cakes, I think there were 5 cakes total, I used a crusting buttercream over a light crumb coat and they stuck just fine. Your icing recipe does have some odd (to me) ratios. For 2 pounds of powdered sugar my recipe uses 2 cups fat and 1/4 cup liquid. With your icing recipe, are you able to do piping and stars and rosettes and shells and things and hold their shape?

I uploaded a picture of the cake to my gallery. (keep in mind I took the pic from the best angle)...the owner of our local bake shop gave me her buttercream recipe to use, she did cakes for 25 years and it was the recipe she used. I've used it for all my cakes without a problem with the exception of the two rosette cakes I've done. When I make my icing, it's not shiny, so doesn't that mean it's not too thin? If any of you have done a rosette cake without problems, I would love to try your recipe. Thank you so much for helping me!

I was going to say that your fat ratio and liquids are wrong for icing. I use 2lb icing sugar to 2 cups of high ratio. I then use about 1/4 of water and flavouring which is usually 1 tsp per pound of icing sugar. If you want to use more flavouring then you should decrease your water. Try another recipe and then try the rosettes again.

I've used swiss meringue buttercream to make a rosette cake without a problem. I applied a slightly thicker crumb coat, and didn't spend too much time smoothing it. Just enough so the sides were even.

The icing certainly looks an ok consistency, even though the ratios seem odd to some of us. The other thought is for you to push your icing tip a little closer to the sides of the cake, so you are kind of pushing the icing in a bit instead of just laying it on the surface. Not a lot as you don't want to flatten the rosettes. Take a cake pan and some extra icing and play around with applying the rosettes to a vertical surface, maybe that is part of your problem.


I have made several of these cakes successfully (in my gallery). I have always used indydebi's Crisco based buttercream recipe and it works GREAT. One time it was too humid in my house and they started sliding. I just scraped all the rosettes off, turned on the air, and started again. Honestly though ... try indydebi's recipe found on this site.

I have made the rosettes using whipped cream, IndyDebi's BC, and just today, I tried it with Charlotte's whipped cream BC, which for some reason when I made it last night was extremely soft. Now, I have never had a problem with the rosettes falling off the cake as piping and didn't today either. However, getting the rosettes to how I like them is another story lol. I striped my bags with 3 different colors today to "fancy" it up a bit so I could not scrape them off and start again--as I usually do. I have the cake in the frig right now since we have an hour's drive today and I want it thoroughly chilled.
Annakat--I will have to try the rosettes with the 2D tip. I think your cake looks very nice BTW--great job!

I have only used IMBC doing this cake many times and never had a problem.

Thank you Saapena for the sweet compliment! I guess the picture doesn't show the imperfections you should have seen me at 1:30 AM crying, trying to fix the rosettes with a big glass of wine! Lol! I guess we've all been there!
Looks like I definitely need to experiment with different icing recipes - increase my shortening and cut back on water. Come to think of it, the lady whose icing recipe Im using only decorated really old school, 1980s-type sheet cakes. Not that there's anything wrong with them, but for more modern cakes it looks like I need to update my recipe. I'll play around with indydebi's recipe and also IMBC. Again thank you all so much!!!

Ok, I just made indydebi's's buttercream recipe - it tastes like flavored waxy shortening! did I read it right? 1 + 1/3 cup shortening? That seems like a lot to me?

When I make indidebi's buttercream, I start by whipping the 1 1/3 cups of shortening. Then I add 1/2 cup milk, a packet of powdered Dream Whip, and 3 tablespoons of clear vanilla extract. I whip the crap out of that until it's really fluffy. Finally I add a bag of powdered sugar in 3 installments. I've had great reviews when I've used it. I've cut back the vanilla and added other flavors as well. It's very versatile.

I guess it seems like a lot to me because I'm used to my other recipe that uses 3/4 cup shortening. But when I piped the rosettes onto the side of a vertical pan, they held up perfectly. So I guess my icing needs more shortening for structure.

I had the most success with the rose cake when I used the buttercream referenced in the original rose cake tutorial. A firm, crusting buttercream. (iambaker.net)

AHi! Annakat, your story is what exactly jaz happened to me. I really love to make rose cake but i cnt seem to do it right. I crumb coat it w/ thin layer of bc frost before piping w/ 1M but it jaz didnt stick n it keeps falling n sliding. I used d wilton bc recipe but i used 1/2 c of butter n 1/2 c shortening instead. Can anyone of u share ur recipe for crumb coating n rosette frosting? Thank you!



Italian Meringue Butter Cream. It's made with egg whites, hot sugar and butter. There is also Swiss Meringue which has the same ingredients, but is made by combining the ingredients in a different order.
I use rose levy beranbaum's recipe.you can find it here
http://recipecircus.com/recipes/MEANCHEF/FROSTING/Mousseline_Buttercream.html

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