Ann Reardon

How to Pipe Butter Cream Flowers Using Only a Ziplock Bag

how to pipe buttercream flowers tutorial using only a ziplock bag

Believe it or not, you can make these buttercream cupcake frosting flowers using only a ziplock bag. They are super easy and quick, making them ideal if you need to frost a large number of cupcakes with buttercream.

I wanted to develop a way of piping flowers without the need for specialty nozzles and piping bags.  It took a few experiments but, in the end, I figured out which direction to place the cuts to make the flowers turn out beautifully.

If you need buttercream recipes this page ‘butter cream frosting for cupcakes recipes’ has recipes ranging from easy to advanced. For a more recent video tutorial on this topic click here.

 

Buttercream Rosebud, Camellias and Chrysanthemums Tutorial

how to pipe easy buttercream rose bud cupcakes

These cute rose buds can be made quickly and easily using just a ziplock bag.  It is a bit hard to explain the cuts and technique in words so watch the video below for rose buds, camellias and chrysanthemums.

 

Buttercream Full Rose, Daisy and Leaves

amazing buttercream roses leaves and daisy tutorial cupcakes

How to pipe an easy buttercream rose using only a ziplock bag

This next video shows you how to pipe the leaves, full roses and daisies again using only  ziplock bag.

My Cookbook

ann reardon crazy sweet creations cookbook
Stores that sell my book listed by country: http://bit.ly/ARcookbook
All recipe quantities in the book are in grams, ounces and cups.

55 Comments View Comments

  1. If you were anywhere closer to South Africa I would give you a Big Fat Sloppy Kiss on the forehead and give you a Bear Hug!

    These tutorials are totally giving me more footing to stand on…I have recently started baking for an extra income and am always trying to learn new things. This is so Amazing and so Simple…this will save me tons of cash until I’m set to buy all the decorating accessories I’ll need for piping.

    I love this website and I love you for being so Awesome in sharing this with everyone here!

    • Thanks Andrea : )

  2. Hi Ann!!! I’m so excited to try using your techniques!!! I love watching the tutorial videos and your accent!!!! 🙂

    • Great to hear Abigail and thanks for watching.

  3. Thank you for this excellent and very pedagogic tutorial. I’m making these for my girls birthdays and I’m practicing to get the textur of the buttercream good by changing the amount of milk and the temperature of it. The camilias are the trickiest, but I will nail it for her birthday 🙂

    • Hi Yiva, These look lovely, great job and nice photo too.

  4. My first attempt at buttercream roses using a zip lock bag

    • lovely sharma, i like the colors

  5. This is a repeated post but so overwhelmed was I at the time, I can’t seem to find my original.
    Thank you from the bottom of my heart for being so willing to share these fantastic techniques, and recipes, as well as the amount of time to post them.
    Such an act of kindness to be willing to help all who find your wonderful blog. You are an angel 🙂

  6. I’m still 11 years old and I will practice all of this it looks so yummy 😀

  7. Funny I didn’t notice any accent but maybe thats because I’m an Aussie too So glad I’ve come across your pages Are you a baking teacher/instructor by day?

    • Hi Angel, I am actually a dietitian (with a dessert/chocolate/cake decorating blog!!!) by day I am mum to three wonderful boys.

  8. I would like to thank you about your frosting tutorials! It was the first time I tried to decorate cupcakes for my son’s first birtday party.
    Congradulations for your work!
    Celia, Athens Greece

    • That is lovely Celia, I am glad they worked out for you

  9. Hi! i’ve been looking for a website with good recepies that explain well and ifnally found one and it’s your page!
    Congratulations you’ve got great videos, great recepies and I love your tips!
    totally trying them THANKYOU!
    just one thing, I think you should talk a bit louder, but everything it’s ok!

    • Thanks Karla I am glad you like the site and thanks for the suggestion. I now have a new microphone on my camera – if you could let me know are the newer posts (like chocolate flower video) are loud enough or do they still need to be louder?

  10. Hi Ann
    these ideas are so fantastic and so easy, i am getting married and wanted to do my own catering, you have explained how to use these methods without having to spend a fortune on professional equipment, thank you so much

    Louise Malta

    • Hi Louise, Congratulations on your engagement. I am glad you like the cupcakes : )

  11. You explain things so well, thank you.
    This is a great tip for those who only cook occasionaly or cannot afford the nozzles for different applications as well as those who have kids that want to lend a hand 🙂

  12. I love how these flowers turn out without piping nozzles. Can’t wait to try more flowers!

  13. Simply amazing!!!! I always wanted to learn how to decorate cupcakes, can’t wait to try it!!!

  14. thanks alot did it again and came out right, even my friends who came over loved it

    • That’s awesome. Have a great day

  15. Hi mana karun, Eat the cupcakes if you haven’t already! ANd next time you make it check you have thick plastic ziploc bag, if the plastic is thin it will not hold its shape. Make your cuts small, again if the cuts are too big they will not hold their shape. Practice on the base of a drinking glass – if it is not how you like it you can scrape it back into the bowl of frosting and try again. If you need to recut cut the other corner of the bag and push icing over to the other corner… if you still need to recut then cut a large corner of the bag of frosting and squeeze it all into a fresh bag.

  16. Hi Ann,

    This is the best and inexpensive tutorial on butter cream flowers, thanks a lot. I will pass on your brilliant endeavor to all like minded people I know.Way to go.
    Quick query, how can I make a sponge cake remain moist/fresh for 2 days, as I want to bake it 1 day in advance of the party; yet want it to taste like I baked it 3 hours back 🙂

    • Thanks Anwesha, The secret to making cake taste moist and fresh is adding sugar syrup, I would use vanilla sugar syrup for a vanilla cake. See the princess cake tutorial for a demonstration of this ( https://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/how-to-make-a-princess-cake-using-buttercream/ ) surprisingly it does not make the cake soggy, it disperses through the cake and makes it moist. If making cupcakes then store in an airtight container, because they are not usually sealed with icing. the moisture escapes easily – I use sugar syrup on cupcakes too if making the day ahead.

  17. Hi Ann,
    I practiced these all day today and I think I’m getting there but slowly! I’m in Australia too and was wondering where you get your bags. I only have the snap lock one which are a bit of a nuisance with the band at the top. Also do you know how to make a white buttercream? The butter always makes the icing a pale yellow and I wanted to do the marbled icing with white and pink. Thank you so much for sharing your talent to ‘newbies’ like me!

    • Hi Cloudy, I use the ziploc bags because they are nice and strong and just cut the tops off the bags if they are getting in the way.
      For white buttercream – you can make it whiter by making your own butter (commercial butter has yellow colours added) – see very vanilla buttercream recipe https://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/buttercream-cupcake-frosting-recipes/ but do not add the vanilla – as this effects the colour.
      If that is not white enough then you can buy a white food colouring Titanium Dioxide – I think melbourne food ingredient depot has it online.

  18. Wow I found your tutorials on YT and the techniques you have developed for easy cup caking decorating are brilliant! I like the snap lock plastic bag idea as I have tried making flowers with the nozzles and other paraphernalia and I just can’t get it. I am definitely going to try your ideas and thank you so much for sharing your awesome talent.
    I love your accent…what nationality are you?

    • Thanks Cloudy, I am glad you like the blog. I am an Aussie with English parents so accent is a bit of a mix. As with everyone I don’t think of myself as having an accent but it gets a lot of a comments on YT.

  19. Hi Ann- Thank you so much for posting these tutorials!! I’m very excited to try out these techniques on cupcakes I’m making for an upcoming family reunion. 🙂 Can I ask you what kind of frosting you use as a base for the cupcakes to provide contrast for the decorations? It looked like you used a buttercream, but I wanted to be sure. Thank you again!! ~Tiffany from California

  20. That’s awesome! Thanks, Ann! You’re a great teacher and explain it very well! :o)

    • thanks Kim

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