Advanced Buttercream Borders That Will Blow You Away
Chef Alan TetreaultIn this tutorial: What You'll Need · Drop Flowers · Shell Border Variations · Lily of the Valley Border · Crown Borders with String Work · Garland Borders with String Work · Bridal Veil Border · Grecian Column Border
This is the sixth and final segment of Chef Alan Tetreault's Back to Basics with Buttercream series. After teaching shells, stars, string work, and flowers in earlier lessons, Chef Alan brings everything together in this 48-minute session devoted entirely to advanced borders — the kind of intricate, multi-element decorations that transform a finished cake into a showpiece. Every technique demonstrated here is built from skills covered in the previous videos in the series, so beginners who have followed along from the start will find these borders approachable even when they look complex.
📌 This is part of the Buttercream Basics series: Part 1 – Baking the Cake from Scratch · Part 2 – Making Buttercream Icing · Part 3 – Piping with Star Tips · Part 4 – String Work · Part 5 – Petal & Leaf Tips · Part 6 – Advanced Borders (you're here)
What You'll Need
- Buttercream icing — in multiple colors; Chef Alan recommends working tone-on-tone for beginners (matching border color to cake color)
- Royal icing or boiled icing — needed specifically for drop string work on crown borders and anywhere string must hold its shape under its own weight; paddle first to remove air bubbles
- Pastry bags and couplers
- Parchment paper — for piping drop flowers ahead of time and letting them set
- Piping tips — the following tips are used in this tutorial:
- Tip 225 — small drop flower
- Tip 2D — large drop flower
- Tips 3 and 4 — round tips for filling flower centers and string work
- Tips 20 and 22 — shell tips for basic shell borders
- Tip 199 — large puff border / smaller crown shells
- Tip 101S — smallest Wilton petal tip; used for ribbon overlay on puff border
- Tips 13 and 14 — small star tips for drop string accents
- Tips 17 and 18 — medium star tips for triple shell border
- Tips 79, 80, and 81 — half-moon tips used for Lily of the Valley border
- Tip 4B — large open star tip; used for the large crown border and the Grecian column border
- Tips 2 and 3 — round tips for string work on crown and garland borders
- Tip 16 — star tip for crescent/garland borders
- Tip 104 — petal tip for ribbon border
- Tilting turntable (optional but highly recommended for string work on the sides of cakes) — allows the cake to tilt back so strings fall onto the surface instead of flying outward
- Needle tool or cake tester — for popping air bubbles in string work and unclogging tips
Drop Flowers
Drop flowers are one of the easiest piped flowers to make — and one of the most versatile. Chef Alan opens the lesson with them because they're used later as a decorative element on one of the borders.
Drop flowers are made with dedicated drop flower tips (tip 225 for small, tip 2D for large). These tips are too wide for a standard coupler — slip them directly into the pastry bag.
To pipe a drop flower:
- Hold the bag perfectly straight up and down — perpendicular to the surface. This is the most important part; tilting the bag will distort the flower.
- Touch the tip to the surface, begin squeezing, and immediately rotate your wrist.
- Stop squeezing completely before lifting the bag straight up. If you lift while still applying pressure, a raised center will form. If you release pressure cleanly, a small hollow forms in the center — exactly what you want.
- Fill the hollow center with a contrasting color using tip 3 or tip 4 to add a small dot center.
💡 Make them ahead: Drop flowers are best piped onto parchment paper using royal icing and left to dry overnight. Once set, they peel right off and can be stored in a cool, dark place for months. This makes them ideal for batch production and last-minute decorating.
💡 The 2D tip makes a noticeably larger flower with the same wrist-twist technique. Keep both sizes on hand — the smaller ones are perfect filler flowers, and the larger ones work well as focal points.
Chef Alan notes that the drop flowers made here will be used later in the tutorial to create a drop flower crescent border.
Shell Border Variations
Chef Alan reviews and expands on the shell border, introducing several embellished variations. None of these require new techniques — they're all built from the basic shell motion taught in earlier videos in the series.
↪ Elongated Reverse Shell
This border is a natural extension of the basic reverse shell (pipe right, then left, alternating). The elongated version stretches each shell further and is particularly effective along the top edge of a cake, where one shell lies flat on top and the next curves down over the edge. A third row can be piped right along the very edge for added dimension.
↪ Basic Shell with Drop String
Start with a row of shells using tip 22 or tip 20. Once the row is piped, use tip 3 in an accent color to drop a light string that loops along the base of each shell.
💡 No need for royal icing here: Because this string sits close to the surface rather than spanning open air, you can pipe it in regular buttercream without worrying about it sagging or breaking.
↪ Tip 199 Puff Border with Ribbon Overlay
This border works especially well on the sides of cakes. Pipe generous puffs with tip 199, letting each one build up slightly larger than a regular shell. Then, using the smallest Wilton petal tip (101S) in the same or a contrasting color, pipe a ribbon motion across the top of each puff — large end up, small end down, with a slight back-and-forth squiggle that skims across the top. Finish the bottom edge with a small drop string using tip 13 or 14.
↪ Triple Shell Border
This layered border adds motion and dimension to any edge of a cake.
- Pipe a first row of small shells along one side of the border area.
- Pipe a matching row along the opposite side, keeping shells aligned with the first row.
- Fill the center channel with a third row of shells, nestled between the two outer rows.
💡 Scale this to your cake: Use tips 17 or 18 for a medium-scale border; move up to 4B for a heavier treatment on large bottom tiers.
Lily of the Valley Border
This is one of Chef Alan's favorite side borders, and it's most effective when done tone-on-tone — the same color as the icing underneath. On a white cake, use white; on a pink cake, use pink. The monochromatic approach makes the texture pop without the border fighting the background.
To pipe the Lily of the Valley border:
- Using a round tip, pipe a gently curving stem line along the side of the cake. Keep all the individual sprays flowing in the same direction — either all curving upward from the bottom or all curving downward from the top.
- Switch to a half-moon tip (tip 79, 80, or 81). Touch the tip lightly to the cake surface alongside the stem and pull straight out, then release — the icing will break away cleanly, leaving a small curved petal. Work both sides of each stem.
- Return to the round tip and add small curling vine accents by touching the tip to the icing and pulling away in a small circular motion. These are just visual texture — don't overdo them.
💡 Directional consistency is key: Chef Alan emphasizes that all the lily sprays must curve the same way. One petal pointing the wrong direction will look like a mistake; consistent direction makes the whole border feel intentional and organic.
↪ Drop Flower Crescent Border
This is a finished border that combines piped drop flowers (made ahead using the technique above) with a simple crescent base. Pipe a small crescent border using tip 16 along the side of the cake. While the icing is still soft, press the dried drop flowers directly into the surface — thinner at the top of the crescent, wider and more clustered toward the bottom. The icing acts as glue. Chef Alan notes this border looks particularly charming on children's birthday cakes.
Crown Borders with String Work
Crown borders are classic wedding cake borders — large, dramatic, and built from vertical shells with string work draped between them. Chef Alan demonstrates two versions: a large version for bottom tiers and a smaller version well-suited to upper tiers.
↪ Large Crown Border with Overlapping String
- Using tip 4B (no coupler — place directly in the bag), pipe a row of tall, tapered shells — starting with heavy pressure at the base and releasing as you pull upward to form a column that comes to a point.
- For the string work, switch to a bag of royal icing or boiled icing with tip 3. Paddle the icing before loading the bag to eliminate air bubbles. (Chef Alan notes you can use "boiled icing" or "royal icing" interchangeably here — the key is that it's stiff enough to hold a drop string.)
- Anchor the string at the outside top of one shell, let it drop deeply, and anchor it between two shells. Work in rows — one string at a time across all the shells — rather than finishing all four strings on one shell before moving on.
- Layer four strings per gap, each one starting from the same anchor point and landing slightly higher than the previous.
💡 Spacing matters: Shells placed closer together produce a tighter, more intricate look. A half-inch gap between shells creates longer string drops and a more open, elegant effect. Chef Alan prefers more space on large bottom tiers and closer spacing on upper tiers.
↪ Smaller Crown Border with Drop String
- Pipe vertical shells with tip 199, spaced evenly apart.
- Using tip 3, drop a single string that skips from the base of one shell over two shells to the base of the third. Work this pass all the way across.
- Repeat the pass, starting at the first shell again, creating an interlocking string pattern.
💡 Repairing broken strings: If a string develops a small air bubble or breaks, use a needle tool or cake tester to lift it gently back into position. Mistakes in string work are almost always repairable.
Finish by placing a small star at each string connection point using a star tip for a polished, intentional look.
⚠️ Vary the depth: How far each string drops — and how many strings you layer — dramatically changes the look of this border. Experiment with single, double, and triple string passes before settling on what works for your cake.
Garland Borders with String Work
Garland borders combine a piped wave or crescent along the side of the cake with drop strings above and below it. Chef Alan recommends lightly marking the cake surface first to establish consistent spacing — a small dot at the bottom of each planned string drop ensures everything lines up as you work around the cake.
↪ Crescent Border with String Work
- Pipe a crescent border using tip 16 in a flowing "E" motion along the side of the cake. You can work clockwise or counterclockwise — Chef Alan notes both directions produce a slightly different visual effect.
- Using tip 2 and a contrasting or matching color, anchor a string at the left end of a garland, let it drop below the bottom of the decoration, and anchor it at the right end. This is the first string.
- Start a second string at exactly the same anchor point. Let it fall slightly higher than the first.
- Add one string to the inside (above the top of the garland) and one to the outside (below the garland base).
⚠️ Anchor before you pull: Always press the icing tip firmly into the surface to anchor the string before pulling it out. If you just touch the tip and pull away without anchoring, any break in a string will drag all the neighboring strings with it — a domino effect that's hard to recover from.
Finish with small drop loops, stars, or dried drop flowers at the connection points.
↪ Crescent and Ribbon Border
This variation adds a petal-tip ribbon over the garland base before adding the string work.
- Pipe the same crescent/E-motion garland base with tip 16.
- Using tip 104 (large end up, small end outward), pipe a ribbon border right along the top edge of the garland.
- Add an additional crescent or back-and-forth fill on the inside.
- Apply string work identically to the crescent-only version above.
💡 String work color tip: For beginners and intermediate decorators, always pipe string work in the same color as the cake and the border decoration. String work is inherently imprecise — if one string sits slightly higher than its neighbors, the eye forgives it when everything is the same tone. Bright string work on a contrasting background will highlight every imperfection. Save colored string work for when your skills are consistently accurate.
Bridal Veil Border
The Bridal Veil border creates a delicate lattice effect on the side of a cake, reminiscent of lace. It's built up in three layers.
- Using tip 16, pipe an up-and-down zigzag (crescent) border along the side of the cake. Keep the tip flat against the surface and thin the pressure as you reach the tops of each garland.
- Let this layer rest for about 5 minutes — just until it's no longer tacky but not fully crusted.
- Switch to tip 14 and pipe the same zigzag pattern directly on top of the first layer. This builds thickness and dimension.
- Let this second layer rest again (another 5 minutes).
- Using tip 16 in a "string" motion, anchor at the top center of a garland, pull diagonally to one side of the border, and anchor. Then go back to the center top and pull to the other side. This creates the X-shaped lattice on the inside face of the border.
- Switch to tip 2 and pipe fine string lines over the top of the lattice for added detail.
- Finish with a small shell border at the top edge and a drop string at the base using tip 13 or 14 to cover the string ends.
💡 Use the smallest tip you can manage: Tip 2 makes a good lattice. Tip 1 makes a finer, more elegant one. Once your skills are there, the smaller tip elevates this border considerably.
💡 This border doesn't pipe well on a flat board — it needs the dimensional surface of an actual cake to show its effect. Chef Alan demonstrates it on a cake specifically because the lattice needs height to read correctly.
Grecian Column Border
The Grecian Column border is one of Chef Alan's favorite treatments for the bottom tier of a large tiered cake. It's a vertical, columnar border with string work suspended between columns — architectural in feel and naturally scaled for large cakes.
↪ Using a Tilting Turntable
Before demonstrating this border, Chef Alan introduces the tilting turntable, which he considers essential for any side string work. The turntable top tilts backward toward the decorator, causing the side of the cake to face slightly upward. When you pipe a string onto a tilted cake, gravity pulls the string onto the surface immediately — it sticks rather than drooping away from the cake. On a perfectly vertical surface, string work can "fly" outward before falling, which often causes it to land unevenly or miss the surface altogether.
💡 Proportional borders: When designing a tiered cake, use larger tips and heavier borders at the bottom tier. As you move up the tiers, shift to smaller tips and lighter, more delicate borders. This keeps everything in visual proportion.
↪ Piping the Grecian Column Border
- Mark evenly spaced points (about 3 inches apart) along the top edge of the cake tier.
- Using tip 4B, start at the base of each mark with heavy pressure and pull straight upward, releasing pressure as you go to form a tapered column. Think of it as a very elongated, very tall shell.
- Pipe three-string drop string work between each pair of columns: start at the top of one column, let the string drop in a graceful arc, and anchor at the top of the next column. Use tip 3 or 4 for this — a heavier border can carry heavier string.
- Use tip 16 to pipe a small shell border along the very base of the columns where they meet the cake board.
- Using tip 16 again, pipe a triple shell border along the top of this tier: one row on the side, one row on top, and a third row filling the center gap between them.
↪ Finishing Touch: Miniature Rose
Chef Alan finishes the Grecian cake with small piped roses (covered in his flower videos) placed at key points on the top of the cake. A small pair of scissors makes it easy to transfer the roses from the nail to the cake without distorting them. A few green leaf accents complete the look.
This tutorial is part of Global Sugar Art's library of free cake decorating videos by Chef Alan Tetreault. Browse all tutorials →
