Stiff Buttercream for Piping Flowers | The Recipe Pros Use
Chef Alan TetreaultIn this tutorial: What You'll Need · The Recipe · Mixing Method · The Secret Ingredient · Why Not Butter?
Making buttercream flowers that actually stand up — with petals that hold their shape, points that stay sharp, and leaves that pull to a clean tip — requires a specific icing consistency. Regular cake-icing buttercream is too soft. In this tutorial, Chef Alan Tetreault of Global Sugar Art shares his recipe for a flower-making buttercream that's firm, smooth, pipe-friendly, and resistant to warm environments.
What You'll Need
- 2 lbs confectioner's sugar (10X or 6X)
- ⅓ to ½ cup cool water
- 2 teaspoons clear vanilla (or Chef Alan's Bridal Blend) — use clear flavoring to keep the icing pure white for accurate coloring
- 1 lb white vegetable shortening (Crisco, or ideally SweeTex high-ratio shortening)
- 3 tablespoons glycerin — the secret ingredient (see below)
- Stand mixer with beater blade (preferably a flex-edge/rubber-edged blade for automatic scraping)
- Paste or gel food coloring — for coloring individual batches
The Recipe
| Ingredient | Amount |
|---|---|
| Confectioner's sugar | 2 lbs |
| Cool water | ⅓ – ½ cup |
| Clear vanilla or flavoring | 2 teaspoons |
| White vegetable shortening | 1 lb |
| Glycerin | 3 tablespoons |
💡 Make a big batch and freeze it. Chef Alan makes the full 2-lb recipe, divides it into small containers, and freezes them. When it's time to make flowers, pull out one container, let it come to room temperature, mix it up, and you're ready to go.
Mixing Method: Low and Slow
↪ Stage 1: Sugar + one-third of the shortening
- Put the confectioner's sugar in the mixer bowl.
- Add only one-third of the shortening — not all of it. If you add it all at once, the icing will overwhip and become light, fluffy, and full of air — useless for flowers.
- Add most of the water (reserve a little in case you don't need it all).
- Add the flavoring.
- Mix on low speed for 4–5 minutes until there are absolutely no lumps.
↪ The lump test
Put a spoonful of icing between your fingers. If you feel any lumps or graininess, keep mixing on low. This is the most important step — lumpy icing will plug your piping tips constantly.
↪ Stage 2: Add the remaining shortening
- Add the remaining two-thirds of the shortening.
- Keep mixing on low speed — do not increase to medium or high.
- If you don't have a flex-edge beater, stop and scrape the bowl and beater 3–4 times during this process. Unscrapped sugar at the bottom of the bowl = lumps.
- Mix on low for 3–4 more minutes.
The Secret Ingredient: Glycerin
Add 3 tablespoons of glycerin at the very end, after all the shortening is incorporated. Mix just until blended — don't overmix.
Glycerin adds: - Silkiness and smoothness that makes the icing glide through piping tips - Better leaf points — leaves pull to a clean tip without splitting - Improved petal quality — petals stand up tall and don't flop
Where to find it: Wilton makes food-grade glycerin, or buy it from a pharmacy. It's also available on the Global Sugar Art website.
Why This Recipe Doesn't Use Butter
Chef Alan addresses this directly: yes, the icing won't taste like a rich butter frosting. But for flower-making, taste takes a back seat to structure:
- Butter melts. The heat from your hands, the room temperature, even a warm kitchen will soften butter-based icing. Your petals will droop and your roses will collapse.
- Shortening holds. Flowers piped with vegetable shortening stay upright, maintain sharp detail, and hold their shape for hours (or days, if frozen).
If the rest of the cake is iced with a delicious Italian or Swiss buttercream, nobody will notice that the flowers are made with a different icing. What they will notice is whether the flowers look beautiful.
↪ Shortening options worldwide
- United States: Crisco (non-hydrogenated), or SweeTex / Alpine (high-ratio, best for professional work)
- United Kingdom: Trex
- Other countries: Look for a solid white vegetable fat — not lard, not coconut oil, not almond butter, not canola oil
Final Consistency Check
The finished icing should be:
- Firm — holds its shape and doesn't slump
- Smooth — no lumps, no graininess
- Not fluffy — if it's light and airy, you've overmixed
This icing also works beautifully for piping borders and decorations — it's not only for flowers.
This tutorial is part of Global Sugar Art's library of free cake decorating videos by Chef Alan Tetreault. Browse all tutorials →
