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Russian piping tips or flower nozzles pipe all of the petals of a flower in
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several colours with just one squeeze. They're easy to use once you know how so
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in this tutorial I'll share six hacks for Russian piping tips. These are
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Russian tips and they're bigger than standard piping tips so you'll need to
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cut large holes at the ends of your piping bags. I like to cut a little bit
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less than halfway up the tip so that it fits snugly and doesn't pop out while
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I'm piping. Maybe the most important hack is to get the right consistency of
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your frosting. This is my 4-Minute Buttercream and you should be able to
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pull a spatula through it easily, leaving texture behind that holds its shape and
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doesn't sink back down into the buttercream. This is what a flower looks
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like when buttercream has the right consistency. If the buttercream is too
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stiff because it's too cold or there's too much sugar in it, it's difficult to
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squeeze it through the tip and the petals might pull away with the tip
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instead of sticking to the cake. You'll also notice jagged texture along the
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edges of the petals. If the buttercream is too runny because it's too warm or
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there's not enough sugar or too much milk, the petals won't have much
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definition, they'll blob together. So this is the consistency you're looking for. One
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of the biggest advantages of Russian piping tips is that you can pipe different petals in different colours at the same time so you need to get those
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different colours into your piping bag. I like to drop the piping bag into a glass
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and fold the top over the rim to hold it open and it's easiest if the bag is
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pulled tight with the tip visible at the bottom of the glass. Spread your first
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colour around the piping bag, pushing it against the glass to cover the bag all
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the way around and all the way down to the piping tip. You want a fairly thick
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layer so that the outer petals will all be this colour. You can layer another
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colour or two on top of this or just spoon your next colour into the middle
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and push it down to the bottom of the bag so it reaches the piping tip. Now
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pull the bag out of the glass and when you twist the bag to push the
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buttercream down and squeeze the bag you should see the colours coming through
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the piping tip. If you layer different colours within the piping bag and you
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don't push any of the colours all the way down to the piping tip, which is the
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most common with the middle colour, then when you squeeze the piping bag you
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won't see that colour coming through. Squeeze the bag until you see both
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colours coming through and now you're ready to pipe! Before you pipe with
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Russian tips onto a cake the frosting on the cake should have set. Put the cake
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into the fridge for about an hour and it will get cold and firm and then when you
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pipe onto the cake you won't cause any bulges in the frosting. But since the
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frosting isn't sticky anymore you really need the frosting in the piping
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bag to be sticky otherwise when you pipe onto the cake the flour won't stick
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to the cake. It will pull away with the piping bag. This happens when you leave
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piping bags out for about 30 minutes and the exposed buttercream at the tip
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crusts, which means it gets hard and loses its stickiness. Squeeze the bag to
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push the crusted buttercream out and the buttercream left in the piping bag will
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be soft and sticky and ready for piping. To prevent crusting cover Russian piping
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tips with plastic wrap when you're not using them for long periods of time. Piping with Russian tips is very straightforward. It's the consistency
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that seems to cause the most problems. When the consistency is right the
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flowers will stick to the cake and the petals will pull out and break away neatly from the piping tip, leaving gorgeous flowers behind on the cake. But
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as you keep piping more and more flowers you might notice the petals getting less
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defined and the details start disappearing and this happens when your buttercream gets too warm, usually from the warmth of your hands as you pipe. Put
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the whole piping bag into the freezer and set a timer for one minute. This is
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enough time for the buttercream to cool back down and firm up. Then pipe and
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notice how much more defined your flowers are. Sometimes petals might be
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too long if you squeeze the bag with a bit too much enthusiasm. There's a hack
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to fix drooping petals and it's simple. Use a toothpick. Hold it where you want
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the petal to end and spin it as you push towards the petal and you'll lift away
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the extra part of the petal, leaving a neat edge behind on the remaining petal
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I hope these hacks for Russian piping tips have been useful. Ask me any
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questions in the comments and visit my cake school on britishgirlbakes.com to
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learn hundreds of cake decorating techniques and designs. Thanks for watching
