Ruffled Ribbon Roses

Royal icing transfers are a great way to use up extra icing, and can be stored indefinitely for future use. I like having these mini ruffled ribbon roses on hand because they can be quickly added to a cookie, speeding up the decorating process. And they're pretty, too!

I used a PME 56R for these tiny blossoms. They can be made with a bigger tip, but keep in mind that a bigger tip makes them not only wider but taller, too.

Here's what you'll need for these pretties:
*STIFF royal icing. The icing should hold peaks without falling. When in doubt, mix in more powered sugar.  
*small petal tip: PME 56R for right handed or PME 56L for lefties, Wilton 101s, Wilton 101, Wilton 102. Basically, the smallest petal tip you can get.  
​I LOVE my PME 56R!
*decorating bag, coupler set
*flower nail and parchment squares

It might be easier to WATCH this process before I break it down step-by-step. Take a look!

1. Attach a small square of parchment paper to your flower nail with a bit of royal icing. Start in the center, with the wider part of the tip touching the nail. To make the icing cone, spin the nail with the fingers on one hand, and apply even pressure on the decorating bag with the other hand.  If you haven't made any kind of icing flower before, this whole "spin with one hand, pipe with the other" might be tricky. Think of rubbing your head and patting your belly. It's awkward at first, but practice will help!

2. Touch the wider end of the tip to the nail again. This time you'll spin the nail again and apply even pressure on the decorating bag with the other- but you'll move the bag up and down making a ruffled edge.

3. Using the same up and down motion, create a final row of ruffles.

4. Slide the parchment square off of the flower nail and set aside to dry for several hours. Once dried, store the flowers in an air-tight container until you're ready to use them.   

After you master the general process of making these ruffled roses, you can experiment with the angle​ of the tip to the nail, which changes how tight the ruffles are to the center of the flower.   

Another option is to make the flowers two-toned, by placing two colors of icing in the bag.  
​Kinda pretty, aren't they?    

Or add a little touch of extra color by brushing petal dusts at the base of the rows of petals.

I hope you'll grow to love these ruffled ribbon roses as much as I do!