This post will teach you how to pipe tulips using Russian piping tips / nozzles. I bought these Russian nozzles several years ago but I just got to play with them only recently. I’ll share with you the lessons I’ve learned and mistakes to avoid when piping tulips as well as other useful tips. 

Ingredients/Tools

• a stable frosting, in the colour of your choice
• Russian tulip piping tip / nozzle
• big piping bag as the Russian tips are huge 
• plastic wrap – to make the two-toned tulips like purple on the outside and yellow on the inside 
• a cake or cupcakes to decorate; or a practice board if you’re just practicing piping tulips – for this tutorial, I use a black slate board with a rougher finish so the buttercream sticks to it more easily

Useful Tips Before You Get Started 

1. Use Russian piping tips/nozzles to pipe tulips. The easiest way to pipe tulips with intricate details is by using Russian piping tips/nozzles. When you pipe a flower you will have the petals, centres and everything in just one shot. There are different Russian piping tips for tulips but the one I’m using in the video above gives you the best looking tulips in my opinion. Note that I used Wilton tip # 352 to pipe the leaves. 
2. Use a stable frosting like buttercream. Swiss meringue buttercream is my favourite buttercream frosting because it’s not overly sweet (compared to American buttercream), it’s silky smooth and very easy to make. One of the greatest benefits of Swiss meringue buttercream is its stability. Unlike some other types of frosting, it holds up well in warm temperatures and can even be left at room temperature without melting or separating.
3. Start piping tulips in the centre of a cake or cupcake. It is good to start in the center with either one tulip or a cluster of three tulips, then pipe the rest of the tulips all around. If you start on the outer edge, you risk touching  the tulips with your hand or piping bag and messing them up as you pipe the ones inside.
4. Pipe tulips in two colours using the plastic wrap method. The two-toned tulips I piped have the outside petals purple and the inside petals & pistil yellow. Watch this short video to see how to do this:

How to Pipe Tulips

Place the tip at a 90 degree angle on your cake/cupcake/practice board. 

Squeeze the piping bag a bit to get a base that adheres to the cake/cupcake/practice board. 

Pull the tip and the piping bag up and continue pressing until your tulip is close to 2.5 cm (1’’) tall. Then, release the pressure.

Mistakes to Avoid

1. Make your buttercream a bit on the stiff side and ensure it’s not too soft. To easily pipe the tulips, it’s better to have a stiffer buttercream (not so stiff that you can’t squeeze the tulips out, but stiff enough that they hold their shape). If the buttercream is too soft, just place it in the refrigerator for a few minutes. Take it out and mix it well so you don’t have hardened bits of buttercream.
2. Ensure the tulips adhere to the surface you pipe on. Your cake or cupcakes should be at least lightly frosted with buttercream. Otherwise, some petals might just not stick to the surface and fall off when you lift the piping bag. If they are not lightly frosted or you’re using a practice board to pipe on, then piping that initial base properly is even more important. 
3. Releasing the pressure too soon will create tulip buds. But maybe that’s the look you’re looking for. 
4. Releasing the pressure too fast or too late will cause the tulip petals to close or collapse. If you squeeze the piping bag for too long or you pull the piping bag up too fast, your piped tulip won’t be able to hold its shape properly. It will collapse or the petals will start closing in. 

To see examples of these mistakes as well as the right way to pipe tulips, watch the video below: