When I opened my completely gluten-free cottage food bakery, it took some time to put my name out there. What really helped my growth as a small business were my floral cupcakes. The star of the show here is my crusting buttercream, which is perfect for piping beautiful flowers. This recipe is considered completely shelf-stable in the state of California, and its flavor can be customized with a wide variety of extracts and emulsions!
The frosting is an American buttercream (it's nicknamed ABC). You can use it for piping a variety of flowers, but it's also great for simple rosettes, like in my gluten-free cookies and cream cupcakes!
In this post, I am focusing on the ABC recipe, but I'll also include a few piping videos so you can visualize what's possible. If you're looking for HOW TO pipe buttercream florals, I'd like to recommend Kerry's Bouqcakes.
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Ingredients
There are only 4 ingredients to this crusting buttercream for all your flower piping needs! I LOVE the brand LorAnn because all their flavorings are certified gluten-free (as opposed to Amoretti).
- Salted butter - it has to be salted to cut the sweetness of ABC!
- Powdered sugar
- Flavoring (3 of my favorites shown above)
- Hot water (I use this instead of milk or cream as it makes the recipe shelf stable, and works just as well!)
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
In your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, start by creaming the butter. In the winter, I always add hot water to this step to help this process. Add hot water slowly by the teaspoon, only as needed. In the summer (I'm in CA and it gets to 110F everyday, oof), the only liquid I use is the flavoring. The right creamed butter consistency is fluffy, soft and smooth, white in color, and holds its shape.
Once the butter is creamed, I add the powdered sugar all at once. It's better to sift it, but I often skip this step when baking for my family. It will take some time for the butter and powdered sugar to combine. Be patient, and add a tad more hot water if necessary.
Once the powdered sugar and butter have combined, I add my flavoring of choice. I mix on high for at least 5 minutes. This will make a beautifully soft silky buttercream without air bubbles, perfect for piping flowers!
Watch the video below to get a good idea of the correct texture at every step.
Substitutions
I prefer real (cow milk) salted butter. The salted butter is imperative to cut the sweetness of American buttercream. However, some of us may need a dairy-free alternative, or perhaps you are a cottage food baker in a state that does not allow butter in frosting. Here are my recommendations.
- Dairy-free - you need a vegan butter that is high in saturated fats. My top recommendation is Miyoko's (allergen: coconut, cashew).
- Corn-free - powdered sugar typically contains corn starch. There are brands made with tapioca starch instead, like the Trader Joe's powdered sugar.
Variations
This crusting buttercream is perfect for piping beautiful flowers, AND it's also easy to flavor! LorAnn has a huge variety of different flavorings, and all are certified gluten-free! I'll list some of my personal favorites below! Keep in mind because this buttercream is shelf-stable, ALL the different flavors you can make are too!
- Bavarian Cream - think of the filling inside a chocolate éclair... but shelf-stable.
- Horchata - smells like delicious cinnamon flavors just like in the Mexican rice drink. Check out my gluten-free horchata cupcakes!
- Cream Cheese Icing - that one is so useful because it tastes really close to cream cheese frosting, but no need to refrigerate!
I also use this crusting buttercream for other frostings, like on top of these gluten-free cookies and cream cupcakes! Not great for piping flowers as the cookie chunks make it grey-colored, but American buttercream is very versatile!
Equipment
A stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment is VERY useful to make buttercream. You could also use an electric hand mixer, but you'll work a lot harder.
Storage
This crusting buttercream is best made right before frosting your creations. That's because when it's freshly been whipped in the stand mixer, all the air bubbles have disappeared and it's at its best consistency.
My process when piping buttercream flowers is to make a big batch of buttercream, and split it into Tupperware containers to color the buttercream. Some colors like red and black develop overnight in the fridge, so I know it's not always possible to pipe immediately after making the buttercream... If that's your situation:
- Store your frosting in the fridge in an airtight container.
- Take the frosting out of the fridge and bring to room temperature.
- Beat the frosting in the stand mixer for a few minutes (or if there's too little frosting, you can use a hand mixer).
- Once the frosting is at the right temperature and consistency, and that all the air bubbles have been beaten out, you can fit your piping bag and proceed.
This crusting buttercream will keep for up to 3 days at room temperature or a week in the refrigerator. You can store any extra in a large Ziploc bag in the freezer for up to two months. I always label my bag with a sharpie with the flavor, type of butter I use (for allergen information), and date.
Top tip
Only use as much hot water as you need to get the right consistency! Watch the video to see the right consistency! It should NOT fall off an upside down spoon. This crusting buttercream is thick, yet smooth.
FAQ
If you're trying to pipe flowers and your buttercream is melting, you can do a few things. Crank up the AC, mix in powdered sugar 1 teaspoon at a time, or my favorite: place your piping bag in the fridge for 2-3 minutes.
If you're piping flowers on a nail, as opposed to directly on a cupcake, you can make them ahead of time! Simply freeze the flowers on a piece of parchment paper in an airtight container until ready to use!
Yep! Most frostings are naturally gluten-free. Make sure to check the labels on any flavorings you use; some are "made in facilities that also process wheat".
Related
Looking for gluten-free cupcake recipes to pipe your beautiful flowers on?
Crusting Buttercream for Piping Flowers
Equipment
- 1 Stand Mixer with a paddle attachment
Ingredients
- 454 grams salted butter 4 sticks
- 907 grams powdered sugar 1 bag
- 1 teaspoon hot water as needed
- 2 teaspoon flavoring to taste
Instructions
- Add the room temperature salted butter to the bowl of the stand mixer.
- Cream the butter, on low speed. Add hot water as needed to soften the butter.
- After 10 minutes, check the butter consistency: it should be light, white, fluffy. If cold clumps remain, add a bit more hot water.
- Once the correct butter consistency is reached, add the sifted powdered sugar.
- Continue mixing with the paddle attachment. It takes time for butter and powdered sugar to combine. You may add a bit of hot water as needed.
- Once clumps are gone and the butter and powdered sugar are combined, add the flavoring.
- Mix on high for 5 minutes.
- Check the texture: the buttercream should be stiff, and not fall off an upside down spoon. It should also be smooth without air bubbles.
- If it is too stiff, add more hot water. If it is not stiff enough, add powdered sugar (1 teaspoon at a time).
- Color and use immediately!
Sara Welch
This frosting was so quick and easy and simple to work with! Cupcakes turned out beautiful; definitely, a new favorite recipe!
Anjali
I have always wanted to be able to decorate cupcakes the way my favorite bakery does, and thanks to your helpful tips I was able to recreate bakery quality cupcakes and buttercream decorations at home! Thank you so much!
Gianne
It creates the perfect texture and stability for intricate designs. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants their cakes to look absolutely stunning!
Molly Kumar
I always wanted to try an easy buttercream piping recipe and yours look fabulous. Will try soon.
Tayler
This buttercream was the PERFECT consistency! I made cupcakes for a party and this was what I used
Nicole Hausmann
Seriously my favorite! I love this recipe and so does my family.
Heather Barker
I absolutely LOVE the buttercream frosting. It is delicious and the perfect consistency. Now I just need to learn how to make those beautiful flowers!!!