How to Make Buttercream Ruffle Cake {2 Ways}

Use this quick and easy cake decorating tutorial to learn how to make buttercream ruffle cake with just Tip 104 (petal tip). Simple technique that's for beginners or even those who have never decorated a cake. You will learn how to make pretty horizontal and vertical ruffles.

I first saw this cake design by Martha Stewart and I was absolutely smitten with it. Considering the fact that it only uses one decorating tip, I was amazed by how elegant it looked. If you are fond of pretty cakes, be sure to check out these Easy Cake Decorating Ideas and these Bundt Cake Decorating Ideas as well as these Birthday Cake Ideas. You can make today's cake using buttercream frosting or fondant but I prefer the frosting technique because it's quicker and easier. Serve this on Valentine's Day (also check out these Pink Desserts- Valentine's Day Desserts), Mother's Day, Anniversary parties, birthday parties for girls, weddings, gender reveal parties and baby showers.

Jump to:

• Key ingredients
• Variations
• How to make easy vertical buttercream ruffle cake?
• Tips and techniques
• Another idea- Horizontal ruffles
• How to make horizontal ruffles with buttercream frosting?
• Recipe FAQs
• Storage
• More Valentine's Day desserts
• Recipe

Key ingredients

• Cake- It can be any flavor you like but must be at room temperature.
• Frosting- It can be colored with food coloring and have a medium firm consistency.

Variations

• Rainbow pattern- Use all your leftover colored frostings from previous cakes to make a rainbow themed cake. This would be perfect for St. Patrick's Day.
• Do an ombre design- Use varying shades of the same colored frosting to make an ombre cake (e.g. dark pink, medium pink, light pink). This Blue Ombre Cake is also very popular.
• Make a tiered wedding cake- Crumb coat a tiered cake and then, apply this same decorating technique to a larger cake.
• Try other frostings- Such as this Easy Mint Frosting or this Blackberry Buttercream Frosting.
• Decorate the top- I iced the top with more icing but you can decorate the top with fresh edible flowers or even fresh fruits, especially berries.
• Add a filling- Such as Macerated Strawberries (2 Ingredients) or Chantilly Cream (Creme Chantilly).

How to make easy vertical buttercream ruffle cake?

1. Bake cakes- Let them cool to room temperature.
2. Assemble and crumb coat cake- It does not need to be perfect (Image 1).
3. Fill piping bag with pink icing- And attach Wilton Tip 104 (Image 2).
4. Decorate- Hold bag at a 45 degree angle and pipe in a "right and left" motion until you have your first full column of ruffles (Image 3).
5. Continue piping- Work your way all around the cake until the sides are completely covered in columns.
6. Pipe the top too- Using the same "right and left" wrist motion (Image 4).

Tips and techniques

• Don't work in a hot kitchen- Like I mentioned earlier, never ice a cake in a hot kitchen. That's because your icing will become very soft and difficult to handle.
• Chill roughly iced cake (crumb coat)- Be sure to frost the entire cake in icing roughly and chill it in the fridge, which makes it easier for the buttercream stacks to stick along the sides of the cake.
• Time convenience tip- To save some time, you can use a cake mix and store-bought frosting. If you are using store-bought frosting, be sure to chill it in the fridge for 30 minutes so that it firms up a bit.
• Keep cake refrigerated- Keep the decorated cake refrigerated until you are ready to serve. This is important because it prevents the stacked ruffles from becoming too soft and losing its shape or sliding down and making a mess.
• Make even sizes of columns- To do this, mark the roughly frosted cake with a butter knife and use that as a guide so that it each stack is about the same width.
• DON'T rush- Go slow and steady so that each column is neat and aligned properly.
• Frosting consistency- It should not be so firm that you have to squeeze the piping bag really hard to make the design but it should also not be so soft that it's oozing out of the piping bag. It should be a medium firm consistency.

Another idea- Horizontal ruffles

The vertical ruffles involves a "right left" motion of your wrist that you can see above. Horizontal ruffles, on the other hand, involve an "up and down" motion of your wrist. You can see it on this heart cake below. Regardless of which style you pick, they both yield stunning buttercream designs on your cake.

How to make horizontal ruffles with buttercream frosting?

1. Bake cake- Let it cool to room temperature.
2. Do a crumb coat- It does not need to be perfect.
3. Fill piping bag with pink icing- And attach Wilton Tip 104 (petal tip).
4. Decorate- Hold bag at a 45 degree angle and pipe in an "up and down" motion until you have your first full row of ruffles.
5. Continue piping- Work your way from the outer edge of the cake to the inside until the top is completely covered in numerous rows of this pattern.

Recipe FAQs

Storage

• Refrigerate- In a sealed container for up to 3 days.
• Freeze- Undecorated cakes and frostings can be stored in a sealed container for up to 1 month and thawed in the fridge overnight and then, assembled as per instructions in the recipe card.
• Room temperature- This cake can stay out for 3-5 hours away from direct sunlight.

More Valentine's Day desserts

• Raspberry Mousse Cake
• Chocolate Marshmallow Cake
• Mini Love Letter Cake
• Easy Love Cake
• Strawberry Dump Cake (With Cake Mix)

Recipe