These Buttercream Flower Cupcakes Are (Almost) Too Pretty to Eat

When you need cupcakes for a special occasion, these ranunculus-topped cupcakes are the perfect project. Great for parties and gifts, these sweet floral treats are as fun to make as they are to share. Read on for our step-by-step tutorial for buttercream flower cupcakes that are (almost) too pretty to eat!

Learn how to pipe your most beautiful flower cupcakes yet!

Materials needed:

• Freshly baked cupcake piped with a small swirl of buttercream
• Tinted buttercream in any shade you like
• Olive green tinted buttercream
• 2-3 medium-sized curved petal piping tip (the curved part is important)
• Small, plain, round piping tip
• Leaf piping tip
• Piping bags
• Floral nail
• Small angled palette knife or flower lifter
• Parchment paper

Step 1:

Fill your piping bags with tinted buttercream. We used one bag of green fitted with a plain, round, small piping tip; one bag of green buttercream with a small leaf piping tip and three piping bags fitted with small, curved petal piping tips and filled with either ivory, green or a coral pink buttercream (one per bag).

Step 2:

To begin piping buttercream flowers on a flower nail, you need to prep your nail first. Add a dab of buttercream on top and place a small square of parchment paper onto the nail. The blob of buttercream helps stick the paper in place, and the parchment helps you remove your work once you’re finished.

Step 3:

Begin by piping a small bud-like center onto your nail, just like the one shown in the image above. With the fat or large side of your curved petal tip downward and the thinner end pointing upward, work clockwise around the nail while moving nail clockwise.

Step 4:

Angling your curved petal piping tip a little more diagonally, pipe two to three short “strips” or petals to form a sort of covered-up green bud, as shown above. Ranunculus petals curve inward, cupping the center before starting to spread outward.

Step 5:

Now switch to your main flower color and pipe another three petals around the green center. These should really cup the center of your bud.

Step 6:

Keep on building up your buttercream ranunculus petals by piping five petals that slightly cup the inner bud of the flower. Remember to keep your tip and at angle with the thinner end inwards.

As you continue, you won’t really need to stick to a set number of petals. Just be sure to keep track of the start and end of each row and keep each petal even. When you have more rows, you can pipe less cupped or angled petals.

Step 7:

Set all your buttercream ranunculus flowers in the freezer to set. This makes them easier to arrange and set in place on your cupcake. We left ours in for around 30 minutes.

Step 8:

Once set, use an angled palette knife or a flower lifter to remove the flowers from their parchment paper square and set onto your cupcake. An arrangement of three is a great number: Three flowers will allow just enough space for buttercream buds, leaves or any smaller filler flowers.

Step 9:

To fill in any gaps between your pretty buttercream flowers, pipe out tiny buds or berries with a small round piping tip.

Step 10:

Adding small leaves in between your flowers will help make your cupcakes look like full and beautiful bouquets. With a piping bag filled with green buttercream and fitted with a leaf tip, add dainty little leaves in clusters between your florals.