Salt Dough Ornament How To

Yeah yeah, I know it's after Christmas, but I just made our salt dough ornaments for this year.  I've been so busy making dozens and dozens of cupcakes, cookies, cakes etc. that I didn't get to this yet.  But I figure that my main goal is to preserve my kiddo's cute paws for all time, so the exact date isn't really that important.

I made these last year and they turned out great.  Not only do I love having the ornaments on my tree, but they make great gifts for family as well!  They are easy to make, but if you have very small children like mine, I recommend having a helping hand while doing this project.  This can also be a fun way to preserve your pet's paw prints.  It was extremely stressful to get Moses' paw print last year...I was very pregnant with my second baby, and while down on the floor trying to wrestle our 90 pound lab's paw to make a print, the dog was trying to eat the dough.  I have often been told Labradors are among the top five smartest dog breeds.  I have found no evidence to support this theory in my own house.  Needless to say, I am glad that Moses is done growing, and I don't need to get another paw print from him this year.

The dough is easy to mix up.  In a bowl, combine 1 cup salt, 1 cup flour, and 1/2 cup warm water.  This recipe makes approximately five toddler hand/lab paw ornaments.  I have read in the past to soak the salt beforehand in the water so the crystals will dissolve.  However, I personally have not found that necessary.  There is so much salt in this recipe (they don't call it salt dough for nothing), that it would take a long time to dissolve.  I have not done this in the past, and it has not affected the dough.    After mixing, kneed the dough for a bit.  Then sprinkle your surface and your rolling pin with flour, and roll it out to between 1/4 and 1/2 inch thick.  The dough does not rise much while baking.

Now, you have to get your kiddo's prints.  For a baby under six months, it's difficult if not impossible to get a hand print, so stick to foot prints for the littlest babies.  Luckily, newborn toes are pretty cute in salt dough.  It's usually helpful to have assistance with this part (thanks Mr. Sugar Dish).  After you get the prints, cut around them in the design you want, and transfer to a cookie sheet lined with tin foil.  Spray a very light layer of cooking spray.  Last year, I used too much spray, and the ornaments absorbed it.

DO NOT FORGET TO CUT A HOLE FOR THE ORNAMENT'S RIBBON.  I use a drinking straw for this, works great.

Bake for three hours at 200 degrees.  I then flipped my ornaments and baked for another 20 minutes.  I have read that you should flip the ornaments halfway through, but I would not recommend this if you are making hand or foot print ornaments.  Upside down, the gravity takes some indention out of your hand or foot prints, and 20 minutes is more than enough.

Once complete, remove from the oven and let cool.  Then paint, seal, and add a ribbon.  I used acrylic paint and this sealant.

Happy Crafting!

~Sugar Dish

"Birch" de Noel

I decided to make a Buche de Noel this year for Christmas. I've always admired these cakes, and I was very excited to make it.  Decorating a cake like a log is not something you get to do every day!

As I made my plans, I asked myself where this holiday tradition comes from. It is, after all, a little strange that a log covered with holly and snow elicits festive sentiment in so many people. So I did a little research. Apparently, for many centuries the Yule Log was an important part of the holiday tradition in Europe. A large and often scented log, it was meant to burn for several days or weeks in the fire place or bonfire. Eventually, families began to serve a cake version of the Yule log, particularly in France, known as the Buche de Noel.

For my cake, I wanted it to be chocolate with a white crumb layer of buttercream, creating a birch tree. I love birch trees, and they always make me think of my Father.  A great outdoorsman, he often took us for outdoor adventures.  When we lived in Duluth, Minnesota, I remember seeing many birch trees with him, some even surrounded by softly falling snow.

I used this recipe from Martha Stewart for the chocolate cake and salted caramel filling, and I would highly recommend it.  The cake's consistency is perfect for rolling into logs, and it was moist and springy.  The filling was definitely the most difficult part to make.  Luckily, I had some help from Mr. Sugar Dish on this part.  We initially used  too large a pan and the sugar burnt, so we changed to a smaller saucepan and started over.  This time it worked well!  I also added extra salt.  It turned out great.

After the filling was done, the most difficult part was getting Mr. Sugar Dish to stop eating it so I could use it for the cakes.  I followed the recipe's instructions for rolling the cakes, and found them to be spot on:  I removed the finished cakes immediately onto cooling racks lined with parchment paper.  Once cool, I divided the filling between the two cakes, and spread even leaving a 1/2 inch border on all sides.  I then rolled the cakes tightly, peeling back the parchment as I went.  Then, I tightly wrapped both cakes in clean dish towels.  I placed them on a baking sheet and left them in the fridge over night.  This was the best move ever.  When I removed them from the towels, they were perfectly rolled and set, and frosting them with buttercream was a dream.  The rolled cakes also held up when I cut the ends off, and hacked up the second roll to use as the knobs and bend in the log.  Be sure to use a serrated knife for cutting.

After creating the crumb layer of frosting, it is easy to add the bark texture you want using an angled spatula.  I used the buttercream to adhere the knobs to the bark, and added the rest of the second roll as a bend in the main log.

Overall, making the "Birch" de Noel was much easier than I expected!  I finished up by sprinkling with cocoa and powdered sugar, and adding some mushrooms I made and holly leaves.  This will definitely be a part of our Christmas tradition in the future.  I've already started to plan how I will decorate next year's Buche de Noel!

How To Make Christmas Cookies With Your Two Year Old

Don't.

It sounded like a great idea, but these pictures show pretty much how it progressed. Total disaster, and now my Christmas tree is broken. At least they taste damn good!

Christmas Cupcakes: A Sugar Paste How To

This past weekend I was tasked with making 30 cupcakes for a Christmas soirée. I was very pleased with how these cakes turned out, and thought I'd pass on some sugar-coated wisdom from my experience.

These were made using a cream cheese frosting base and topped with sugar paste decorations. This technique is great because the paste is easy to mold into almost any kind of decoration! You can see here that I used this same technique for these Thanksgiving cupcakes.

You can purchase sugar paste at the store - my favorite brand is Duff.  Make the decorations 2 days before you plan to assemble your cupcakes. Use a gel food coloring and kneed into the paste a little at a time. Plan out your dying strategy, and go from light to dark. For this Christmas party, I did 15 snowflake and 15 holly cupcakes. So, I first made the snowflakes, then the leaves and then the holly berries. This way, any residual food coloring on my hands or work surface won't get on the white snowflakes or green leaves.

Then, roll out the paste to 1/8 inch thick and cut out your shapes. If you have a cookie cutter this is by far the easiest route. I used a cutter for the fall leaves and snowflakes, but not the holly leaves. Lay out your shapes to dry at room temperature for two days. For leaves, dry in a bowl so they curve. The trickiest part by far is finding somewhere for them to dry where your toddler can't get them with his grubby little fingers.

I wanted the snowflakes to sparkle, so once they were dry I made some icing by beating two egg whites until frothy, and then slowly adding 4 1/2 cups powdered sugar. This makes an icing that's easy for piping. I used a size 2 tip and filled a pastry bag (for full pastry bag instructions, check out my Buttercream Rosette Tutorial). Then just go to town piping designs on your snowflakes! Once piped, sprinkle with edible sparkles and it gives a great affect! I let these dry for a few hours.

For these cupcakes, I used a size 1M star tip and cream cheese frosting. I made the frosting nice and thick to support the sugar paste decorations (again, for more instructions on how to use a 1M tip, check out the Buttercream Rosette Tutorial). After frosting the cupcakes, I sprinkled with the edible sparkles, and then simply added the sugar paste decorations to the top!

Snowflake martini, anyone?

Advent Calendar Fun

I am so excited about this Christmas season!  This year, my two year old is starting to understand more of what is going on.  It has been so much fun watching him ask us to turn on the Christmas lights, plus he has already learned to sing Jingle Bells.  The constant threat of him knocking over the tree is not so much fun, but whatever...

I decided this year to make an Advent calendar, as I thought Sully would enjoy it, and I also like the

idea of incorporating the more liturgical aspects of Christmas as well as the festive.

So, I did what was only natural, I checked out Pinterest.  Fun ideas for Advent calendars abound, and I got some great inspiration.  I originally planned to knock off a Pinterest post and create a calendar out of my mini-cupcake pan, until I considered the fact that I only have one mini-cupcake pan, and I'll probably need it over the next 24 days.  So...forget that!

I then realized that I have an over abundance of small boxes in my craft stash, and a lot of fun paper. So I came up with the plan to wrap 24 different boxes for each day of the Advent season.  This is the easiest Advent calendar ever because then you just stick the boxes under the tree.  I like the thought of a Sully's first gift unwrapping experience being about something other than toys or candy.  I also like that each box will be labeled with a number, so he can practice counting while having fun!  Lastly, we've been working a lot on "waiting" and "patience," so I'm hoping opening just one box a day while leaving the others will be a good activity.

 So, I gathered all the boxes and compiled all my pretty holiday paper, and got to work.

First, I wrote down 24 fun holiday things to do.  Some of them are purely festive like "Watch a holiday movie tonight," while others try to incorporate the true meaning of Christmas, like, "Pray for someone in need today."  I was sure to throw a few fun activities for the whole family, like "Have a festive cocktail tonight"!

Then, I wrapped each activity up in festive paper.  A few I made into pretty cards which I hid in our tree.  Sully (and Mr. Sugar Dish) will have to find the gift each day labeled with the appropriate number, unwrap it, and we'll then have fun as a family completing the activity!

I'm hoping this will become a great family tradition, and one of Sully's first Christmas memories.  So far we're off to a good start.  Yesterday, we opened box number one, which said "Take a walk and hug a neighbor!"  So we set off in our double stroller and went for a stroll.  Today, the card said "Kiss someone you love," and we all know this mama loves any excuse to get extra sugar...

"Mr. Sugar Dish" on Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is one of my all-time favorite holidays. The fact that the biggest priorities of the day surround food, family and football is greatness in my book. The careful choreography of the menu planning, food preparation and timing juxtaposed with crazed friends/family, laughter, story telling and imbibing makes for such great times.

Let me introduce myself.  Simply put, I am Mr. Sugar Dish.  Cooking is my passion, and therefore my wife suggested I post some Thanksgiving dinner wisdom here on her blog.

Turkey breast with apple,
cranberry, and bacon stuffing

Growing up in and Irish-Catholic household, the idea of creating a meal around a large piece of roasted meat was not unfamiliar. In fact, my mom’s beautiful preparation of a beef roast with all the fixings was a regular Sunday tradition in my youth. I still remember coming inside on a cool afternoon and being struck by the intoxicating aroma of beef and caramelize onions (and of course, the extra fat my mom would request from our butcher because it makes a richer gravy and high-rising Yorkshire pudding). My family has a solid history of really strong cooks including my mother, grandmother and great Aunt (both on my mom’s side). A lot of my cooking is squarely based on the flavor profiles of their recipes.

On Thanksgiving, my mom, (and when I was much younger) grandmother and aunt would all combine forces to put together a huge spread of delicious and traditional offerings. Some of my favorites included chicken livers, creamed onions, mashed turnip, maple glazed sweet potatoes and apple pie with a shortbread crust. I also remember being in the kitchen and helping prep certain dishes and also started to learn about different techniques. Preparing these types of holiday meals was really where my love for cooking started. As the years progressed my brother and I would even put together a lot of these dishes on our own.

For me, Thanksgiving is still about so many of those dishes and flavors. I am a traditionalist, and don’t do too much meddling with the established favorites.

Sliced herb roasted turkey breast.

Here is a list of 5 things to think about this week as you start to put together your Thanksgiving plans.

1. Plan ahead- making a grocery list is just the start. For the last couple years I’ve created sort of an itinerary of my tasks and necessary prep work I want to accomplish on the days leading up to Thursday…this is super helpful in staying organized, especially if you are entertaining a crowd. (example: Tuesday Night: go to liquor store for beer, wine and bourbon Wednesday Morning: Whole Foods Wednesday Evening: make pie crust for strawberry rhubarb pie, make strawberry-rhubarb filling, make chicken liver pate, etc.)

2. Think about your food lineup for the entire day- some people focus on the dinner, but Thanksgiving is generally an all-day affair.  So make sure you have snacks and appetizers ready to roll for your hungry guests and family members. If you are like me and like to start the party early, make sure you are combating the booze with food (and also water!).

3. For dinner, follow the 1-2-5-2 rule- These numbers may seem confusing so let me explain!

1 roast or protein (ex: duck fat roasted turkey breast with a cranberry-apple-bacon stuffing, herb-crusted prime rib, etc.)

2 sauce options (ex: giblet gravy, cranberry sauce, horseradish sauce, etc.)

5 side items - that includes at least one green vegetable…whether or not you choose to cover that green vegetable in cheese or cook with pork fat is totally up to you! (example: bacon-roasted Brussels sprouts with caramelized onions, goat cheese-mashed potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, oyster stuffing, roasted asparagus with a lemon vinaigrette, etc.)

A traditional warm apple pie.

2 dessert options…this may seem extravagant but people love sweet things (just ask Sugar Dish!!). Also, some people prefer fruit flavors, while others prefer chocolate flavors (example: strawberry-rhubarb pie, Nutella and white chocolate bread pudding, pumpkin pie with a salted crust, etc.)

4. Stay ahead of clean-up- During my experience working in a professional kitchen, it became clear that good chefs/cooks kept their stations and workspaces clean. Do dishes, clean mixing bowls, and wipe cutting boards and counters as you go. This will also help to ensure that your end of the day cleanup will not be nearly as daunting.

5. Ask for help- Preparing a holiday meal can be a big undertaking…it’s totally fine to ask friends or relatives to bring an appetizer, side, drink and/or a dessert to share.

In closing I’d like to give a big thanks to Sugar Dish for “encouraging” me to contribute to her blog this week…now back to your regularly scheduled sugary programs. Wishing you all a happy and tasty Thanksgiving!

Our 2013 Thanksgiving place setting, compliments of Sugar Dish.
Each guest shared what we were thankful for during our meal.

Michelle's Birthday Cake: A Fondant Tutorial

Thanksgiving week has just begun and we are off to a sweet start!

My coworker Michelle had a big birthday today.  She started talking about her big day last week, and I was inspired by her excitement.  So many people become less and less enthusiastic about celebrating as the years pass.  Some people actually make crazy declarations about not wanting to celebrate!  I hate this.  I believe you should celebrate every birthday likes it's your 21st.  And Michelle feels the same.  As she was telling everyone about her birthday plans, I was already planning the awesome cake I was going to make for this awesome lady.

In planning the design for Michelle's cake, the first thing that popped into my mind was bright pink, as Michelle wears a lot of bright colors, and looks great in them.  The shade I had in my mind made me think of India.  About four years ago I visited India, and like many of its visitors, was struck by the boldly bright fabrics and the beautiful henna art.  So I began to envision a henna inspired design on a bright pink fondant canvas.

When I brought this cake to my office today, what awed everyone the most was the color and the smooth consistency of the decorations.  Everyone wanted to know how you get such a smooth effect.  The answer of course is - fondant.  So, I decided to write this post about how to cover a cake with fondant.

Fun fact: the inside filling of a Cadbury Cream Egg is poured fondant.  It is also a common decoration for cakes, particularly wedding cakes.  The word fondant means "melting" in french, and I have found that most people "melt" for the way it makes a cake look.  Fondant can be made in different ways, but typically includes ingredients like water, sugar, powdered sugar, and marshmallows.  I buy my fondant at the store, as most people eat around it anyway - as the majority don't like the taste.  In the past, I have used Wilton brand fondant, but this time I purchased Duff fondant from Michael's.  I was very happy with it and plan to switch for future purchases.  The colors are more vibrant, the fondant covers better, and it tastes better!

Anyway, decorating the cake.  First, fill the cake layers with regular frosting (buttercream, cream cheese, etc.), and frost the cake with a crumb layer.  If you're not sure what a crumb layer is, it's a thin layer of frosting designed to seal in the crumbs of the cake.  You should always do this when frosting a cake, regardless of how you're decorating it.  This keeps the crumbs from showing up on your finished product.  See this picture for my crumb layer.  I then let my cake layers set in the fridge for several hours.



Now, for the fondant, follow these steps (use the same steps for a round or square cake):

1. Measure the side of your cake and its width across.  To calculate the circumference of your rolled fondant, use this equation:  Circumference=Side(2) + Width
2. Remove the fondant from packaging, and place it in the microwave on low heat for 10 seconds per pound of fondant.

3. Spread corn starch on your work space, and kneed the fondant to get it to a good consistency, about three to five minutes.
4. Using as much cornstarch as you need to prevent sticking (on your work space and roller), roll out the fondant until about 1/8" thick.  Make sure it measures as detailed above.
5. As pictured, roll the sheet of fondant onto your rolling pin.  You can then carry it to your cake and, using the rolling pin, gently unroll and drape it over your cake.  Make sure there is a "skirt" of fondant trim around the cake.
6. Remove any bubbles from the top of the cake.  I use my rolling pin to get it extra smooth.
7. On the side of the cake, walk your fingers of one hand one inch down.  With your other hand, "fluff" the skirt lightly under your fingers.  While fluffing the skirt under your fingers, continue to walk your fingers all around the cake, only going one inch from the top all around.  As you go around the corners, you'll need to fluff the skirt a little more.  You'll find this stretches the fondant, which is what you want.  Just be sure not to stretch a hole in it.
8.  Repeat step seven, but move two inches down with your fingers, and go all around.
9.  Repeat until all of the sides are flat and smooth.
10. Use a fondant smoothing tool, like this to smooth the sides and create a clear indention at the bottom.
11. Use a fondant cutter as pictured below to cut the fondant where the indention has been created.  Remove access fondant, and use the smoothing tool or your fingers to smooth the cut fondant.  Extra fondant can be reused!

Now you're ready to use this beautiful canvas to make a masterpiece!  You can use other fondant colors and shapes to make a design, or you can do like I did for Michelle's cake and use buttercream frosting for a piping design.  If you choose to decorate with other fondant, just wet where you want to add the fondant, and the two pieces will stick together.

In case you are wondering, Michelle loved her cake!  We left it up to her to decide what time she wanted her party.  She opted for birthday cake for breakfast.  Heck, it's your party, right?  Yum!

My super secret play-doh recipe!

So I know this blog is supposed to be about decorating cakes in complex and beautiful ways, but I do want give a few of my ideas for fun crafts for kids along the way.  I definitely wasn't planning for my second post to be about making play-doh, but motherhood has taught me to just "go with it" sometimes.

Yesterday the baby unexpectedly took a nap, and I had some one-on-one time with my two year old son.  Sully loves play-doh, and we make it together about once a week.  I love to make things in the kitchen with him, and I think it's a great activity.  I also like making my own play-doh because, like so many kids, Sully eats his play-doh, no matter how much I try to get him to stop.  But if I know the ingredients that were put in it, it's one less thing to worry about. Plus, it saves another kind of dough!

So anyway, yesterday I said, hey do you want to make play-doh?  And of course he freaked out.  Then I was like, why don't I take pictures of us doing this and write a blog post about it?  Making play-doh is pretty much the most basic thing you can do as far as DIY toddler projects, but I seem to see a lot of my mom friends posting on facebook about how they either a) can't find play-doh in the store, or b) need a good recipe for it.  So it seems to me that there is a need out there and I'm happy to share my recipe.

Unfortunately I lied in the title of this post, as my recipe is not super secret, I am pretty sure it's the same recipe a lot of people use, but it's great so that's all that matters.  Here are the ingredients:

1 cup water
1 cup flour
1/4 cup salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
food coloring
Some people recommend adding glitter. I agree this sounds super fun, unless your kid is like mine and eats the play-doh. Until he stops doing that, I'm going to refrain from adding small bits of broken glass, thank you very much.

The best part is that this is almost impossible to screw up.  I have tried.  I mean after all, I let my toddler measure the ingredients, but the play-doh always turns out great!  You can also easily double or triple the recipe if you want to make it for a play date.

Step One: Mix all the ingredients in a large pot on the stove. I mix them in without the heat on, as Sully uses a little step stool to help me.

Step Two: Turn on medium heat and keep mixing.  At this point I usually try to distract my toddler with something else.  Keep mixing the whole time.

Step Three: It will start to clump (picture three), and when it looks like picture four (i.e. when it looks like play-doh) it's ready to go!  Take it out of the pot and kneed it on the counter.  Sully loves this part.

Step Four: Play!

This photo was literally taken about two minutes after the play-doh finished cooking. Sully could hardly wait for me to finish!

Be sure to store in an air tight container!

Stay tuned as I have a very busy week of baking planned - a birthday cake for Michelle, thanksgiving cupcakes for Sully's daycare party, and then the main event: Thanksgiving dinner! Maybe we can even talk Mr. Sugar Dish into posting his secrets to cooking a Thanksgiving feast? Who's with me???

A Buttercream Rosette Tutorial

Hello wide, vast Internet!  For this, my first blog entry, I present to you a tutorial on Buttercream Rosettes.  Not only because they're one of my favorite things to make right now, but also because I'm making these cupcakes for our church fair this weekend.

Rosettes are one of those things that I can truly say look more difficult to make than they really are - as long as you have the two secrets to cake decorating, which are: taking your time, and using the right tools.  If how often I'm able to go to the freaking bathroom without a toddler watching me while holding an infant in my lap (no, I'm not kidding) is a measurement of how able I am to take my time doing anything, then let's just say I rely heavily on using the right equipment.

Success in cake decorating is like surviving your first New England winter.  I learned the value of the right equipment during my first winter in Boston.  Being an Oklahoma girl, I figured that my winter coat purchased on clearance at Gap would be sufficient; it had plaid lining after all!  I WAS WRONG, OH SO WRONG!  Lesson learned: get a winter coat and accessories that make you look like Han Solo in Star Wars Episode V (especially if you're a man, because that would be really hot).  Extra credit if you ride a Tauntan.

The same is true with baking.  If you want to make lovely rosettes and swirls etc, don't buy those weird plastic decorating tips on the Halloween aisle at Stop n' Shop.  I mean, unless you're REALLY genuinely talented, and not like most of us, scanning Pinterest for fun tricks to make us look (and feel) talented and awesome.

I use Wilton products, and they have always worked well for me.  I would like to say that I use them because I have systematically tested out all major brands and scored them on a five point scale to find the winner.  But no, I use Wilton because it's what Michael's carries, and I freaking love Michael's.

To make rosettes, use a Wilton size 1M tip, like this.  This is also the tip that you would use to make a more traditional swirl on top of a cupcake, like on these gender reveal cupcakes I made.  This tip is great and has many uses.  How many more times will I have to write "tip" in this blog?  Geez...

Fill either a 12" or 16" pastry bag with buttercream.  I prefer to use a 16" bag, as it's nice to have more space to twist the top of the bag as you work, and it's also easier to fill.


To fill a pastry bag:
1. Cut the tip off of the bag.
2. Insert the decorating tip into the bag, pushing it into the corner you cut off.
3. Hold the bag with one hand, near the clipped corner and decorating tip.
4. With your other hand, fold the top of the bag over, all the way down to your hand.
5. Then, using a spatula you can put buttercream into the bag starting at the very bottom, and role up the pastry bag as you fill it.  Use the spatula to press out any possible air bubbles.  This is important because air bubbles will really mess up your rosettes.
6. Only fill the bag a maximum of 3/4 full, and twist the top closed.

So, now the fun part.  How do you make those beautiful rosettes that make everyone say "oooh, ahhhhh, how did she do that???"

The rosette is a closely related cousin to a traditional cupcake swirl.  For a swirl, you use a 1M tip and start on the outside of the cupcake, winding in towards the middle.  For a rosette, you start in the middle of the cupcake, and work your way out.

To Make the Rosettes:
1. Place your cupcakes on a low table, or use a step stool (especially if you're vertically challenged, like moi), so you can hold the pasty bag perpendicular to the table.
2. Place the tip in the middle of the cupcake and lightly squeeze the top of the bag while you start to swirl out.
3. When you're ready to end the rosette, tuck the tip in a bit and gently release.  I've found this part takes the most practice.
4. Keep winding the bag as you work to keep all the frosting near the tip (again, avoid the evil air bubbles!)

A couple tips:
1. Establish a good base at the center of the rose.  That is, start the flow of the icing and lift up a bit.  This makes sure the icing stays on the cake, and also that you have that pretty starting point of the rose.
2. Try to keep the number of swirls around the cupcake the same for each one.  This creates a neat, professional look.
3. Try to end the rosette at the same point on each cupcake.  Again, for that clean "Martha Stewart" look.
4. If you're planning to decorate with rosettes for a special occasion, do a practice run.  Although these are easy with the right tools, they do take practice.
5. Use the right frosting.  Buttercream works well, but it must be thick enough to hold shape.  If your frosting is too runny, add more POWDERED SUGAR!!!  Cream cheese frosting also works well, but it must be thick enough as well.  Be sure the frosting is nice and cold.  Although it's important to bake with room temperature ingredients, I keep my frosting ingredients on the cooler side so that the frosting will hold better.
6. Remember that the best part about these rosettes is that they don't need to be perfect.  Even with imperfections, they are still charming.

Here is the finished product:

After mastering this you can do all kinds of awesome things, including, the super fun ombre rosette cake, like this one I made for my daughter's christening.  Mom win!

Lizzy's christening cake: Lemon cake filled and frosted with buttercream.