A few months ago I had the privilege of making this Pink Buttercream Ruffles & Wafer Paper Flowers Baby Shower Cake for a sweet member of our church.  Unfortunately, I was swamped with other orders that weekend and by the time I got to this cake, I was completely exhausted and my hand was killing me.
I can't remember if I've mentioned it or not here, but I've started to have pretty regular pain in my right hand/wrist. Â It doesn't bother me all the time, but when I have several cakes in a weekend, my hand is usually in excruciating pain by the end.
I know most likely I have carpel tunnel syndrome, but for now I generally try to pretend I'm okay. Â I'm doing less cakes these days so really it doesn't bother me all that much. Â But when it does... ouch.
Anywho - back to the cake. Â Let me tell you about it...
Pink Buttercream Ruffles & Wafer Paper Flowers Baby Shower Cake
I was so tired and hurting so much by the time I got around to this cake, I wanted it to be pretty but I also wanted it to be simple and come together quickly. Â Since the design was completely up to me, I opted for buttercream (rolling out fondant really hurts me these days).
I decided on buttercream ruffles for the bottom tier.  Not my brightest idea considering the amount of piping required, but it did give the cake a girly, whimsical feel.  I was also able to pipe them pretty quickly and I thinned the buttercream slightly more than normal which helped the ruffles come out easier so I didn't have to squeeze the piping bag really hard.  I used a Wilton #104 tip to do these 🙂
For the top tier, it was plain except for a few wafer paper flowers. Â When I did this cake I was just starting to experiment with wafer paper flowers, so these weren't my best work, but they still turned out pretty and added the effect I wanted.
For the rolled roses, I learned to do those in Stevi Auble's Craftsy Class, Delicate Wafer Paper Cakes. Â The roses are so easy (and I've improved my technique since this cake) and I absolutely loved everything in that class!
For the other fantasy flowers, I learned to do those (or something similar to those) in Jessica Harris' Craftsy Class, Simply Modern Cake Design.  This is another favorite Craftsy class of mine!
A few final details... this cake was 6" and 8" round tiers of white almond sour cream cake. Â I used vanilla buttercream for all of the filling & frosting and wafer paper for the flowers (with homemade marshmallow fondant centers).
One more detail... never forget to dowel your cakes! Â We live about 5 miles from our church and in my rush to get the cake to the baby shower, I forgot to dowel it. Â I realized it as soon as we pulled out of the driveway, but thinking... "oh, it's only 5 miles"... I chose to not go back and do it. Â That was a mistake!
In addition to the church being "only 5 miles" away, about half of the drive is on a bumpy gravel road. Â As soon as we hit the first bump, my daughter (who was holding the cake - ON the stand) told me the top tier was "leaning". Â I realized later she didn't mean leaning so much as shifting. Â It was moving away from the center.... uh-oh!
I slowed down and she used a paper towel to gently apply pressure to one side of the top tier to hold it in place and we did make it to the church... but gosh I was a nervous wreck and I did have to do some border repair at the church (where the top tier had shifted - there was a 'crack' along the border between the top and bottom).
In the end it all turned out great, but my lesson was learned for sure!  And when I got home, I took ibuprofen and iced my hand and it survived the weekend too 🙂
So - do you have any questions about this cake? Â Leave me a comment!
Lea
Rose I am curious how you attached the wafer paper roses. I am doing mostly buttercream cakes these days (goodby fondant!) and was worried about them staying in place and not melting into the buttercream. Can you tell me how you did this?
Rose
I actually applied them directly to the buttercream and didn't have any trouble at all!
Denise Rynasewycz
Hi! I love this cake. I'm going to ask a question that I'm sure you have been ask tons of times LOL. I'm from Australia and we can't always get the same products that you use. For the crusty butter cream, can I use coconut oil instead of the veggie shortening?
I enjoy receiving your emails
Denise
Rose
No Denise. Coconut oil has a much lower melting point than shortening so it would melt very easily in frosting. Trex and Copha are equivalent products that might be available for you.
Sandy
Hi Rose I live in a tropical island Puerto Rico. It is very humid and hot.
Will the buttercream hold firmly or I have to change something so it wont melt.
Rose
If you replace all the butter with shortening, that's the best combo for heat!
Donna L.
Hi Rose,
I'd like to gently prod you to get your hand & wrist evaluated very soon. As a fellow busy mom, I know too well that a lot of times it is easiest to put yourself last and put off health care. Carpal Tunnel is best dealt with earlier rather than later. If you're lucky, it may not be carpal tunnel but a repetitive motion injury (RMI). Severe carpal tunnel can require surgery. Please, go get it evaluated before it becomes worse. We use our hands for so many things in addition to cakes. I urge you to make preventing long-term/permanent impairment to your hands a priority.
On a related note, would you consider an electric fondant/dough sheeter as an alternative to hand-rolling fondant? I have not personally used one, but the investment may be worthwhile, especially if you can find a good used one. The relief it would provide for your hand & wrist would be significant. (It could also roll out sugar cookie dough for those times when you do decorated cut-out cookies.)
I found an old thread about buying a sheetroller http://www.cakecentral.com/forum/t/23408/advice-on-buying-a-dough-sheeterroller its old, but it may give you things to think about
I hope this doesn't seem like a lecture and if it does, I'm sorry! I'm just a fellow mom and cake girl and I find you talented and real and inspiring. I'll be praying for healing for your hand & wrist.
Best Wishes,
Donna L.
Rose
Thank you Donna! xx
Angela Straining
Hi Rose! I love your site and all of your wonderful recipes and design ideas. For these ruffles, did you start at the top or the bottom of the cake? Thanks!!!!
Angela
Rose
I started at the top! Thank you for your sweet compliments! xx
Brenda
Hi Rose!
I have the same wrist problems (15 years of cake lol) and my chiropractor actually said its my shoulders/neck! Pinching the nerves in my arms. Do your arms go to sleep at night? He said shoulder massages fix that problem! (Probably professional but hey!, gets the husbutt to do some massages hahaha!)
Hope it feels better soon! Love your blog! B
Rose
Thanks SO much Brenda!!
Pam
Ask God to heal your hand, give it to him and have faith he will heal you..Then praise him for healing you....
Rose
Thank you so much!
Casie Evans
I recently did a buttercream ruffle cake for a gender reveal and it turned out so cute. But the next day (pick up day the ruffles were cracking and falling off the cake. I had to scrape all the buttercream and replace with marshmallow fondant ruffles. How do you prevent the ruffles from cracking?
Rose
I haven't had that happen so I'm not sure. What kind of buttercream recipe did you use? Do you refrigerate or not refrigerate?
Casie Evans
I've always used the Wilton buttercream 1stick butter 1/2 cup crisco 1lb powdered sugar. I usually don't refrjdgerate after making the cake, but with this lovely humid south Mississippi weather I did because my buttercream was looked like it was melting.