Video: How to frost a rose on a cupcake
You’ll find the recipe for the cupcakes, frosting, and all the information you need to replicate these rose frosted cupcakes.

I love the pretty pink color and the smooth texture of this frosting, pink frosting is by far my favorite color, but luckily you can make your rose cupcakes in any color you would like, beige and cream color frosting really look pretty on cupcakes as well.
Remember just a little color goes a long way!
Be sure to take a look at the how-to video I made so that you could easily replicate these cupcakes with rose frosting yourself. It will help you master these beauties!

One of my favorite memories as a kid is pink frosting. It’s funny how memories can linger on forever!
My mom made me a cake with pink frosting for one of my birthdays.
WOW was it pretty…
I remember every detail! I remember watching her pipe the edges and I appreciated the time it took her to make my cake so pretty.
I was all about PINK then (my whole room was pink including the carpet) and some things haven’t changed. My favorite color frosting is still pink.
Rose frosting looks good in so many colors you’ll have to give your favorite color a try and looks great on vanilla cupcakes or chocolate cupcakes! The recipe for this smooth silky American Buttercream Frosting is in the recipe card below.

If you like pink frosting don’t miss seeing this Pink Coconut Cake and my Fruity Pebbles Cake and these adorable Russian Rose Cupcakes, these have tiny roses all over them!
There is a lot of info in this post, including the recipes for my creamy buttercream frosting as well as cupcake recipes, tips tricks, and how-to. I’ve also updated this post with my cupcake guide, so be sure to check it all out!
My top 3 must-have cupcake baking items:
- THIS is my favorite cupcake pan
- THESE are my favorite cupcake liners
- THESE are the piping bags I use

One of the best things about frosting cupcakes in pretty roses (or rosettes) is that it only takes a few seconds to frost each cupcake and once you get the hang of it you’ll be surprised how quickly you can a whole batch of cupcakes.
When you have a whole tray of cupcakes in front of you, with a few practice swirls you will be frosting roses in no time at all.
There are many reasons why these cupcakes are my all-time favorite, I love chocolate cupcakes and pink frosting the contrast in colors is so pretty.
The dark liners on the cupcakes give them a really nice finished look. I like these Dark Brown Liners.

If you bake (or craft) a lot and often run out of counter space try THIS, rack it’s a real space saver I use it all the time for cookies, cupcakes, and even when we work when putting together puzzles, I spread out puzzle pieces onto baking sheets and stack them up to see everything easily!
Here is a great set of piping bags along with piping tips.
Don’t miss one delicious recipe and get my FREE e-cookbook click here!

A few tips when frosting these cupcakes:
- practice on a piece of wax paper or the bottom of a cupcake pan, so you can scrape off the frosting and place it back into your frosting bowl and use it when you ar frosting your cupcakes. If the frosting gets warm from practicing, place it in the fridge for 5 minutes, you don’t want it cold, but you don’t want it warm either.
- keep a damp towel nearby so you can wipe off the piping tip if it gets messy, don’t start piping if it’s already messy, it will only get worse as you pipe on the cupcakes
- start in the same position of each cupcake, don’t reach over cupcake you’ll be more likely to mess them up. Move the tray of cupcakes or move your body so you’re in front of what you are doing. If your kitchen counter is too high, try your table.
- you don’t need to pick up each cupcake, yes I do that in my video, so you can see what I’m doing. It is easier to place all the cupcakes on a baking sheet and pipe them that way. This method also avoids you handling each one after it’s piped.
- If you do mess up on frosting a cupcake, don’t worry, just swirl it smooth with a spatula and add some sprinkles. Having some difference in a whole tray of cupcakes often adds interest and who doesn’t love some fun sprinkles!

This is one of my favorite cakes, it’s not only pretty it tastes AMAZING! There are different varieties of vanilla and it got RAVE reviews when I served it at a wedding!
- When piping roses on a cake, you can either pipe them all flat, in a grid and even overlap them slightly or you can pipe them as I did, like in a bunch, the way you would see a grouping of roses in a vase, just reposition your hand so it’s at a different angle when piping and move around the cake when piping so it’s not in a specific pattern.
- If there is a space where there is no rose and really not enough room to add one, just squeeze the frosting to create a dollop to fill in any open areas.
- Take a look at the entire post here: Vanilla Wedding Cake

These red, white, and blue cupcakes are fun and pretty.
Just take a box of white cake mix (or use this recipe for white cake) and separate the batter into three bowls and tint one red and one blue, leaving the third white.
Place the batter into plastic bags to make filling the cupcake pan easy and layer the batter in the cupcake pan, baking according to directions and allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.
Classic white frosting looks great on these as well.
If you want your frosting bright white, you can add some White Food Coloring, it works great!

To create the tri-color frosting:
In one piping bag, from the tip to the end of the bag place each color of frosting carefully not to swirl them,
but keep them in lines do the red and blue on each outside edge and put white in the middle,
they will swirl when you pipe them and look great!
Alternately you can place the frosting on a piece of plastic wrap in lines and then gently roll the plastic wrap into a log and insert it into a piping bag. Then add on the piping tip and you’re all set to decorate the cupcakes.

Click to see the video: How to Frost a Rose Cupcake
You’ll find the video here… if you like watching food videos be sure to check out the rest of my videos on YOUTUBE.

The most often asked questions on frosting rose cupcakes:
- What piping tip do you use: 2D piping tip…. (if you like seeing more of my favorite items look HERE)
- Can I use another tip: yes, but the roses will look different. The 2D tip is a curved star tip with 6 prongs. You can PURCHASE the tip HERE
This is the “nozzle” used to pipe the rose cupcakes, I find people searching for what piping tip to use to frost rose cupcakes, and what piping tip to use to frost rose cupcakes, and buttercream rose nozzle to find out what tip to use. It’s the 2D tip!
- What recipe do you use for your frosting: the recipe is below as is easy to print, it provides creamy frosting perfect for piping onto cakes and cupcakes.
- Where is your Chocolate Cupcakes Recipe HERE just click here to print.
Here is my Small Batch Chocolate Cupcake Recipe (6 cupcakes) - You’ll find my Vanilla Cupcake Recipe HERE
Small Batch Vanilla Cupcake Recipe (6 cupcakes) - And my favorite Italian Buttercream Frosting Recipe HERE: this frosting is not as sweet as “American” buttercream, it’s my favorite tasting frosting, it’s a softer frosting so it’s not the best if you plan on serving them outside in the summer. Otherwise, if you are an intermediate baker, this frosting is a must. It’s not a beginner frosting, you’ll need a candy thermometer, you’ll be whipping eggs, and also making syrup. But it’s so yummy and worth learning.
I also have a fun recipe for chocolate red-wine cupcakes that you could frost with a rose on top for a delicious and elegant dessert.

CHECK OUT my guide to CUPCAKES: frosting, tips, and tricks
If you’d still like more information on cupcakes I have an ebook that is just for YOU! Click here>>> CUPCAKES TIPS TRICK’S & RECIPES to see what’s in the ebook, the cost is only $5.00 and it’s full of great information.
THIS is my favorite cupcake pan it bakes cupcakes nice and evenly without overcooking/browning them.
THESE are my favorite cupcake liners, they are greaseproof and look so pretty on cupcakes.
I use THESE piping bags and love them.
Below you’ll find the frosting recipe I used to make these cupcakes.
I’m SUPER excited to share with you the great news that my rose cupcake video has over 1 million VIEWS on youtube!
Thanks so much for watching. Be sure to sign up for my email updates so you won’t miss what I’ll make next.
Buttercream Frosting Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter if making it in hot weather use vegetable shortening
- 4-6 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 tablespoons heavy cream
Instructions
- Beat butter until smooth add powdered sugar, vanilla, and heavy cream.
- Mix until smooth and creamy.
- If it’s HOT outside and I don’t want the icing to flop I either mix 1/2 butter 1/2 shortening or all shortening.
- Adjust powdered sugar if you add a lot of food coloring or extracts.
- For very white frosting, use all shortening, and add a few drops of Americolor white food coloring or a tiny drop of lavender/purple food coloring to offset the yellow in the butter to make it bright white.
Notes
Crisco tends to be heavy and thick,
Walmart’s store brand is light and fluffy.
There are also differences in butter, some stay thick and some are softer when whipped.
All these differences will affect the final outcome of your frosting.
I often make the frosting a day ahead of time along with the cupcakes, but pipe the frosting the day I’m serving the cupcakes.



And if you like baking cookies, I have lots of tips, recipes, and info to share on cookies too…



Hi Diane,
Your roses are so lovely! For the frosting, do you use salted or unsalted butter? Thanks!
I typically use salted as I am like the contrast in flavor, but I’ve used unsalted and it’s very delicious too 🙂
Hi Diane would you share your frosting recipe you used yo create the lovely rose design? I just looks so perfect and smooth!
Thanks
I can’t pipe for the life of me! 🙂 Thank you for doing this… I will most definitely follow your instructions!
Beautiful cupcakes and great tips!
Omg! Thaaaaaank u soooo much for this!! Your video was great and I love how easy and fast your technique is! How did you get two tone in your bag? Mine all mixed together into a big mess of a new color! Thaaanks! Also would love your buttercream recipe, if u have a good one. Thanks again! Will definitely look for more of ur videos!
I just swiped each colol on the opposite sides od the piping bag, leaving the center to mix together on it’s own. The buttercream recipe I use is 1 cup butter to 4 or 5 cups powdered sugar with 2-3 tablespoons milk and a teaspoon vanilla. For white frosting use shortening and clear vanilla. If it’s hot when you make frosting or you think it will be too soft just use shortenin, sometimes I use half butter half shortening, depends on how I want it to taste and the weather:) hope that helps let me know if you need more info. -Diane
Hi Diane,
Made your icing roses last night on cupcakes for a bridal shower I'm having this weekend. Very pretty and after a little practice, very simple!!! Thanks for the helpful video. Love your blog!
Susan
I am soooo glad that a link from the Idea Room led me here! I have seen the roses done in the same way on youtube but your roses are the only one's that I have seen done with the 2D tip and they are gorgeous! Thanks so much for sharing!!!
Looks awesome! I wish I'd known it was so easy 🙂
Those are so pretty I thought they were made of material at first. Watched your video and you make it look so easy.
mickey
Great video for making that perfect rose!
You made it looks so easy…but I know I'm going to mess this up! LOL But thanks for the video. Much better than a thousand words!
Love the video and agree that seeing something like this is key as opposed to reading about it. Thanks for sharing with us!
Thank you for the video!! You make it look so simple and I'm excited to try it!
Thanks again!
I think that was great! What I took from your video was that I should be frosting the cupcakes while they're in my hand, rather than while they're on the table. It made all the difference in the "flow" of the rose. Simple to some, but for whatever reason it hadn't occurred to me to do that! thanks, Diane
This is great Diane! I have been wanting to know how to do your beautiful rose cupckes. You make it look so easy. I think your voice sounds really nice and you look very pretty:) I always hate the way I sound in videos, though, too. I sound very nasally and have a bit of a Boston accent..not good..lol
I love this! I am so glad you posted this!!
This was great. I have a few cake decorating tools, but have no idea to use them. I would love to be able to frost like you! Keep the videos coming.
Your vlog *debut* was great as was the lead-in to it. Looking forward to more 🙂
You are so cute Diane! I love this. You should do more of these for the cooking-impaired like me 🙂
xoxo
Jen