Icing roses... so what?

Aside from always ensuring that I was served a piece of cake with a rose on top, I never really gave them much more thought. But the more that I explore baking and decorating techniques, the more I respect these floral confections.

For Christmas I received a Wilton cake decorating tool box. (I cried when I opened it. A little bit.) One of the contents is a practice board with instruction cards labeled in order of expertise. In the advanced pile as one of the last tutorial cards is icing roses. This was the first time that I realized what a challenge they might actually be.

So I tried my hand at it, and I'm ashamed to say that I'm not a natural. For some reason, I had this idea that I could make it look easy on the first try just because of my authentic passion for it. The way that Wart was able to pull the sword from the stone because of his genuineness and later went on to become King Arthur...

Icing roses are no fairy tale.

I couldn't even figure out which way my decorating tip was meant to point. The process involved trying to spin the flower nail while simultaneously piping out icing and reading instructions...

OK, it's harder than it sounds.

But like always, I will not let this mishap deterr me. I've left my tool caddy at home and absence has made my heart grow fonder; I really want to decorate some cake. I really want to succeed at icing roses. I'll have the kit back in 2 weeks and will be sure to post about any progress that may or may not ensue.

XX bakey love