WHAT ARE RUSSIAN PIPING TIPS?
Russian piping tips are a large piping nozzle with a pre-cut design that you squeeze the frosting through to create different types of buttercream flowers. If you look at some of the designs on Russian nozzles, you’d be surprised what kind of flowers you get!
In a large bowl, beat butter using an electric mixer until smooth. Mix on low, gradually adding powdered sugar. Once mixture comes together, increase speed & blend for about 3 mins. Add vanilla & milk, continue blending until smooth. Add food coloring.
Instead of using the attachment that allows you to switch out the nozzles and continue with the same color, I just drop the nozzle straight into the piping bag and cut it to fit snugly on the nozzle.
Once you have the piping nozzle in place, fold down the edges of the bag. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the frosting into the bag. Gently squeeze the frosting to get rid of air pockets then squeeze the frosting down toward the nozzle.
A good rule of thumb: Do your first flower on a piece of parchment to get a feel for it and also to get out any extra air pockets that might have collected around the base.
Sometimes, I even pipe all of my buttercream flowers onto parchment, freeze them and then arrange them on my cake or cupcakes by hand. You can also just pipe the flowers directly onto your dessert.