I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I have become obsessed with making these roses. Perhaps you saw my Raspberry Rose Meringue Cookies last week…Maybe I was meant to be a baker? I doubt it. Baking is not my forte..but I do LOVE making these roses….
Regardless, I’m just here to say….if you’re looking for a stunning Valentine’s dessert for the chocolate lover in your life…Chocolate Buttercream Rose Cake is it! Who doesn’t associate roses with Valentine’s Day? And Chocolate? What more perfect dessert than this? And it’s mighty impressive, too, might I add!
I made this chocolate buttercream rose cake for my chocolate loving granddaughter’s 14th birthday a few weeks ago and thought what a perfect Valentine’s Cake for the chocolate lover.
That’s Joe, along with everyone else (you can’t see), singing Happy Birthday to her! I love her happy face….and it’s mostly because she asked for chocolate buttercream and I delivered, in a most spectacular way! At least that’s what I like to tell myself…
…ok, maybe it’s because Joe is so adorable…I’ll agree with that.
Anyway, she was happy and I was thrilled with how easy and perfect these roses turned out!
PLEASE don’t say you can’t. My mama used to say to me ‘Can’t never could”…and it stuck because I see very few things that I want to do, that I can’t do, once I make my mind up.
So remember this…if you want to do something, you have the ability inside to do whatever it is….yes, you do! Think of the NIKE ad…and JUST DO IT!
If you need a chocolate layer recipe you will love this one. Now all you need is this wonderful chocolate buttercream roses recipe and you’re in business. Oh what? You still don’t think you can make the chocolate buttercream roses??? O, ye of little faith! Take a deep breath…..
First of all, brush off any loose crumbs from the cake…then thinly frost it. You must put a thin layer of frosting on the cake and between the layers. Not too thick. You just want a ‘crumb-coat’ that will make all the crumbs stay put when you decorate the cake. Allow to dry a few minutes, then you may begin your roses.
(If you look closely you can see areas on my cake that don’t have roses on them and you can see the ‘crumb-coat’ is the same chocolate icing as the roses. If I hadn’t done that, you would see cake…oh me, that will never do. Of course, I could go back and fill in those places with a stroke of frosting or two…but since it all matched, I left it…)
To make a rose, make sure the icing is stiff enough to hold shape. Use the largest star tip you have. If you have not had much practice with a pastry bag, practice on a cookie sheet or wax paper first.
You want to squeeze and move at the same time to get the feel for how fast to move and how hard to squeeze. Kinda like patting your head and rubbing your tummy at the same time…only easier…
Start with the bottom row of roses. Begin your swirl in the center of each rose and with a continuous action squeeze and move in a spiral/circle, at the same time. Do one whole row first. You will notice from the photo that the second row of roses starts between the bottom row of roses and so forth.
If you make a mistake, buttercream is very forgiving. Simply scrap it off and start over. If you mess up the whole cake, scrap it off and start again… 😉 just be careful not to scrap cake crumbs! But I have confidence…you won’t!
Chocolate Butter Cream Frosting
Ingredients
- 2 cups unsalted butter...yes, 4 sticks, softened...not melted
- 2 pounds powdered sugar
- 1 cup cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 TBLS Vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup milk
Instructions
- You will need this whole recipe to cover a cake in roses.
- Place softened butter and vanilla in mixing bowl and beat on medium high for 3 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Turn off the mixer and add cocoa and 1 cup powdered sugar to mixture. Slowly turn on mixer to incorporate sugar. Continue to add one cup powdered sugar at a time until all is incorporated. You want it stiff.
- Chocolate will look light but it will darken.
- Frost a thin 'crumb' layer all over and between layers of cake.
- Fill pastry bag with frosting using largest star tip you have.
- Then begin with the bottom row.
- Start in the middle of the rose and make a large dot them in a continuous motion swirl all around the 'rose' until it is the size you'd like.
- I made each rose as tall as one layer of cake.
- Try to keep them all somewhat uniform in size.
- Try to end each rose at the same place on the rose.
- Go all the way around making your first row of roses.
- On the second row, place your next row of roses, between the roses you just made.
- Do the same for the third row.
- For the top, begin on the outer edge and make a row all the way around the top, then move toward the middle making rows until you are in the center.
- You may go back and fill in with a little 'swish' if there are any bare places on the cake.
- It is very forgiving...if you make a mistake, scrap it off and start over. 🙂 It's just icing....
- Practice makes perfect.
- Enjoy!
- Adapted from www.iambaker.net
See, it was not hard at all….. Wishing you a Happy Valentine’s Day! LOVE
Inspiration from Amanda at www.iambaker.net …Now, she’s a real baker~!!!
Chocolate Buttercream Roses would also be great on party cupcakes!… Just sayin’
Enjoy!