Basic Flower Piping Tools

Preparing your tools is the beginning of everything, so let's start with the most basic and essential tools to start flower piping.

a. Flower nails: These come in a variety of sizes, but I've found that 1.5“ to 2” (4cm to 5cm) in diameter is a good starting point.

b. Piping tips: #103 or 104 (roses, apple blossoms), #1 or #2 (stamens), #352 (leaves) You can pipe most of the basic flowers with the above tips. Later, once you start to bloom more diverse types of flowers, you will need other tips.

c. Flower nail stand: If you don't have access to one right away, you can make a temporary one out of toilet paper roll. I found ones sold in Amazon is smaller than typical Korean nail stand. So I'm currently using a small piece of wood that I drilled holes in, sanded, and coated with food grade oil because I'm worried that it won't be stable when I'm making large and heavy flowers.

d. Mixing Bowl: In Korea, plastic mixing bowls with handles are commonly used as mixing bowls, but I couldn't find them in the US, so I bought a stainless steel insulated double wall bowl from Amazon. I chose it because it's stainless steel, so it's easy to clean up the greasy buttercream, and because it's double-walled, it keeps the temperature of the buttercream a little bit longer. However, it's a bit inconvenient to use without a handle, so I'll try to buy a plastic cup with a handle when I go to Korea.

e. Flower Scissors: Make sure you get straight, elongated floral scissors like the ones in the photo. Most flower scissors on Amazon are wide at the front. I bought mine by mistake and I had a hard time getting the flowers down on the cake with this type of scissors. The only ones I've found in the US that look like the ones pictured are from Wilton.

f. Coupler: You may not need one at first, but a coupler makes it easier to change out piping tips.

g. Piping bag: There are disposable and washable piping bags. While disposables are convenient, I don't want to keep creating plastic waste, so I use disposables for hygiene when making cakes that I actually eat, and I often use cloth piping bags for practice.

h. Scraper: Used to place buttercream in a piping bag.

i. Food coloring: You don't really need any coloring when you're just starting out. However, if you have some color, you'll feel like you're making real flowers. The story of coloring is a bit long, so I'll save it for another post.