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Spring Wreath Cake

March 15, 2018 by Carrie Sellman

Spring Wreath Cake – how to make a buttercream wreath cake with little decorative touches like a bird’s nest, cherry blossoms, green berries and cookie moss. Beautiful for spring events like Easter, baby showers and Mother’s Day.

Spring Wreath Cake - how to make a buttercream wreath cake a bird's nest, cherry blossoms, green berries and cookie moss | by Carrie Sellman for TheCakeBlog.com  #easter #easterdinnerideas #mothersday #cake

Spring Wreath Cake - how to make a buttercream wreath cake a bird's nest, cherry blossoms, green berries and cookie moss | by Carrie Sellman for TheCakeBlog.com #easter #easterdinnerideas #mothersday #cake

It seems as though I have a thing for Easter cakes. Over the last five years, I’ve made a new cake each spring specifically with the holiday in mind. It all started back in 2013 with my Speckled Egg Cake. That cake has definitely stood the test of time with so many of you making it! Then there was the Chocolate Bunny Cake and the Easter Basket Cake in 2014. The Cookie Moss Cake of 2015 is making a small cameo in today’s cake (you’ll see what I mean in the tutorial).  2016 was an off year but 2017 came back strong with this Blackberry Lime Cake. This year I wanted to create a new cake that works for Easter but ALSO for other spring events like bridal showers, baby showers, and Mother’s Day. And today’s cake definitely fits that bill!

Spring Wreath Cake - how to make a buttercream wreath cake a bird's nest, cherry blossoms, green berries and cookie moss | by Carrie Sellman for TheCakeBlog.com #easter #easterdinnerideas #mothersday #cake

This cake is everything spring with a variety of leaves, berries, cherry blossoms, moss and even a bird’s nest filled with chocolate eggs. The mix of vibrant and muted greens creates a fresh backdrop for the little white blossoms. Yes if you’re wondering, cherry blossoms can be white! The three years we lived in Washington DC taught me a whole lot about cherry blossoms as I stalked the peak bloom each year, hoping to drag my family downtown at the perfect time for photos. There’s over 100 varieties of cherry trees that produce blooms from white with yellow centers to white with pink centers to full pink-on-pink. I chose to go with white and yellow simply because I liked the shade of the yellow mini eggs paired with all the green. And…. if we’re getting technical… a cherry blossom only has five petals, where most of my flowers have six. But I had the hardest time piping a five petal flower!

But that’s okay! The best part about this buttercream work is that it’s really forgiving. Which is definitely needed, as I’m no piping expert. But I’m really loving that buttercream has come back into the forefront over the last 4 years because it just tastes so much better than fondant. And who can possibly look at all the Korean buttercream flower cakes on Instagram and not long to be that talented!! Thank goodness for me — this cake is all about imperfect leaves and flowers — that when grouped together look more impressive than they really are. Which makes this a win for buttercream wannabes everywhere!

Spring Wreath Cake - how to make a buttercream wreath cake a bird's nest, cherry blossoms, green berries and cookie moss | by Carrie Sellman for TheCakeBlog.com #easter #easterdinnerideas #mothersday #cake

If you give this design a try, be sure to share a photo with me on Instagram! I’d love to see what you do with this idea. Just tag @thecakeblog or use #thecakeblog so we all can see. You can also share your photos on Pinterest now — how cool is that?! Happy spring baking everyone. 🌼🐰🌼

Spring Wreath Cake - how to make a buttercream wreath cake a bird's nest, cherry blossoms, green berries and cookie moss | by Carrie Sellman for TheCakeBlog.com #easter #easterdinnerideas #mothersday #cake
 


 

SPRING WREATH CAKE VIDEO TUTORIAL

 


 
SPRING WREATH CAKE
a tutorial by Carrie Sellman

Supplies:

  • Layer cake of choice (I used this chocolate cake recipe)
  • 2 batches Swiss Meringue Buttercream (I used the plain version of this recipe)
  • Soft gel paste food color (leaf green, chocolate brown and lemon yellow)
  • Piping Bags
  • Couplers
  • Piping Tip #104
  • Piping Tip #102
  • Piping Tip #234
  • Piping Tip #233
  • Piping Tip #352
  • Piping Tip #1
  • Piping Tip #2
  • Flower Nail
  • Tapered head mini offset spatula
  • Moss Sugar Cookies (1/4 or 1/2 batch is more than enough)
  • Cookie sheet
  • Cadbury Mini Eggs

Bake and assemble your cake of choice and frost the outside with white buttercream. Refrigerate until the cake and frosting are both firm. Gather decorating supplies. Divide your remaining frosting into 5 bowls and tint following the ratios listed below. Divide frosting first to ensure you have enough. Use very small amounts of gel pastes when tinting the frosting, so you can gradually build to your desired shade. It’s easy to add more, but impossible to remove excess. Keep in mind that shades will darken with exposure to the air, refrigeration and time.

  • ¾ cup white frosting tinted brown using roughly 8 drops of chocolate brown gel.
  • ½ cup white frosting tinted dark green using roughly 2 drops of leaf green gel, 2 drops of chocolate brown gel and 2 drops of lemon yellow gel.
  • ¼ cup white frosting tinted light green using a small scoop of the vibrant green frosting previously made. This is an easy way to make a lighter shade that perfectly complements the darker shade.
  • ¼ cup white frosting tinted yellow using one drop lemon yellow gel.
  • ½ cup white frosting left as white.

Spring Wreath Cake - how to make a buttercream wreath cake a bird's nest, cherry blossoms, green berries and cookie moss | by Carrie Sellman for TheCakeBlog.com #easter #easterdinnerideas #mothersday #cake

Cut piping bags, fit with couplers and fill with the frosting.

Spring Wreath Cake - how to make a buttercream wreath cake a bird's nest, cherry blossoms, green berries and cookie moss | by Carrie Sellman for TheCakeBlog.com #easter #easterdinnerideas #mothersday #cake

Place a small dot of frosting directly onto the flower nail. Place a square of parchment paper on top and press down to firmly attach parchment to the nail.

To make the large rippled leaves: Using a #104 tip on the dark green buttercream, hold the bag so that the skinny end of the tip is in the middle and the wide end of the tip is towards the outside. Squeeze and wiggle the bag to create ripples of frosting while moving the tip in an upside-down U shape. Stop squeezing and release when U is complete. Make 4 or 5 leaves.

To make the small smooth leaves: Using a #104 tip on the light green buttercream, hold the bag so that the skinny end of the tip is in the middle and the wide end of the tip is towards the outside. Squeeze the bag while gliding (no wiggle) up and back down in a very tight upside-down U shape. Think up, tight turn, and right back down. Stop squeezing and release when U is complete. You can play around with this one and make them longer, shorter, wider or thinner with just changing the shape of the U. Make 4 or 5 leaves.

To make the cherry blossoms: Using a #102 tip on the white buttercream, hold the bag so that the skinny end of the tip is in the middle and the wide end of the tip is towards the outside. Squeeze the bag while making a very small out and back motion (like an upside-down U) starting and ending in the middle of the flower nail. Stop squeezing and release. Slightly rotate the nail and repeat the same motion to the right of the previous petal. Repeat making 5-6 petals in all, to complete the circle. Then using a #1 tip on the yellow buttercream, pipe small little dots in a circular pattern to be the flower centers. Make 10 or 11 blossoms.

It’s always best to make more than you think you’ll need! Refrigerate all leaves and flowers until they are completely solid.

The video really helps solidify this process so be sure to watch!

Spring Wreath Cake - how to make a buttercream wreath cake a bird's nest, cherry blossoms, green berries and cookie moss | by Carrie Sellman for TheCakeBlog.com #easter #easterdinnerideas #mothersday #cake

Spring Wreath Cake - how to make a buttercream wreath cake a bird's nest, cherry blossoms, green berries and cookie moss | by Carrie Sellman for TheCakeBlog.com #easter #easterdinnerideas #mothersday #cake

Using a #234 tip on the brown buttercream, pipe a complete circle to start our grapevine wreath. Using a #1 tip on the brown buttercream, pipe a small line from the outside edge of the wreath to the inside edge, allowing for a slight angle. Repeat – piping small angled lines all around the wreath spaced roughly 1.5 inches apart, all following the same angle. This mimics the wrap that goes all the way around a real grapevine wreath to hold it together.

Spring Wreath Cake - how to make a buttercream wreath cake a bird's nest, cherry blossoms, green berries and cookie moss | by Carrie Sellman for TheCakeBlog.com #easter #easterdinnerideas #mothersday #cake

Using a #2 tip on the dark green buttercream, pipe some squiggly branches over 2/3 of the grapevine wreath, leaving one section open.

Spring Wreath Cake - how to make a buttercream wreath cake a bird's nest, cherry blossoms, green berries and cookie moss | by Carrie Sellman for TheCakeBlog.com #easter #easterdinnerideas #mothersday #cake

Place four small moss cookies into a small overlapping mound. You can learn how to make these with my moss cookie tutorial. You only need 6 or so cookies, but you’ll want to make some extra to allow for breakage and flexibility when placing them together. You can make a whole batch and use extras on cupcakes or for serving. Or alternatively, make a half batch or less.

Spring Wreath Cake - how to make a buttercream wreath cake a bird's nest, cherry blossoms, green berries and cookie moss | by Carrie Sellman for TheCakeBlog.com #easter #easterdinnerideas #mothersday #cake

Using a tip #233 on the brown buttercream, pipe a large circular mound onto the moss cookies, leaving an indentation in the middle. This is our bird’s nest. Place two or three mini eggs into the center of the bird’s nest.

Spring Wreath Cake - how to make a buttercream wreath cake a bird's nest, cherry blossoms, green berries and cookie moss | by Carrie Sellman for TheCakeBlog.com #easter #easterdinnerideas #mothersday #cake

Spring Wreath Cake - how to make a buttercream wreath cake a bird's nest, cherry blossoms, green berries and cookie moss | by Carrie Sellman for TheCakeBlog.com #easter #easterdinnerideas #mothersday #cake

Add additional moss cookies onto the wreath followed by the buttercream leaves.

Spring Wreath Cake - how to make a buttercream wreath cake a bird's nest, cherry blossoms, green berries and cookie moss | by Carrie Sellman for TheCakeBlog.com #easter #easterdinnerideas #mothersday #cake

Spring Wreath Cake - how to make a buttercream wreath cake a bird's nest, cherry blossoms, green berries and cookie moss | by Carrie Sellman for TheCakeBlog.com #easter #easterdinnerideas #mothersday #cake

Place blossoms onto wreath as desired. I placed them where the cookies and the leaves meet to give that intersection a more polished look. I also found using my tapered head mini offset spatula worked wonderfully for placing the blossoms exactly where I wanted them.

Spring Wreath Cake - how to make a buttercream wreath cake a bird's nest, cherry blossoms, green berries and cookie moss | by Carrie Sellman for TheCakeBlog.com #easter #easterdinnerideas #mothersday #cake

Using tip #352 on the light buttercream, pipe small filler leaves anywhere you see a hole or a rough juncture you want to hide. Using tip #2 on the light green buttercream, pipe small little dots at the ends of any visible green branches. These are our berries.

Spring Wreath Cake - how to make a buttercream wreath cake a bird's nest, cherry blossoms, green berries and cookie moss | by Carrie Sellman for TheCakeBlog.com #easter #easterdinnerideas #mothersday #cake

Sprinkle a little bit of the moss cookie crumbles onto the bird’s nest for extra texture. And lastly, if you’re like me and realize at the very end that you did not cover up the messy juncture where the grapevine wreath starts and ends…. cover it up with an additional cherry blossom and call it a day!

Spring Wreath Cake - how to make a buttercream wreath cake a bird's nest, cherry blossoms, green berries and cookie moss | by Carrie Sellman for TheCakeBlog.com #easter #easterdinnerideas #mothersday #cake

Spring Wreath Cake - how to make a buttercream wreath cake a bird's nest, cherry blossoms, green berries and cookie moss | by Carrie Sellman for TheCakeBlog.com #easter #easterdinnerideas #mothersday #cake

 


 
YOU MAY ALSO ENJOY:
Speckled Egg Cake
Chocolate Easter Bunny Cake
Easter Nest Cake
Chocolate Daffodil Cake
Mini Easter Egg Cakes

March 15, 2018 by Carrie Sellman

Carrie Sellman , Founder & Editor

Carrie Sellman is the Founder & Editor of The Cake Blog. Her work has been published in BRIDES Magazine, Country Living Magazine and featured online at People, Today, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Redbook, Real Simple, TLC, The Cooking Channel and more.

connect with Carrie :

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Comments

  1. Ashley says

    March 17, 2018 at 12:16 am

    This cake is stunning! I hope to attempt it soon, however in the past I’ve had issues getting meringue buttercream to accept my gel coloring well. Do you have any issues, tips or tricks with this?

    • Carrie Sellman says

      March 21, 2018 at 3:31 pm

      I know a lot of people have trouble with tinting meringue buttercream, so you’re not alone! I find that refrigerating the frosting after I color it really helps intensifies the shade. The gel pastes linked in the supply list are the actual gels I used. After coloring, I refrigerated my bowls of frosting overnight, just as they’re shown in the supply photo only covered with plastic wrap. The next day, I took the frosting out of the refrigerator in advance so it would come back to room temperature. When ready to use, I stirred it with a small rubber spatula to work out any air bubbles and get it nice and smooth again. Then into the piping bags and off to decorate.
       
      I hope this helps! Let me know if you see a difference! 😊

  2. Ingrid Kiraly says

    March 21, 2018 at 4:31 pm

    Can You Send Me The Instructions For Your Cakes Thank you

  3. Jennifer says

    March 29, 2018 at 11:15 am

    This is so gorgeous Carrie!!!!

    • Carrie Sellman says

      September 12, 2018 at 12:06 pm

      Thank you Jennifer 💕

  4. Sandra says

    April 3, 2018 at 5:40 am

    Hello Carrie,
    I really love your tutorials and always look forward for having time to try some new techniques. So I did for Easter and was really glad to have your step-by-step explanation. I also had some troubles by doing the flowers, but after about 100 trys and refrigerating the frosting (because it became too fluid) it finally worked out. 😉 If you like to see my creation have a look at: http://www.facebook.com/suessekuchenwelt
    I would really love to have your feedback to it. Thanks and greetings from Austria, Sandra

    • Carrie Sellman says

      September 12, 2018 at 12:05 pm

      Your cake looks beautiful Sandra! Glad you stuck with the flowers because they really add that special touch to the finished cake. Well done! And thanks for sharing your cake with me. 😊

  5. Ang says

    May 25, 2018 at 3:20 pm

    I love this cake! what is the size of the cake, please.

    thank you

    • Carrie Sellman says

      September 12, 2018 at 12:06 pm

      Thank you! It’s an 8″ round cake with three layers inside.

  6. Khuôn Bánh Thu Thảo says

    September 29, 2018 at 3:03 am

    The cake is delicious. Thank you!

  7. seema jassani says

    March 1, 2019 at 5:35 pm

    Can this be done with American buttercream as well?

  8. Ramona says

    October 10, 2019 at 9:50 pm

    Please can you give the recipe for this cake.

Trackbacks

  1. PUMPKIN SPICE CAKE - bakingscoop says:
    October 10, 2018 at 11:25 am

    […] I used pastry tip #81 to pipe the buttercream chrysanthemums and daisies, tip #233 for the vines and pumpkins, tip #104 for the large greenery and tip #366 for the fill in leaves. Find a tutorial for the leaves and wreath HERE. […]

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