Chocolate Roses (click photos to enlarge)!

I'm pretty much in love with the Wilton 1M cake decorating tip.  Even a "beginner" (aka me) can make icing look fabulous with this thing.  This magical tip can make cupcakes look like ice cream cones and Christmas trees, it can make butter cream look like smooth satiny ruffles (look for photos and a "how to" link on that in an upcoming blog post), it can make perfect zigzags, roses, stars, and drop flowers.  It can stuff an egg, fill a puff pastry, or top a cheesecake or pudding or trifle with a fat, perfect dollop of whipped heavy creme.  You can add a border to cake that looks like a feather boa, a splash of water, a snowflake.  Ohhhh the possibilities!  All I can say is this:  if you decorate cakes, this bad boy can make your life so much easier. Get one NOW.  I mean it, stop reading.  Go!

Once you have your shiny new tip in hand, couple it with this brilliant tutorial (from the fantastic “I am mommy” blog) to ice a perfectly elegant cake in butter cream roses:  http://iammommy.typepad.com/i_am_baker/2011/02/rose-cake-tutorial.html.  

Here’s my version, which I whipped up, first try, in about 15 minutes.  TOTAL.  Voila!