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will surely take someone’s breath
    away.
    1 Measure the height of your cake and divide
    horizontally to make equal bands of, give or take,
    2.5cm (1in). Mark visible guide lines in the crumb
    coating (A).
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    A
    2 Before the crumb coat has crusted (so that the
    weaves will adhere to it), and with the smooth side
    of the basketweave nozzle (Wilton 48 or 45)
    pointing upwards, pipe diagonal lines from the
    bottom of the cake up to the guide line. Use
    sufficient pressure so the weaves will adhere to the
    cake properly. Continue piping all the way around
    the cake (B).
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    B
    3 Repeat the process and pipe diagonal lines going
    in the opposite direction for the second layer, and
    so on. Make sure that there are no gaps and that all
    ‘weaves’ are connected (C).
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    C
    4 For a neat finish at the base, using a darker shade of Mocha tinted buttercream, cut the tip off the
    piping bag and pipe a thicker border at the bottom
    using the crochet technique (D).
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    D
    Tip
    It’s a nice idea to use gradient shades of
    brown to resemble a real basket or give a
    vintage look. You could also use a big
    chrysanthemum nozzle for a nice variation.
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    To create this cake…
    • 15 × 15cm (6 × 6in) square cake
    • 1.05–1.4kg (2lb 6oz–3lb 11⁄2oz) buttercream
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    • Paste colours: light and dark mocha (Sugarflair
    Mocha), light peach (Sugarflair Peach), pink
    (Sugarflair Pink), dark green (Sugarflair Spruce
    Green), light green (Sugarflair Bittermelon)
    • Piping bags
    • Basketweave nozzle (Wilton 48) or plain
    basketweave nozzle (Wilton 45)
    • Side scraper or ruler
    • Cake stand or covered cake board
    Cover the cake (see Covering Cakes in Buttercream
    Basics) and place on a stand or covered board.
    Colour 400–500g (14oz–1lb 2oz) of buttercream
    light mocha, and 100–150g (31⁄ –51
    2
    ⁄2oz) a darker
    shade of mocha. Pipe the basketweave pattern and
    bottom border as described in the tutorial. Colour
    the remaining buttercream in the following
    quantities: 150–200g (51⁄2–7oz) light peach for the
    roses,
    150–200g
    (51⁄2–7oz)
    pink
    for
    the
    chrysanthemums, 100–150g (31⁄ –51
    2
    ⁄2oz) dark green
    for the leaves and 150–200g (51⁄2–7oz) light green
    for
    the
    foliage.
    Finish
    by
    piping
    roses,
    chrysanthemums and leaves on top (see Rose and
    Rosebud, Chrysanthemum and Daffodil and
    Sunflower and Leaves in Piping Flowers) and
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    adding light green foliage (see Ruffles in Piping
    Texture and Patterns) on the top and sides.
    Traditional Basketweave
    1 Mark a vertical line using a smooth edge cake
    scraper on the cake side to ensure your vertical
    basketweave lines are straight. You can judge the
    rest from this first line (A).
    A
    2 Using Wilton nozzle number 45, or 48, with the
    smooth side pointing upwards, pipe a vertical line.
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    You can start at either the top or the bottom,
    whichever you find easier (B).
    B
    3 Pipe about 4–5cm (11⁄2–2in) short horizontal lines
    across the vertical line starting from either the top or bottom of the cake. The spacing between the
    lines should be the same as the width of the nozzle’s tip opening (C).
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    C
    Tip
    It can be tricky to pipe straight lines, especially
    on the side of a cake. We suggest you practise
    piping on a cake board held upright. Another
    effective tip is to drag the piping bag quickly –
    this makes the lines less wiggly.
    4 Pipe another vertical line that overlaps the
    horizontal lines. The spacing between the vertical
    lines should be less than 2.5cm (1in). Pipe another
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    sets of horizontal lines and make sure each line is
    slightly buried under the first vertical line (D).
    D
    5 Repeat the process of piping vertical and
    horizontal lines until you cover the whole cake (E).
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    E
    Tip
    To create a different effect while using the
    same basketweave technique, try using a
    simple medium round nozzle or just cut the tip
    off a piping bag to create a medium-size hole.
    Or use two or more