Read The Contemporary Buttercream Bible for Free Online Page B

fill technique all you need to do is decide on a simple pattern, mark and pipe the
    outline, then fill it with stars. It couldn’t be easier!
    1 You can draw freehand or use cookie cutters to
    mark the outline of your patterns (A and B).
    A
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    B
    2 After doing so, pipe crochet effect (see Crochet in Textile Effects) to outline your designs. Make sure
    to use different colours from the ones you will use
    to make the star fill to do this.
    3 Using a star nozzle (Wilton 16), position the
    nozzle straight on to cake and firmly squeeze the
    piping bag until the buttercream comes out and
    creates a star, then stop squeezing the bag and pull
    away abruptly (C).
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    C
    4 Repeat the same process until the space inside the
    patterns are covered without any gaps (D).
    D
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    Tip
    The pressure when squeezing your piping bag
    should be the same throughout so that all the
    stars will have the same thickness and height.
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    To create this cake…
    • 20 × 15cm (8 × 6in) round cake (bottom tier), 15
    × 7.5cm (6 × 3in) round cake (top tier)
    • Dowel rods
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    • 1.6–2.2kg (3lb 8oz–5lb) buttercream
    • Paste colours: yellow-orange (Sugarflair Eyptian
    Orange), orange (Sugarflair Tangerine), light brown
    (Sugarflair Dark Brown), dark brown (Sugarflair
    Dark Brown)
    • Star nozzle (Wilton 16)
    • Piping bags
    • Cocktail stick (tooth pick)
    • Cake stand or covered board
    Cover the top tier with 600–800g (1lb 5oz–1lb
    12oz) yellow-orange buttercream and the bottom
    tier with 400–500g (14oz–1lb 2oz) orange, give
    them a smooth finish, then dowel and stack them
    (see Buttercream Basics). Place on a stand or
    covered board. Pipe the design following the
    tutorial, using 200–300g (7–101⁄2oz) each of light
    brown, dark brown and plain buttercream, and the
    leftover orange and yellow-orange.
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    Dots
    Dots are similar to the star fill technique, but
    require less buttercream. With dots your design can
    be more precise because you have better control
    over the shape of your pattern since you will be
    outlining it with dots as well as filling it with dots.
    Yes, just dots.
    1 After smoothing the cake, use cookie cutters to
    mark patterns, or draw them with a cocktail stick
    (toothpick) (A and B).
    A
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    B
    2 Prepare all the colours you need in individual
    piping bags and use scissors to cut a tiny hole at the end of each bag. Outline your patterns with dots by
    holding the piping bag straight on to the cake, and
    gently squeezing the bag until a small dot appears
    (C). Make sure to stop squeezing the bag before you
    pull it away. It is best to outline patterns first before piping the inside of the patterns.
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    C
    3 Repeat the same process and start filling the
    inside part of the patterns with your chosen colour,
    ensuring that you don’t leave any gaps in between
    the dots (D).
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    D
    4 Pipe a dotted line as a stem to connect flowers
    and leaves. Pipe some more dots as borders. If your
    dots have some ‘spikes’, wait until they have crusted then gently press the spiky points down (E).
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    E
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    To create this cake…
    • 20 × 15cm (8 × 6in) round cake (bottom tier), 15
    × 10cm (6 × 4in) round cake (top tier)
    • Dowel rods
    • 1.65–2.55kg (3lb 10oz–5lb 9oz) buttercream
    • Paste colours: pink (Sugarflair Pink), yellow
    (Sugarflair Autumn Leaf), violet (Sugarflair Grape
    Violet), green (Sugarflair Spruce Green), light
    orange
    (Sugarflair
    Tangerine),
    dark
    orange
    (Sugarflair Tangerine), black (Sugarflair Liquorice)
    • Cookie cutters (optional)
    • Cocktail stick (toothpick)
    • Piping bags
    • Scissors
    • Palette knife
    • Cake stand or covered cake board
    Crumb coat, dowel and stack the cakes (see
    Buttercream Basics) and place on a stand or
    covered board. Cover the cakes with 600–800g (1lb
    5oz–1lb 12oz) of uncoloured buttercream and give
    them a smooth finish (see Covering Cakes in
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    Buttercream Basics). Mark the surface with cookie
    cutters or draw