Ok, they aren't really Russian. They are triple chocolate, with buttercream frosting. The Russian part comes in how they are decorated...
The latest cake decorating rage is these single-tip flowers. I was curious, so I used some of my art money (I only buy art supplies when I sell art, so it's a self-supporting hobby) to buy a small set. They look cool, if huge compared to normal tips. I've not really decorated for years - my sister and I took a class when we were back in highschool, and it was fun, but it was too much work when I had small people in the house. Especially when small people are just as happy with their name written on the cake in M&Ms. Although the Junior Mad Scientist still talks about the cake I made for her 6th birthday and decorated with real violet blooms.
But I digress. I finally made the time and energy to try the tips I'd bought out, and they work very very well. Once you prep, it's silly easy to create fun flowers, and any mistakes can be covered up with leaves. It's awesome.
Frosting colors - yellow for the centres, pink and white for petals, and a green for leaves.
I picked this trick up from one of the youtube tutorials, using a piece of wax paper to spread the frosting in layers for a clean insertion into the piping bag.
Although I successfully made flowers, I'll make up the frosting a touch firmer next time, not so firm as I'd need for regular tips, but not this soft, which was hard to work with.
The tip I was using. I have a coupler, but it's intended to feed from three pastry bags at once, which isn't what I wanted for the flowers, although it ought to be fun to play with. Also, you can see the yellow for the centres. I then rolled up the frosting around this middle, and cut the end of the wax paper off before sliding it into the prepped bag with the tip in it.
Disposable pasty bag, cut just so the tip will freely dispense.
Wax paper frosting log, ready for action!
I started out practicing on the layer cake. I quickly figured out that if I just squeezed enough for the frosting to adhere to the cake surface, and then jerked straight up, the flower 'broke' off, with discrete petals and stamens. Too slow, or too soft, and I got three-lobed splotches.
The fun thing is that each flower is a little different, just like in nature. This is a very organic, almost impressionist, version of cake decorating compared to the old-school style I learned in a Wilton class.
A completed cupcake, with milk-chocolate 'pearls' for a fanciful touch.