V-Petal Ruffles Mini-Tutorial

May 5, 2016 by The Violet Cake Shop™ 34 Comments

I was asked by Cake Masters magazine to submit a cake for their Ombré Cakes Collection in their latest May Issue.  I was assigned the colour BLUE and was immediately inspired!

Right away, I knew what I wanted to do.  I had been playing around one day, and came up with a new and unique way of doing simple ruffles.  Once I saw “ombré” in the email, I KNEW I had to use this technique for the effect.

It is super simple so I hadn’t planned on doing a tutorial but luckily I had taken some pics anyway, for reference (hence the sub-par quality!)  I’ve now decided to post a quick mini-tutorial after all, because I had that cake on display at The Toronto Bakery Showcase just this past week, and I got TONNES of questions about how I created those ruffles.  So I’m guessing it’s not as simple as it may seem, for some.

I used 8 gradients in the ombré, and with the same batch of fondant which was first coloured the deepest shade, I just kept adding in an equal amount of white each time after I was done with the shade I was working with.

See below for additional closeup photos of this cake…

But first, here are the basic step-by-step pics of how to make my V-Petal Ruffles – ENJOY!!  If you use these ruffles, please feel free to quote this tutorial and I’d love for you to share your creations to my Facebook page so I can see what you’ve done with them!

(Updated May 27-2020 – Note: these are my own techniques developed independently with my own ideas and shared for personal use ONLY.  They are not to be used for monetary gain or to develop products, books, DVDs, downloads or lessons for sale or to be taught in classes or tutorials, whether hands-on, on-line, in video format or in print without express written consent.)

 

Cut out an oval using a 2.5″ oval cutter

Flip the oval over and dab some water on the very end of one side of the oval – this is the underside that will end up inside the folds

Fold oval over, so the good side shows on the outside

Mark the centre with the end of your brush – this helps with the folding

Dab some water just on the end of the folded over oval

Fold the ruffle at the crease you made earlier and pinch the end so it creates a point or ‘V’

Cut a small portion off the bottom  – NOTE: this is only needed for the first row of ruffles that rest on the cakeboard

 

Attach the first row to your cake with a dab of water down the centre of the back – if they have dried a bit, you may need to add more water and hold longer; add additional ruffles in rows (here I show three columns only, to give an idea); when adding V-Petals on top of an existing one, dab water under the point or ‘V’ of the new petal before attaching; sit each new petal inside the top gap of the previous ruffle underneath; pinch the top loops together if necessary, to neaten up the seams; try to ensure each column is straight, as you work your way up

 

8 rows and 7 columns of ombré V-Petal Ruffles all completed =D

(Note: these are my own techniques developed independently with my own ideas and shared for personal use ONLY.  They are not to be used for monetary gain or to develop products, books, DVDs, downloads or lessons for sale or to be taught in classes or tutorials, whether hands-on, on-line, in video format or in print without express written consent.)

 

Now for some closeups of my Blue Ombré V-Petal Ruffle cake!

I have a tutorial in the April issue of Cake Masters for these Gumpaste Dogwood flowers that do not require special cutters.  I will post that tutorial here in a few months but if you can’t wait, you can always get a copy of the magazine first 😉

I made the cosmos using my own method but I studied those made by Petalsweet Cakes intently!

Happy Caking Y’ALL!! =D