Scroll piping is an enduringly elegant cake decoration and a technique that’s well worth practicing for any beginner cake decorator. While not as simple as pearl piping or drop string piping, it is nonethelss easy to master scroll piping with just a bit of practice.
We have lots of exquisite examples below to inspire you, plus tutorials at the end of the pageto get you started.
Our feature cakes above are by Nystedt Photography Via Sparkle and Hay (left) and from the The Pastry Studio (right).
We have two more beautiful examples of the scroll piping technique below, with extra detailing added using sugar blossoms to enhance the lace effect of the piping. The example below left is another elegant wedding cake design from The Pastry Studio, with a chic two-tier from Corrie Cakes (below right).
Scroll piping can be used to create lots of beautiful lace effects including a delicate lace trail, lace panels and a lace doile effect, as shown in the wedding cake designs below (images via Tumblr).
Scroll piping can be used to create a heavier or delicate lace effect depending on the pressure you use when piping. The more pressure you apply when piping, the fatter and more “stand-out” the scroll design will be. You can see the effect this creates in the two scroll piping examples below, left by DK Designs Hawaii and right from O’ Holy Sweet Wedding Cakes.
Below, you will see two examples of finer scroll piping which creates a more delicate lace effect (images via Pinterest).
We have two glitzy wedding cake designs below incorporating scroll piping with silver accents and cake jewellery – by the wonderful Erivana Cakes (left) and Boston’s KonditorMeister (right)
Below, scroll piping can be used to create a very formal wedding cake design like Peggy Porschen’s aptly named “Victorian Glory” wedding cake design (below left) or the elegant black and white masterpiece (below right) by Collette’s Custom Cakes, with delicate scroll piping creating the effect of trailing vines.
Below are two close-up examples of “c-scroll” and “s-scroll” piping combined with piped pearls to create beautiful piped designs from Traditional Home Magazine (left) and The Fashion Caker (right). The example on the left uses less pressure when piping to create finer lines, whilst the piping on the right uses heavier pressure to create chunkier scrolls.
You’ll find a selection of tutorials here to get you started with scroll piping techniques:
- Piping Scroll Designs by Denise Talbot via Sugar Teachers
- Scroll Piping Technique by Cake Darla
- How to transfer a design on to a cake to pipe by Sweet Eats Cakes
We have a picture tutorial (below left) to help you with your scroll piping practice, as well as a practice sheet below right from Urban Spinner which you can print out and pipe over.
Below we have an incredibly elegant wedding cake with scroll piping by Mich Turner of London’s Little Venice Cake Company. In her book Mich Turner’s Cake Masterclass: The Ultimate Guide to Cake Decorating Perfection
, there is an excellent picture tutorial showing how she pipes this design freehand, building it c-scroll by c-scroll. It’s one of the most helpful royal icing piping tutorials we’ve ever come across.
And after you’ve practiced piping your “c-scrolls” and “s-scrolls”, this is how easy it’s all going to look….. expert pipes scroll wedding cake design.
Don’t forget it’s not just royal icing you can use these new piping skills with, piped buttercream designs are super on-trend at the moment. Peggy Porschen has the beautiful pink butterceam piped cake (below left) in her current celebration cake collection. It’s decorated with pretty “c-scrolls” on top and a “fleur-de-lis” pattern on the side, piped with a large shell nozzle. You’ll find a tutorial here to help you with: piping a fleur-de-lis design in buttercream.
Just in case you decide piping scrolls isn’t for you, we have a fantastic cake design below right by Maisie Fantasie which you can re-create using scroll cutters available from Sugar Artistry.
