Icing Succulents That'll Dazzle Your Guests

Start by gathering your tools, including the icing, cake mix, tips, and piping bags. Make sure you have enough white icing to make an even amount of each color. Look for blue and green shades that capture the muted colors of desert flowers.

Bake your cake according to the directions. If you're making multiple cakes, complete them all ahead of time so you can pipe your succulents in one sitting. Give the cake time to cool, then cover it with icing.

White icing makes the succulents stand out and creates a minimalist look, but you could use any color, including tan or light brown to replicate the desert sand. Cover the cake with a smooth layer, or take a more rustic approach with uneven coverage.

Divide up the icing evenly into bowls, then use the greens and blues to make different shades. If you go online or check your local hobbyist store, you might find a kit with colors made specifically for succulents. You can also experiment with different shades. Just make sure you start small; you can add more color, but you can't remove it.

Mix light and dark shades so you can give your succulents variety.

For each succulent, use the flower nail and a new flower square. Fill the bag with your chosen colors, then pipe a mound with tip 12.

1. With tip 59, hold the bag at a 90-degree angle and pipe your first petal.
2. Turn the flower nail and repeat the process so the second petal crosses over the first.
3. Switch to a 45-degree angle, then pipe the next petal around the mound.
4. Repeat this process to create the rose, turning the flower nail as you go.

1. Start with a coupler and leaf tip 349. Fill the bag with icing, then pipe the leaves in a circle.
2. Use a toothpick to "pull out" the leaves to replicate the tip at the ends of succulent leaves.
3. Pipe more leaves inside this circle.
4. Repeat this process with the flower nail until you've completed the succulent.

Since Echeveria succulents come in a variety of colors, you can experiment with different shades of greens, blues, reds, and browns.

Switch to tip 81, then start your chrysanthemum by piping a cluster of long petals that point upright. Pipe the first layer of petals around this cluster, then keep adding petals in a circle around the flower. Start with narrow petals in the center that gradually fan outward, becoming wider and flatter. Don't worry about making them perfectly even--flowers are always a little imperfect.

Use the same color for the entire flower, or experiment with different shades.

There are so many possibilities for succulents you can make. Give this deliciously adorable cactus a try:

1. Fill a bag with dark green icing and attach tip 199, then pipe a wide, thick star to create the base of the cactus.
2. Pipe multiple stars if you want a cacti cluster.
3. Next, use tip 1 to pipe white dots along the sides of the cactus.
4. Make a flower with tip 224, and place the flower on top of the cactus. These flowers are typically red or pink, but you can use any color you want.

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This cute little prickly piece will catch the eye of every future nibbler:

1. Attach tip 16 to your bag, then start with a mound to create a base for the leaves.
2. Cover the mound with stars to create a prickly plant.
3. If you prefer leaves, switch to tip 352 and decorate the mound, using a toothpick to "pull out" the leaves. The leaves should be spiky at the ends, not soft and round like petals.
4. Use shades of green or blue to make your succulent as realistic as possible.

Lots of petals will fill in your design so it looks just like an expertly designed succulent planter. One that's good enough to eat, of course!

1. For the last succulent, attach tip 102 to your bag, then pipe petals in wide heart shapes as you turn the flower nail to create an apple blossom shape.
2. Layer more petals on top of this shape to create a stacked flower.
3. Stripe the bag with different colors to make multicolored leaves for extra pizazz. In nature, these succulents are often blue with pink edges and have two or three layers with firm, rounded petals.

Finally, arrange the flowers on the cake and fill in the empty spaces around the succulents. Use tip 363 to make small star-shaped plants that accentuate your succulents without drawing away attention from them.

With tip 6, make small dots on the cake for added colors and diversity. You don't need to fill in the whole surface: leave a little extra space around the edges of your cake so it looks like the succulents sprouted out of the ground, or only place the plants in a crescent moon shape and leave the rest of the cake plain or iced with white.