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Leaves · Family 352

Leaf Garland with Wilton 352

One continuous squeeze, nine leaves, and a vine that hides every join in your cake work.

A leaf garland is the workhorse of piped decoration. It covers the seam where a cake has been stacked, fills the gap between two flowers, and gives the eye something to follow around a border. The 352 makes it in one continuous squeeze with the bag never leaving the cake, which is why a 12 cm garland takes about twenty seconds.

Tip
Wilton 352
Icing stage
Medium peak
Difficulty
Beginner
Teeth
2
Symmetry
13×
Cure
12 hours
Finished size
120 mm
Released
29 August 2026

By The Sugar Bench · Released 29 August 2026

Method

4 steps, pressure stated at each one

Hand position and bag pressure are stated for every step, because that is where most failures happen.

Leaf Garland with Wilton 352 — Step 1: Mix both colours at medium peak

Step 01 of 04

Mix both colours at medium peak

Colour 300 g to #1B1418 with one toothpick tip of AmeriColor Super Black, and 200 g to #C9A227 with one toothpick tip of Sugarflair Antique Gold. Both must be medium peak; a soft ink will bleed into the gold underneath.

HandMix the ink first and leave it standing while you mix the gold; two-colour piping goes wrong when the second bowl is rushed.
Bag pressureNone.
Leaf Garland with Wilton 352 — Step 2: Bag both and lay the gold underlay

Step 02 of 04

Bag both and lay the gold underlay

Bag both colours in 40 cm bags with a 352 in each. Pipe a 12 cm continuous wave of gold with the tip angled 30 degrees, using 4 mm of travel per direction change. This is the underlay, so it should be slightly narrower than the finished garland.

HandAngle the tip 30 degrees in the direction of each stroke and let the tip touch the cake throughout.
Bag pressureLight and even, and constant across the reversals - the pressure never stops during the whole garland.
Leaf Garland with Wilton 352 — Step 3: Pipe the ink garland over it

Step 03 of 04

Pipe the ink garland over it

Switch to the ink bag and pipe the same wave 3 mm higher, so the gold shows along the lower edge of each leaf. Nine reversals over the 12 cm. Leaves should be 14 mm long and 8 mm wide.

HandKeep the whole arm moving; the reversal happens at the wrist, not by lifting the bag.
Bag pressureLight-medium; the reversal points get a quarter-second of extra pressure to make the leaf base wide.
Leaf Garland with Wilton 352 — Step 4: Clean the tip and finish

Step 04 of 04

Clean the tip and finish

Wipe the 352 on a damp cloth every third garland. Finish with two short leaves at each end angled outward, which gives the garland a natural start and stop instead of a cut-off.

HandWipe the blade from the wide end toward the V, never through the V itself - pushing icing into the cut is how leaf tips clog.
Bag pressureLight at the ends, and taper the last leaf to zero.

Scroll sideways for each step →

The V cut does the drawing

The 352 has a V-shaped cut that produces a leaf with two lobes and a natural central vein, provided the tip is angled 30 degrees to the direction of travel. Held flat, the same tip produces a blunt blade with no vein. Twenty degrees is a wing; forty degrees is a needle. The garland only looks right at thirty, and this is the single adjustment that matters most.

Nine leaves, one squeeze

Start with the tip touching at the base, squeeze, and travel 14 mm. Without stopping the pressure, reverse direction 150 degrees and travel another 14 mm, and continue alternating. Each reversal makes one leaf. Nine leaves in a 12 cm garland means reversals every 14 mm; if your leaves come out 20 mm long the garland will only hold six and look sparse.

Ink and gold, the darkest pair

Leaf garlands on this site are piped in #1B1418 with a gold underlay, which is the highest-contrast pair in the palette. Colour 300 g to ink with a toothpick tip of AmeriColor Super Black, and 200 g to gold with a toothpick tip of Sugarflair Antique Gold, both at medium peak. Pipe the gold coil first, then the ink garland directly over it, offset 3 mm so a gold line shows along one edge of every leaf.

Where garlands earn their place

Three uses: hiding a tier seam, framing a shell border, and filling the gap between two piped roses. On a seam, pipe the garland with the leaf tips pointing up so the eye reads it as growth. Around a flower cluster, point the tips outward and let the garland die out rather than closing the loop - a garland that meets itself always shows the join.

Setting

Twelve hours at 18 C. Leaves crust faster than flowers because they are flat and thin, so a garland is usually safe to move after four hours. Wipe the tip every third garland: leaf tips clog with the fibre of the icing and the last leaf always comes out blunt if the blade is not clean.

Failures and fixes

Symptom Cause Fix
Leaves have no central vein Tip held flat instead of at 30 degrees to the direction of travel. Lift the wide end of the V to 30 degrees; the vein appears as soon as the cut separates the ribbon.
Garland looks sparse and broken Leaves piped 20 mm long instead of 14 mm. Shorten the travel distance and increase the number of reversals; count nine leaves per 12 cm.
Last leaf of every garland is blunt Icing fibre built up in the V cut. Wipe the tip every third garland, from the wide end toward the V, and re-bag if the icing itself has started to crust.

Before you bag up

  • Both colours mixed to medium peak
  • Gold underlay piped first, 3 mm offset
  • Nine leaves per 12 cm
  • Tip at 30 degrees throughout
  • Blade wiped every third garland

This card describes a method, not a formulation tested for allergens, shelf life or food safety; the ingredients, hygiene and safety of anything you give to someone else are your responsibility. Nothing here is sponsored and there is no affiliation with any tip or ingredient manufacturer. See the terms page for the full note.

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