How to Decorate/Ice Cupcakes

A perfect cupcake deserves to be decorated with a perfect icing.

Are you totally in love with cupcakes? There is nothing better than that perfect swirl of icing on the top. By using a decorating tip with a star-shaped opening, you create puffy swirls of icing that create a perfect topping.

Things You'll Need

• Decorator icing tip, size 1M
• Cupcakes
• Icing
• Pastry bag

Instructions

1. Bake your chosen flavor of cupcakes and allow them to cool completely. Some people like to cut off that mushroom top, to allow for a flat decorating surface. This is totally optional and should not affect your decorating technique.

2. Use a spoon to load your pastry bag with icing/frosting. Be advised that decorating your cupcakes takes quite a bit of frosting. Don't be surprised if you go through a 1/2 cup of frosting per cupcake.

3. Hold your pastry bag at a 45-degree angle along the outer edge of the cupcake top. Squeeze the bag to dispense the icing, moving the tip all the way around the cupcake. When you reach the original starting point, turn in slightly and pipe another circle inside the one you just made.

4. Continue to make smaller circles of icing atop your cupcake, with each circle just inside the one you just made. Stop when the cupcake is completely covered with icing.

Tips & Warnings

• There is no way to make that swirl on top without the decorator tip 1M. You can find this tip at any craft store that sells cake supplies, or at a good grocery store.

• This technique requires a relatively thick icing. If you notice that your icing is spreading or kind of melting, add a little powdered sugar to it.

References

• BBC; Using Piping Bags; Lesley Waters