One topic that I often receive questions on, is how to decorate cupcakes. I've been wanting to post on this topic for some time, but wanted to do a nice complete post, something that would be a nice reference for you to come back to. I hope this post will be a good resource for you. I remember when I first started decorating cupcakes I too was very interested in (and intimidated by) creating a beautiful swirl on cupcakes. After doing it only a few time I found that filling a piping bag and adding a nice swirl of frosting on cupcakes is actually much easier and quicker than spreading frosting!
A few tips to get you started...
In order for the frosting to have enough body (be thick enough) to hold up, you need a good frosting to start with. Make sure not to add to much liquid, or allow your ingredients to be too warm. I would not recommend using canned (pre-made) frosting to pipe on cupcakes, it's usually not firm enough to hold up. I have heard of people adding powdered sugar to canned frosting to thicken it... but if you are going to do that, it's just as easy to make it yourself.
I've posted recipes for American Buttercream, and Cream Cheese Frosting, the two frostings I use most of the time. Swiss Meringue Buttercream (explained beautifully by Rosie of Sweetapolita) also makes a beautiful frosting for piping.
(Left to Right) Large round tip, Open star (Wilton 1M), Closed star (Wilton 2D), French tip
To frost cupcakes, you'll want to use a large (sometimes called jumbo) decorating tip. The four most common shapes (openings) are shown above. The Wilton 1M and 2D are often available at craft stores, the others you may have to buy on-line. I like to use a coupler to hold my tips in place, for these large tips you'll need a large coupler as well. Large tips can also be used without a coupler, by simply setting the tip inside the bag, then filling with frosting.
Sources-
And for a grand finale... my first ever video! Simple and to the point, but I think it's sometimes helpful to just see something done from start to finish. Enjoy!
Have fun experimenting with different tips and frostings. Use concentrated gel coloring to color your frosting (like Americolor or Wilton). Add some sprinkles, and you've got a beautiful and delicious treat!
Several other posts you may find helpful as you learn to make beautiful cupcakes...
How to Bake Cupcakes (tips to help you bake beautiful and delicious cupcakes)
Cupcake Liners (answers to common questions, and my favorite liners)
Happy Decorating!
Posts
123 comments:
Gloria, you've used some pretty color icing :)You are an inspiration to me and all those who want to decorate cupcakes and cakes.
ok, I am a cupcake addict and have been decorating them for fun for awhile as well as blogging and this has to be the best post about tips + recipes + frosting designs that I have ever seen ever. period. Your video is helpful. I have so so so many people ask me about this basic stuff and I find myself fumbling quickly changing the subject to fondant...ha! I will be referring buddies here for sure.
Kudos to you on your first video Glory!! -- now I have the urge to decorate cupcakes, I wonder why? lol
wow! i had no idea making a rose was as simple as just starting the swirl from the center! i'm definitely going to try this next time. the video was short, sweet, and informative - in a word: perfect. thank you!
Beautiful article, thank you so much for sharing your time and talent!
SO helpful! Thanks! Especially the tip about starting by putting the bag in a large cup to fill! I made such a mess the first time I tried to fill a bag with frosting lol!
Congratulations on your first video! It was very helpful!
Thank You!
Those look beautiful. Thank you for sharing your great video! I will have to get practicing now. :)
LOVE this post!!!!! Plus, you have a great voice for videos. A+ Now, if only I could come over and eat some of those... or even just a bit would be HEAVEN!!!
Love this post! I shared it on my facebook page and pinned it :)
Kara
www.facebook.com/mineforthemaking
www.pinterest.com/kararodgerson
Dang, girl. You are like the frosting sensai. You do some unbelievable work. Wish I had your kind of patience and eye for detail. I usually just spackle it on and hope for the best.
Gloria- this is fabulous! I am going to book mark this. I am actually (as we speak) baking cupcakes as today is my little ones birthday. Hugs!
Thanks for sharing this! I can't wait to try this. You sure do a beautiful job on decorating those cupcakes.
I now have faster internet and was able to watch your video!! Thanks for the lesson.♥♫
What timing! I was just looking at your site yesterday to see what tips for decorating you had and didn't find any. I'm glad you posted this today as we're making cupcakes tomorrow! Thanks so much!!
Your cupcakes are so beautiful! I love the colors that you used!
Beautiful! Thanks for the video. I am going to be making cupcakes for my daughters birthday party at the end of September and I want them to have that pretty "bakery" swirl. This definitely helps me out!
Oh this is awesome! Thank you!!
Gloria, thank you for such wonderful post. Which tip/technique did you use for the rose frosting?
Naia- Did you watch the video? I included the rose technique in the video and use the same tip as for a traditional swirl, the 1M.
You are simply the best with your tutorials
Gloria I JUST DID...dont' know how i missed it the first time. Well, I do know...I was too busy imagining myself in your kitchen tasting your yummylicious confections. ;)
Thanks again and please keep them coming.
This is such an incredible post, Glory--so clear, concise, and helpful (and pretty all the while!). And just when I thought it couldn't get any better, I see my own name in there! ;) Thanks so much! xo
Your cupcakes are gorgeaous. Thanks for sharing your ideas with us.
What an ideal post. Looking forward to re-posting this soon. Love it!
Great to see all the different frosting colors; your cupcakes made me happy ;-). I too have a 1M and a 2D tip and I love them!
Gloria thank you SO much for this post! I love decorating cupcakes but sometimes I get a bit muddled with which tip and going inside / outside with the swirl but this was so easy and helpful to understand.. will definitely be a reference for my decorating in future! Absolutely love your blog and all your posts, photography and recipes :) you are blogger inspiration!
Thanx for posting! I loved it! I am also a cupcake freak trying my way to frost so any tips is gr8! I think I am getting there :)
This is fantastic! I'll post a link on Edible Crafts :)
This is AWESOME. I've featured you on my blog today and linked back to you so everyone can see how wonderful you are! Thanks so much for sharing.
YAY for your first video! I'm so proud of you! This is great!
Love you!
~Cecilia
Thanks Glory, this is really helpful and I enjoyed the video. I've never really paid attention to what tips I've used and now seeing the different variations, I can see which I prefer (the ones that look like a rose) so I can pay better attention next time. Thanks for the tips!
They're so cute! Thanks for the frosting recipes!
Your cupcakes are gorgeous!
Do you pipe with your cream cheese frosting? I made some a couple of days ago, and even after adding a lot more icing sugar to it, I still couldn't pipe it :(
LOVE that first and last Picture!!! Not just delicious looking, but PRETTY!
I have been wondering how people get their frosting so colorful with food coloring - concentrated! amazing! Thanks for this!
@Rachel- The frosting I'm using in the video does have 1/2 block of cream cheese. I promise, the only two reasons that the frosting would be too soft to pipe is one of two reasons (or both)... your ingredients are too warm (the butter and cream cheese should be cool or cold), or you're adding too much liquid.
It's winter here, and it had been in the fridge all night before I started piping it. Oh, and I didn't use any liquid besides the vanilla, no cream at all. Is it possible it's because I used lite cream cheese? I was a bit devestated that it wasn't pipeable!
hmm... when you say the butter and cream cheese should be cold, do you mean when mixing, or when piping? They were both at room temperature when I MADE the icing, but not when I USED it...?
Loved the video! I'm just getting interested in trying to do a little treat decorating myself. I would love to see videos on decorating cookies as well! :-)
Thanks so much for sharing this!
This is yet another example of why your posts are so successful Glory - clear explanation and great photos to illustrate the point (and now video!)
I am determined to master SMBC this year. But now I see that I really, really need a french tip to add to my piping arsenal!
Great video!! Thanks for sharing your top tips!!!
Love your video! I really need to start doing more of those :)
Beautiful cupcakes! Now I'm craving them. Thanks!
@Rachel- Yes, using light cream cheese may be your problem. Light dairy products often have water added, so that may be an issue. Also, your ingredients should be cool when you are making the cupcakes, and when frosting them. You should only need to refrigerate the frosting 15 minutes to an hour, more than that, and you may need to re-whip it to make sure it's still nice and fluffy. Short of all that... you'll just have to keep experimenting, it's hard to know for sure if I'm not in the kitchen with you.
Glory, Great Post. Congrats on your first tutorial video. Love you.
Thanks so very much! I'm a new follower and I can see that this is going to be an addiction for me. :-)
I am totally thrilled to find so much information, pics, recipes, etc.
Pat
I'm back! Wanted you to know that I featured you on my blog ~ hope you'll take a look.
http://gypsyheartandsoul.blogspot.com/2011/08/how-to-frost-cupcakes.html
Really enjoyed this post, I love piping icing onto cupcakes, and it's so great to get some inspiration from your beautiful creations. I'd never seen the rose pattern before, where you start from the centre of the cake - it's so pretty, I can't wait to give it a try! Just one question: on your Princess cupcakes, for the ruffle icing, do you just begin at the bottom in the centre of the cake and apply a good bit of pressure and then, with the piping bag upright, use an up and down motion, easing off the pressure as you go? I'd love to know! Many thanks, from an avid reader in Dublin, Ireland.
¡¡Muchas gracias!! ¡¡¡Eres maravillosa!!
What size tip is the large round one? The largest I can find in the store is a 12 and I don't think it's large enough.
@Anonymous from Dublin- Yes, you described the technique quite well for the princess cupcakes.
@Jenny- Follow the source links I've listed in the post, they have tips much larger than the #12, you want a tip with at least a 1/2" opening.
I love how neat you decorate your cupcakes and the color look so beautiful, too. Thanks for the video - it reminds me that I need to keep practicing.
these are great! Thank you for the great tips!
I've always wanted to learn how to pipe those pretty roses! Thanks so much for sharing! :) Love them!
Those look totally delicious! Thanks for such a helpful post! Can't wait to decorate my next batch of cupcakes!
THANK YOU! i've been struggling, trying to get that perfect rippled-icing look. this is SO unbelievably helpful!
You truly have become my cupcake guru goddess. Thank you so much for all of your recipes and tutorials. I feel now I can fulfill one of long baking desires to make beautiful & delicious cupcakes. Lack of confidence & not so wonderful experiences in the past has put this baking dream on hold until I've discovered you. Now, with all your great help I feel I can now meet my very high standard (I'm a great baker otherwise), at making these little darlings as beautiful & delicious as my other creations. Yay!
They look amazing! I can't wait to try this!
I love this post. It's just what I've been looking for. I've been wondering how to decorate cupcakes with the swirl & rose. I went shopping for ingredientes & supplies on Saturday & baked on Sunday. My only concern was my cream cheese frosting was too soft or smooth. I followed your instructions 3 times & all 3 times it was soft. When I was piping it wasn't like your video where it stayed perfect. What am I doing wrong? Maybe I beat it too long?
@Leticia- I've posted a few sugggestions on my American buttercream post (that apply to either cream cheese or American buttercream)
http://glorioustreats.blogspot.com/2011/08/american-buttercream-frosting-recipe.html
I put it in the fridge, next time I will add the powdered sugar. Thank you for your fast response.
Very nice and inspiring video. Can I just ask... If I want to use frosting color, at what point should I be adding it?
@Maria- The coloring should be added at the very end, after the frosting is fully smooth and well beaten.
I just found your blog and wanted to thank you for posting this! I'm currently unable to bake (we live overseas, making things challenging) but I am reading up so I can tackle some baking projects when we're home. This is so helpful!
What a fantastic post! So inspiring, the cupcakes look delish! (Just found your blog, but will for sure come back for more) Thanks :)
You have, without a doubt, the talent. I just wow-ed as I read this post.
Wow! Thanks for sharing your great tips! I'm inspired.
I love to bake but i have never known how to do the perfect icing frosting it on they cake ! now that i know i will have the perfect cupcakes and the perfect frosting :) thanks ever so much for sharing and showing us all how to do frosting ! :) XXXXX
Super helpful! Thank you
I just LOVE the rose!! I need to do several rose cupcakes for an upcoming baby shower and I was dreading the thought of making 40+ icing roses. This just made my life a whole lot easier!! thanks so much!
I love your picture with the cupcakes and the coresponding tips you used. It would look fabulous hanging in my kitchen. Do you allow that?
@Kelli- I'd be honored to have a special spot on the wall of your kitchen! Feel free to use my photo for that purpose. You may not use my photo in any way to make money.
Thank you so much, Glory! That's very kind of you.
http://www.cupcakerecepten.nl/2011/09/fluffy-hazelnut-cupcakes
The autor of cupcakerecepten.nl, Olivia uses your pictures as if they are her own glorious cupcakes.
Thought you might like to know.
Greetings from your big fan!
Aurelia
@Anonymous- Thank you for letting me know about the mis-use of my photo. I will do my best to contact the site. Thanks!
Thanks Glory! It seems so obvious, I'm not sure why I haven't figured that all out myself. Ha ha! Thanks!!!
I love the cup idea! Thanks for sharing :)
This is the best frosting tutorial I have found. The cup idea for filling the piping bag is genius and solved so many of my frosting frustrations!
Thank you for the perfect explanation about frosting cupcakes.
That was an awesome post. U r a great teacher. Thank u so much.xoxo
It looks so easy when you do it! I'm planning a baby shower soon and will use this technique. Do you have any suggestions on how to color the frosting without food coloring? I want to keep it as natural as possible.
My children are now grown but I've made all of their birthday cakes for as long as I can remember. Everyone would oh and ah over the finished results but really I'm not a cake decorator. It is amazing how finished a cake looks with just a couple of frosting tips to 'trim' the bottom edge and put some decoration on the top isn't it?
Love the cupcakes...and even this old dog learned a new trick. Thanks!
I saw this on pinterest and I'm glad I stopped over here so I could admire all the cute cupcake photos! I love the color icing and this is SOOO helpful for knowing how to frost cupcakes and get cute patterns. Thanks for posting.
Great info! I've had trouble finding couplers to fit my large tips, so I will try to use them without.
BEAUTIFUL, I Hope I can get some of those nozzles. Love the patterns. I always look around 4 large size nozzles without much luck. These are picture perfect & the colours, just what I like. Many thanks for sharing. GoD Bless, Lotsa love:-}
Fantastic recipe. I'll never buy that digusting frosting from the grocery store again! Made neon green cream cheese frosting w/ dinosaur sprinkles for my 4 yo's birthday.
thanks for the inspiring post! they look so pretty. can i ask what colors you used for that picture with the cupcake assortment? i'm just starting out and wanting to buy a few starter colors from americolors but am unsure which few to get. what would be your top few colors from americolors if you had to choose? thanks!!
I have of this little cakes in my home because I love to eat one every afternoon with my coffee
ive recently bought the Wilton 2D tip, sometimes i can pipe the rose but other times the frosting comes out separately and this ends up to be messy strands of frosting. Its very frustrating. Please help! thanks
I just finished watching your video and my jaw dropped. So simple, but difficult at the same time! Thanks for the tips.
Thank you so much for your tips! I'm baking cupcakes today for a charity bake sale tomorrow, and I really needed some help. The video was awesome. I had no idea how easy it would be to make a rose out of frosting!
What size bag are you using?
What number tips did you use? I see that you put tips under the cupcakes to show us which one you used. I would like to know number of each tips that you used. I really like to make the roses but I like to know the number tip thanks.
What number tips did you use? I see that you put tips under the cupcakes to show us which one you used. I would like to know number of each tips that you used. I really like to make the roses but I like to know the number tip thanks.
Hi Gloria! I found your blog while looking up how to frost my first cupcakes today : ) I guess I need to invest in a piping set... I just cut the tip off of a ziplock baggie & used that and I think they turned out pretty okay for my first try! Thanks for the technique tips!
Victoria
Forever Fashionably Late
Thanks, awesome, my 4 year old and I frosted some yummy cupcakes... loved it...
Thank you for sharing. I have already "pined" you at pintrest (http://pinterest.com/pin/133348838936400671/) and I hope you dont mind me link to your blog in my blog. Ive borrowed your pictures to. But I can delete this post if you dont like me to write about yor blog in my blog.
:0)
I've used your pictures (as I said in the prewius post). But I will remove all pictures if you say so. I do respect your copyright. I love your blog and wanted to shere it with my blogfriends in Norway
:0)
Love your cupcake ideas, and particularly appreciate the EXCELLENT PHOTOS! You are quite the photographer, and if not a "professional" yet, you are well on your way.
I think you could create a recipe book right now with your photos and designs and get paid to photograph food for others. I am married to a professional photographer, so I "know of which I speak. Great job, all the way around! Can't wait to try out some of these cupcakes myself! Thanks so much for posting.
Lovely decorations, thanks so much for sharing with us! My only question is, for your 1M, do you press in the edges to make them curved in? My 1M has straight edges,not ones that curve in like yours.
Thanks for the tutorial. I'm gonna try the rise technique on a batch of cupcakes I just made. Looks like it uses about 1/3 less frosting than piping a swirl. Sometimes less is better :)
Rose technique!!! Not rise. Oops.
Hi Gloria, this blog post is extremely helpful for me as I failed miserably with my daughter's birthday cupcakes last year and am making another attempt this March. I like the design using the large round tip and was wondering if you'd use the same technique as you did with the 1M in your video, starting from the outside edge to the center or is there another technique with that tip? Thanks!
Kristin
I have been looking for some great icing recipes and frosting suggestions and I found it here! I can't wait to try these for Valentine's Day! I have some beautiful cupcake liners in which these cupcakes/frosting will look absolutely beautiful!
Great video, wonderful website!! Keep them coming :)
HOW DID YOU GET SUCH GREAT PHOTOS? Would you be willing to let us in on your "secrets?" I know you said some photos DON'T turn out well, but what is the difference? My husband is a professional photographer, and your shots match his. He won't show me how to do it because he says it's "too complicated." He'll do it for me when he can, but he's always so busy with other things...
HELP! Love your pictures! Catherine Todd, AtitlanArts dot com
@Catherine- Thanks! I'm not sure that there is any one "secret" to my photos... they are a combo of a great camera, good natural lighting, careful composition, and a bit of editing. As with any craft, practice makes better!
Thanks for your quick response, and detailed "instructions." Now I will have to sit down and try to figure it out. I know that natural light seems to be a key, and like you said, "careful composition." Your compositions are one of your strong suits! Hope I can do something the same... XXOO CT
Love it! Thank you so much :)
What a great post! I have tried so many buttercream frosting recipes that were big disappointments, yours looks easy and delicious! Can't wait to try this out! Thank you! =0)
Genius that you use a cup to help fill your frosting bag! What size frosting bag do you use?
Where do u get frosting bags?
Thanks for posting this video! It was an extremely helpful resource for my Valentine's Day cupcakes! Now that I have the basics I just need to practice! Thanks again.
I love your blog and thank you so much for all the tips and inspiration! :)
Thank you for this photo!
cute!!!!!!!!!What if you don't have the fancy tips?
ya, is there away to make your own fancy tips?
Thank you for the video, I found it very helpful!! I also wanted to comment on your kitchen countertops - I love the tile, my house groing up had the exact same tiles and red/tile boarder!! Love it, thanks for the memory and the great instrutions!
Thanks for the twist on the frosting recipe(cream cheese). It was both tasty and workable. It's now my standard of excellence.
How helpful is this post! So cool! Thanks for sharing this. And look at all those cupcakes in that top shot. Yummmm.
I have looked for hours at cupcake decorating. Thank goodness I found your site. Thank you ssoooooo much and I will keep looking xx UK
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