Let’s face it, everyone loves eating cupcakes… They’re just yummy, look so pretty and make a great treat for any special occasion, from birthdays to baby-showers… Cupcakes are the popular choice.
But, ever wondered how cupcakes are decorated so beautifully and if it would be something you can do yourself? Well, with a bit of practice and the right tools, you too can pipe stunning cupcakes, whether you’re a star baker or just feel like being creative and trying something new.
4 Steps in decorating a Cupcake
Step 1: Decide on your frosting
Before you can start decorating your cupcake, you need to decide which frosting will be the best for yours. There are different types of icing you can use, including buttercream, ganache, cream cheese, or powdered icing. Your icing choice will also affect your piping technique, so make sure the icing you choose will be able to accomplish the ‘look’ you’re going for with your cupcake.
Step 2: Add colour and flavour to your frosting
Your cupcakes can perfectly match your party’s theme with just a bit of colouring and flavouring.
For colouring your icing, add a very tiny amount of either gel, paste or liquid food colouring to white icing. Tip: use the end of a toothpick to add a very small amount of colouring, mix your icing, and if desired add more. Food colouring is very concentrated, and if you add too much at once, you will end up with a botched batch of icing that’s way too dark. Rather add the colouring gradually until you’re happy with the result and have the perfect colour for your cupcake.
There are various ways you can flavour your icing. You can get many different flavours of extracts in the baking isle of your local grocery store, including vanilla, strawberry, bubble gum, almond, banana, cherry, coffee etc. You can also make your own flavouring by grating lemon or orange zest into your icing, add liquor, or whatever you like. Be creative! It’s your cupcakes.
Step 3: Use the right tools and techniques and start piping
Once you have your icing perfect, make sure you have the right tools for the job. You’ll need a piping bag as well as a nozzle. There are various piping nozzles available. Whichever nozzle you choose will depend on what you want your cupcake to look like. Do you want simple, swirls, roses? Each nozzle and technique will create a different effect. Watch the following video from Cupcake Jemma with a rundown of the most useful nozzles out there and some basic piping tips and techniques.
Buttercream Piping Tips & Techniques
Step 4: Add extra decorations
With your cupcake now all lovely and piped, you can add beautiful extra decorations for the final touch. Add something that will compliment your theme. You can use glitter, fruit, chocolate, custom-decorations, candy… The sky is really the limit here.
There you go… How to decorate the perfect cupcake. Feeling inspired to start baking and decorating your own cupcakes? Have a look on Junk Mail for great deals on baking utensils for sale.
