Anyone good at piping cakes?

[WorriedMamma2]

I'm an absolute beginner baker but want to attempt to make some cupcakes for my son's birthday (see photo below).

I have a piping set with all the different nozzles but looking for someone to point me in the direction of which sort I'd use for all the different elements on here. Is there anything other equipment you'd recommend to achieve this?

Also, I want the buttercream to be vivid like the example. Would gel food colouring be the better option?

TIA

i use sugar flair food colour pastes, they are very vivid. A Wilton 1m will probably do the blue and red rosettes. The green elements maybe a number #21 open star?

Thank you! I'll look at your suggestion and hope I can put something together that looks ok! 😬

I think as a novice that would be quite hard to achieve, but I’m quite cackhanded so if you aren’t then 🤞

Colouring - as mentioned above colour flair pastes are good. Gels from supermarket aren’t pigmented enough.

Thanks! I did wonder if it's a bit deceptive as I looks easier than it really is. I'm hoping to have a practise before I make the real ones so will come up with a back up plan if they don't turn out any good! 😅

For the little yellow stars you’ll want fondant icing. You can make it - but you’re probably better off just buying some pre-made. It will be called modelling fondant, or ready to roll, or sugar paste. You can buy it coloured or dye it yourself. Roll it out on a surface lightly dusted with icing sugar, cut out the stars with a cutter and leave them on some greaseproof paper to dry out a bit. Not in the fridge! The eyes can be piped on with a very thin tip, or you can make them out of black fondant - (buy black!!) and stick them on with a dab of water.

Even if you give up on the fancier piping in the picture, a normal cupcake swirl in one of those colours with a fondant star on top will look effective!

I agree with PP, I used sugar flair last week for the first time and it is excellent.

I bake for my sons birthdays too. My bakes are far from perfect but they are made with love and DC love them. (All the kind guests also say they look great).

Can’t wait to see photos

Practice the buttercream rosettes on a plate, then you can put it back into the icing bag.

there are quite a few cupcake creators on social media who post reels of how to get that 'lots of different piping styles on one cake' effect - you might find it help to watch a few to get the technique? I like ennahs.cakes on IG; her neat little cupcakes are so hypnotic to watch.

@OhGingleBells, I was definitely planning on buying ready to roll fondant rather than making! Thanks to @FurForksSake and @Imperfectpolly 's suggestions, I've now bought the sugarflair pigments so will use that to colour it. Great tip about leaving the stars to harden too - thanks!

@IAmNeverThePerson, I'll most definitely take a photo and share (if I'm not too embarrassed by the outcome - haha! 🙈😂).

@CheshireCat1 and @Rinkali, these are both very helpful suggestions! Thank you! 🫶🏻

This set would probably have a couple of the nozzles you need. A good starter set anyway

Sorry, just reread and you said you had nozzles. It's definitely the bigger ones you need. Do you have decent piping bags?

I bought a cheap set with bags and loads of nozzles from amazon years ago... my food colour is arriving today so will give it a trial run! Hopefully they'll look ok! 🤞🏻

Piping is a lot harder than it looks so if you've never done it before, I suggest practicing on some parchment paper or just onto a dinner plate or board...you can scrape the icing back into the piping bag to use that way it doesn't go to waste.

Edited to add..sorry just saw a pp suggested that already

Another thing - while you're filling up a piping bag, it helps to roll it down halfway and put it in a pint glass, nozzle down, so you can insert the icing as near to the tip as possible. Then twist it, so the buttercream is forced down, and put a sandwich bag clip just above the twist to stop it squishing out of the open end.

So, I had a little practise today and experimented with a 21 and 23 piping heads to do the roses and 'star dots'. They turned out ok for a first attempt, I reckon. Be kind even if you don't agree! 😂 I also tried a different head (green icing) which was a disaster and won't be using that again... 🙈

The colours aren't as vivid as I need them to be - I was worried about adding too much colour as the packaging said to only add a tiny amount as it develops when resting. However, next time I'll add a lot more and hopefully achieve some brighter results.

I did notice the the frosting in the original picture looks a lot thinker/more matte than mine. It was warm (cakes completely cooled to room temp) but maybe the weather didn't help? If anyone has any recipe suggestions I'd be greatful for next time!

Here's a couple of the better examples:

Finch Bakery’s buttercream icing is the best for piping consistency- I can’t remember it by heart but it involves whipping the butter before adding anything which makes it really workable- it will be a little stiffer than yours so will hold shape better. It’s probably available on their website or instagram.

What buttercream recipe did you use?
Heat doesn't help i agree

@user1471548941, thanks! I will check this out. Although I did whip the butter before adding the icing sugar. 🤔
I found an 'American buttercream' recipe which uses double cream so think that might help thicken it too.

@dementedpixie, can't Denver exact quantities but it was just a recipe with 1/3 butter and 2/3 icing sugar, then a dash of vanilla and milk.

I would usually use double icing sugar to butter and loosen with a little boiled water if its too thick.

Yes, a stiffer buttercream will help, you can chill it a little or add more icing sugar. If you over mix it you can add too much air which doesn’t help with stiffness.

experiment with colours, add a bit at a time until you get the colour you want, you can be quite bold!

hold the bag with the nozzle pointing straight down.

I think you’ve done a great job!

when filling the bag you can use a scraper to push down the icing and then twist the top. Put the back on a worksurface and scrape it down well.

They look fab!

buttercream looks too soft to hold shape properly. Use 250g butter with 500g icing sugar. Beat the butter for 10 mins on its own first so it goes paler (less yellow helps with the food colouring)
if it’s stiff add a drop of boiling water but you might not need to in this warmer weather. Good luck! I like
Colour mill and pro gel colours

The picture above is AI - look at the green swirls on the cupcake at the back.

Just to check you are using actual block butter rather than stork or the likes? I normally leave a block of unsalted butter at room temp, then stick it in the stand mixer for a few minutes before adding twice the amount of icing sugar to butter by weight. If it's too stiff I might add a tablespoon or two of boiled water. Never milk or cream as it means it needs to go in the fridge.

I think the nozzles you're using are too small, I don't think you're far off at all if you were using larger nozzles, a PP has already linked them. Honestly the right nozzles are a game changer!

And for drying the stars out, I tend to leave them at least 24hrs and put them on last minute to stop them going soggy. They can be make weeks in advance. Happy baking!