Pipe pipe piping

First of all, my oven has died. Yet again. This means no baked goods for the weeks to come, but more talking here. Originally I had a project to work on for the week for a 21st Birthday. Poo to my oven, I've had to pull out from baking. And yes, there goes another very very good opportunity to bake something fun.

A comment was left on one of my older posts asking how I piped my swirls for my cupcakes. To put things straight, it does come with practice. You need to be able to understand the pressure from squeezing out the buttercream to knowing how to guide the tip in a motion that the swirl comes out in a presentable fashion.

The pressure is about understanding the consistency of your buttercream to the amount of strength applied in squeezing the piping bag. So, a word of advice is to practice on baking paper first and getting a better grip of the piping bag. With technique as to how you are to hold the piping bag, I'd say it comes with person preference. I like to hold up the very top where the piping bag is secured/ twisted to avoid buttercream coming out the top end. You need to hold the piping in a manner that it gives you stability and control over its motions.

I swirl in an anti clockwise direction, starting from the middle and working toward the edge. You'd want to leave some gap between the buttercream and the edge of your cupcake/cake. This will give you the freedom of decorating the top with extra bits and pieces. For instance, if I wanted to garnish with a fresh strawberry, I would push it down onto the buttercream, and which the gap it will give it room to spread out.

I may just upload a video showing this technique I use. It will be anything but professional.

If you have any questions, pop them down below and I will get on answering them.

Till then, happy baking.