The Tips

• The first thing you need for perfectly piped cupcakes is a few piping tips to attach to your piping bag. There are hundreds of tips to choose from but you only need one or two go-to tips. One of the most common tips for cupcakes is the star tip. As the name implies, the opening looks like a star and it creates deeply grooved swirls of icing. Rose tips have a smooth, round opening that allows you to create beauty from simplicity with a flawless rope of icing. Drop flower tips are another common variety -- the opening generally looks like a swirled star or a pinwheel. These tips allow you to create multiple flower designs effortlessly. Buying a starter kit with several piping tips to experiment with is best until you’re better acquainted with cupcake decorating.

Piping Techniques

• Perhaps the most common piping technique is the swirl. Start with the piping tip in the center of the cupcake and swirl the icing in a spiral shape until the entire cupcake top is covered. The design can be continued by spiraling back inward for a second rotation or left at a single spiral. Create a different style of spiral by starting at the rim of the cupcake and spiraling inward. Another simple technique is dotting the cupcake with several dollops of icing. Start at the center with a dollop of icing, then add several more dollops circling the first one. If the first ring doesn’t cover the cupcake, add a second ring. This method works particularly well with drop flower tips.

Practice, Practice, Practice

• The best part of learning to pipe cupcakes is that practice materials don’t need to go to waste. Grab a sheet of parchment or wax paper and fill your piping bag with icing. Practice piping designs on the paper until you’re comfortable with your techniques. When you’ve used all the icing, scrape it off the sheet and refill your piping bag for another round. Try each technique with several different tips to find exciting designs and discover what you’re best at creating.

Handling Mishaps

• It’s not a big deal if you pipe a cupcake and the frosting doesn’t look the way you want it to. Try turning the cupcake upside down over the bowl of icing and using a knife to remove it gently. If there’s a bit of frosting left on the cupcake, just pipe over it and no one will ever know. If that doesn’t work, don’t force it. Instead, coat the frosting in shredded coconut, powdered sugar or slivered almonds. You’ll be the only one who knows that the tasty toppings are there to hide a mistake.