For several months now I’ve been including cupcakes in my weekly box of donations. I try to vary the buttercream component and come up with different styles and colors each Friday. Because variety is the spice of life, right?
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You can find my buttercream recipe with a click here. I used it for all cupcakes, except the Chocolate Cardamon with Espresso Icing.
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RUSSIAN ICING TIPS
A long, long time ago I tried my hands at these funky looking icing tips, and promised that I would never touch them again. But trust Marlyn from @montrealconfections to make me change my mind. She had a nice video from years ago showing exactly how to use them, and I could not resist giving it a second chance (check it out here). She demonstrated two ways to using them, and I tried them both. First, the usual piping of flowers by dropping little blobs of two-color icing. If the consistency is just right, it works like a charm…
For these I used two color buttercream icing, half dyed pink, half left with no added color. The Russian tip was used to drop 6 tiny roses to the cupcake. A little buttercream dyed green added the final touch, which is of course optional.
This fun ruffled look is also given by a Russian ball-tip, piping and twisting the cake from one side to the other. Check Marlyn’s video to see exactly how it is done. The central portion is then filled with a drop flower as in the previous cake.
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SIMPLE ROSES
Probably one of the simplest designs to pipe but with a nice visual effect, the 1M tip never disappoints. It looks nice when used with two tones of icing, but as you cam see below, it will work as a single color also.
The cupcakes above used a wonderful recipe from my friend Caroline, which you can find in her blog with a click here. Chocolate Cardamon Cupcake with Espresso Icing (OMG!). I added a little chocolate flower, made by painting tempered chocolate over a real leaf and then dusting with golden powder.
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OPEN STAR TIP
For this look I used the Ateco 865 tip, but any open star should work. Just make a swirl starting from the center. It will give a more flat top that is nice coupled with any decorations you’d like. Above I used tempered chocolate painted on transfer sheets to add a design, and cut into small circles.
The same type of frosting will also go well with meringue sticks, in this case leftover from a cake of my recent past.
These cupcakes are Pink Lemonade flavor, and I used this recipe from Food Network (I made only half which was more than enough for 12 cupcakes).
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SPRINGTIME FLOWERS
For the cupcakes above, I used either a petal tip or a Wilton tip #81, as shown in this video (around 19 minutes).
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Petal tips such as 102, 103 or 104 can also make beautiful flowers by laying them more flat on the surface. I like the simple elegance of a fully white flower.
I hope you’ve found some inspiration in case you need to bake a batch of cupcakes to share with friends, family, or co-workers.
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No inspiration I am afraid but plenty of admiration for you! Love those with green- and red-hearted globes atop!
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You are exceptionally creative.
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I love the look of those piped flowers etc.
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As ever these are sublime. And I am craving them – any of them. Heck, all of them!
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