How To Decorate Cupcakes Using A Ziplock Bag

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A cupcake is the epitome of American desserts. With the fluffy cake base and the smoothen, luscious piped frosting, the cupcake is truly a versatile and delicious dessert.

When you see a cupcake at the store or in a bakery, one tends to admire the sheer perfection of the frosting on top. Whether it exist a circular dome of frosting, a piped frosting displaying ridges, or anything in between, this is the part of the cupcake that you want to look good.

As you know, many bakeries and stores that produce cupcakes apply a multifariousness of fancy pipage tips to become that smooth look. Piping tips are sometimes difficult to go (although Amazon now makes it easy to observe a prissy, affordable set), and oftentimes inconvenient to use.

Baking cupcakes, merely don't take a piping tip? No problem.

On a related note, brand certain to learn how to make full cupcakes without whatsoever tools, how to make cupcakes without a pan, and how to broil cupcakes without liners every bit well.

To go that dainty frosting on the cupcake without a tip, you can utilise one of four methods:

Use a Ziplock pocketbook
Use a knife
Dip the cupcake
Utilise a cookie dough scooper

Before nosotros take a look at these four methods in more particular, let's take a quick look at the benefits and drawbacks of using a piping tip.

Benefits of Using a Pipage Tip

You get a smooth and sharp finish to the frosting
It eliminates the mess and allows for easy manipulation and command of the piping
In that location are many dissimilar ways in which you could frost your cupcake- piping tips come in various shapes and designs
It doesn't have that long to pipe frosting onto the cupcake

Check out this quick video that shows a few different tips and the results you can achieve with them:

Drawbacks of Using a Piping Tip

Hard to clean
Non much control of how much frosting is put on the cupcake if you merely have one size of tip
Frosting is wasted in the tip
It requires pastry numberless which y'all much purchase at a store along with the tips, nigh of which tin't be reused

Ways to Frost Cupcakes Without a Piping Tip

one – Use a Plastic Ziploc Purse

Using a Ziploc bag equally a piping tip is fast and easy. You don't need to purchase another bag or another tip, it's all in one.

The benefits of using a Ziploc purse are that information technology's like shooting fish in a barrel to use, fast, cheap, and readily bachelor. The drawbacks are that it can become messy, and it's difficult to become that perfect circle.

This video gives a nice demonstration of piping with a Ziploc bag:

How to employ it:

To go the Ziploc bag set up to frost your cupcakes, showtime with the bag open up and, using a spatula, transfer the frosting into the Ziploc bag.
Push the frosting towards one corner of the pocketbook. Using scissors, cutting the corner of the bag to the size of the "tip" yous want it to exist. Keep in mind the corner of the Ziploc bag will expand into a circumvolve in one case y'all cut the corner, and so don't cut it likewise far up unless you want a huge tip.
Point the corner of the Ziploc bag with the frosting downward towards the cupcake and squeeze the frosting out in a circle, or, if looking for a smoother dome, press the corner of the purse gently against the middle of the cupcake and clasp, while simultaneously holding the bag downwards so the frosting forms around the "tip" and creates a nice circle on pinnacle of the cupcake.

two – Go Old School With a Knife

One of the easiest means to frost a cupcake is with a knife. A knife is easy to use, available, and doesn't take that much time.

The knife, though, requires time and patience if you desire to use information technology to create a sharp and perfect look.

How to use it:

Using a knife or a silicone spatula, scoop desired corporeality of frosting onto cupcake (it doesn't matter what the frosting looks like at this point, it's okay if it just looks like a huge glob on the cupcake, you'll smoothen it out later).
Take the knife and smooth out the frosting to class an even layer on top of the cupcake, moving the frosting until it reaches the edge of the cupcake. If this looks adept enough to y'all, neat. You tin can even class a footling swirl on top of the frosting using your knife for a improve consequence.
For a more bakery-way cupcake, at this bespeak take your pocketknife and tilt it and then information technology's most vertical, merely at a slight bending away from you at the edge of the cupcake. Move the knife around the cupcake to form a flat edge of frosting around the border of the cupcake.

three – Dipping the Cupcake

This method of frosting cupcakes is probably the easiest, and the least time-consuming. Especially if you lot're using a ganache frosting, or a thin liquid frosting, this way is definitely the easiest.

At that place isn't besides much mess, it doesn't require whatsoever extra equipment, and it looks good. The only drawbacks to this method is that information technology won't work as well with a thicker buttercream mixture.

Bank check out this video effectually the nine:20 mark for an example:

How to do information technology:

Line your cupcakes upward on a baking rack with a sheet pan underneath (to catch the dripping frosting). Prepare your frosting in a big basin next to your cupcakes.
I by one, take your cupcakes by the lesser, property them firmly in your paw, and dip them into your frosting mixture block side down. Make sure the entire dome of the cupcake is covered.
Swirl around to coat the cupcake, and remove the cupcake from the frosting, letting it drip. In one smooth motion, plow the cupcake right side up and put it dorsum on the baking rack.

4 – Cookie Dough Scooper

This method of pipe is unproblematic and fun. The benefits of using a cookie dough scooper are that it's fast and easy.

The drawbacks to using a cookie dough scooper are that it's messy and requires multiple tools- a scooper, and a pocketknife to smoothen out the frosting.

How to use it:

Using the cookie dough scooper, scoop out the frosting. Release the scoop of frosting onto the centre of the cupcake.
Utilise a knife to smooth out the frosting in whichever style you similar, similar to the means in which you would frost a cupcake using the pocketknife method.

Sometimes using a piping tip isn't convenient. Ready to frost those darn cupcakes without one?

Give these methods a try. Yous'll be sure to make beautiful looking, bakery-worthy cupcakes in no time.

Looking for more cupcake hacks? Permit me show you several unique ways to fill your cupcakes without a tool and some uncomplicated ways to make frosting without the main ingredients!