Which Piping Nozzle For Cupcakes?
- Andrea Omolo
- Dec 21, 2022
- 4 min read
Everyone enjoys eating a tasty cupcake! In fact, about 770 million cupcakes are eaten every year around the world. Cupcakes taste so good with a soft moist sponge topped with a delicious cream frosting. Cupcakes are popular because they suit every occasion, they are the perfect individual size and easy to eat wherever you are. A box of cupcakes is perfect for sharing with family, friends and work colleagues. Cupcakes also make a great gift for all occasions – or no special occasion! That’s the fun of cupcakes!
Cupcakes were first made by an American cook, Eliza Leslie in 1828. The recipe appeared in her cookery book ‘ 75 Recipes for Pastry, Cakes and Sweetmeats’. Interestingly, her recipe featured the same ingredients in different quantities, but still tasted very good!
Since then, cupcakes have evolved and there is a cupcake for every occasion and in every flavour – with vanilla and chocolate still the favourite ones! Some chefs have even experimented with savoury cupcake recipes – including ones containing lasagne, chilli and even mashed potato!
Cupcakes are available to buy in speciality cake shops, bakeries and supermarkets. Home-made cupcakes taste really delicious and can be made to look really sensational with icing techniques mastered by pastry chefs, professional cake decorators as well as home bakers. With a good recipe, the correct utensils and a little cupcake piping practice, everyone can successfully make their own simply stunning cupcakes.
Choose a good basic cupcake recipe.
There are numerous excellent buttercream cupcake recipes both in cookery books and on websites. Find one that you are confident of with good reviews and follow each step carefully. Here is our basic recipe that produces good results.
Ingredients for the cake sponge.
110g softened buttercream
110g caster sugar
2 large eggs
110g self-raising flour
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
For the buttercream topping.
150g softened buttercream
300g sifted icing sugar
3 tablespoons of milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Food colour paste if required
Method:
Heat the oven to 180C/ Gas 4 and prepare a12 cupcake trays by placing a paper case in each individual cup.
Cream the softened butter and caster sugar with an electric hand whisk until the mixture is light and fluffy. Whisk in the first egg until the mixture is well blended. Add the second egg and whisk well.
Add the flour with the vanilla extract and whisk lightly until just combined.
Divide the mixture between the 12 cake cases.
Place the cupcake tray on the middle shelf of the oven and bake for 15 minutes until the cakes are golden brown. Press the top of one cake lightly with your finger. If the sponge bounces back, the cupcakes are cooked.
Place the cakes onto a cooling rack and leave them to cool completely.
Method for making the buttercream icing.
Whisk the softened butter with the icing sugar and vanilla extract until the mixture is thick and creamy.
Gently add the milk and whisk the icing until super smooth. Add a little food colouring if needed.
Your icing is ready to pipe onto the cupcakes.
Choosing the best icing nozzles/ tips.
There are seven cake icing nozzles that are essential to achieve all the general icing styles with buttercream cupcake icing or cupcake frosting. It is worth spending some time choosing some good quality piping tips for your collection as they will last you many years. Look for piping nozzles like the Ruoth piping tips that are made in quality stainless steel so they will not rust. Check that the icing tip is seamless in design as this will ensure a perfect flow of icing and will also make the tip easier to clean. An added bonus is if the icing tip is dishwasher safe too.
The ideal piping nozzles for typical cupcake designs.
Ruoth 1M Nozzle
This crown-shaped cake nozzle is ideal for decorating cupcakes with large swirls, and classic star designs as well as ruffles, beautiful roses and pretty shells. The designs produced with this star nozzle are well defined as the walls of icing are straight with a pointed edge – these compare with the effects produced by the 2D piping nozzle which are softer with a more ruffled appearance. The 1M is also a rose nozzle and creates pretty roses with very realistic petals. The Ruoth 1M tip plus piping bags and tips are ideal for cupcake decorating.
Ruoth 2D Nozzle
This star-shaped nozzle is larger than most star nozzles and can be used for piping generous rosettes and swirls on cupcakes. The 2D piping nozzle can be used for other designs that are perfect for cupcakes and these include gorgeous stars, zig-zags and loops
Ruoth 6B Nozzle
This versatile open star-shaped piping nozzle can be used to create stunning cupcakes. The buttercream can be iced in various designs using the 6B and these include Large shells, drop flowers, shells, swirls and stars.
Ruoth 1A Nozzle
The 1A round tip piping nozzle is a great choice if you want to create a slightly different design with your cupcake frosting. The icing tip can be used to create large dots that can be decorated with sprinkles or tiny chocolate drops or you can use the 1A to make pretty rounded swirls or a drop-shaped buttercream design. A particularly easy and eye-catching design to make with this icing tip is to make a swirl of strawberry buttercream frosting and top each one with an individual fresh strawberry.
Progress to advanced designs.
With the four above-mentioned icing tips, you will be able to create some really prettily decorated cupcakes that everyone will find hard to resist. If you feel that you have already mastered these four piping nozzles well, you can progress to more advanced designs using 124, 2A and 4B icing tips either individually or in combination with other piping bags and tips. The 124 piping nozzle is particularly exciting to use as it creates the most beautiful and realistic-looking large flower petals. Designs created with the 124 nozzles are certainly dramatic as these include swags, bows and ruffles.
The best cupcakes should be:
soft and fluffy to taste
The sponge should taste buttery with a soft vanilla flavour.
Golden brown in colour with a domed top.
Pleasantly sweet rather than over-sweet.
The buttercream topping should not be too sweet either.
Remain nice and moist for three days.
There is no better way to Master piping techniques than by practising decorating cupcakes. You will soon discover that you will be encouraged to practise by family, friends and work colleagues because it is hard to resist the appeal of a cupcake!
You can buy the Ruoth 7 Essential nozzle tips from our website or from Amazon
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