Lesson 4 of 5 · Buttercream & Piping

Piping tips for beginners

  • Free video
  • Beginner
  • Frostings, Fillings & Icings
  • 8 min
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Video by Icing On Top - Becky’s Cakes on YouTube: “Basic piping - how to hold and use a piping bag and tips” Watch on YouTube ↗

What you'll learn

Lesson 4 of 5

Fill and hold a piping bag correctly, use a coupler and pipe basic stars, rosettes and borders.

  • A coupler lets you swap tips on one bag
  • Even pressure gives even shapes
  • Stop squeezing before you lift away

Ingredients for this lesson

Madagascar Vanilla Extract, 4 oz BottleVanillaGoods$19.00
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Tahitian Vanilla Extract, 2 oz BottleVanillaGoods$16.00
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Lesson notes from VanillaGoods

Setting up

  • Fit the coupler in the bag and screw the tip on
  • Fold the bag's top down over your hand and fill it halfway
  • Twist the top closed and hold the twist with your thumb and finger

Piping basics

  • Hold the bag straight up (90°) for stars and rosettes
  • Hold it at 45° for borders and writing
  • Squeeze with your whole hand and guide with the other
  • Stop squeezing, then lift; that gives clean ends
  • An open star tip such as the 1M makes swirls and rosettes

Practice

Pipe on parchment or a practice sheet first. Medium-consistency buttercream gives the cleanest shapes.

← Lesson 3Next: Royal icing →

Tools for this lesson

The equipment that makes this easier. VanillaGoods vanilla is always our own; these tools are from Amazon.

As an Amazon Associate, VanillaGoods earns from qualifying purchases. We only suggest tools that fit what you're learning.

Put it into practice

Bake along with a VanillaGoods recipe that uses this technique.

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