Piping rosettes

A rosette is piped with a decorating bag fitted with a star tip. A Colorado 4-H cake decorating manual gives the steps: hold the bag straight up, with the tip just slightly above the surface, and squeeze to form a star. Without releasing pressure, raise the tip and move it slightly to the side to find the starting point.

The cook pipes a line moving toward the top of the star, then pipes a tight circle around to the starting point. To prevent a tip from forming, the pressure is decreased as the rosette closes, and the cook stops squeezing right before connecting and pulls away.

Rosettes can be piped in a row as a border, or placed on cupcakes and cakes as decoration.