Monday, September 19

baking!

With the cooler weather upon us, my self-imposed baking hiatus is at an end.  Last week, I made cupcakes, chocolate chip cookie-brownie bars, cinnamon rolls (and if you haven’t tried Pioneer Woman’s cinnamon rolls, you are definitely missing out!), cookies, and homemade dinner rolls.  I was still feeling blue, and all that baking was therapeutic.   The kids and neighbors were really happy too.   It was the first time I ever made bread, and boy did this house smell good last week!011ws

All of that baking made me think it was a good time to share with all of you two of the easiest ways to decorate a cupcake.  Take your favorite frosting, a bag for your frosting, and a 1M tip.  A 1M is a little bigger than your average frosting tip.   Set up your tip, then fill the bag half way with frosting.  The easiest way to fill the bag is to take a tall glass and “cuff” the top half of the bag over the edge.  Then fill it up to the top of the glass, take it out of the glass, twist the top closed, and pipe away.  Uniform pressure is the key to good frosting, and always remember to remove the pressure before you pull up the tip so you don’t get any “tails” or trails.   For both of these, you keep your tip straight up and down – a 90 degree angle to the top of the cupcake.

For the ice cream looking swirly top, start at the outside of the cupcake, and make a circle swirling back to where you began, and towards the center.   As you pipe towards the center, you are going to build your frosting a little over the outer row, to give it a little height.  When you get to the middle, release the pressure on the bag and then pull up slightly in the center.   That’s how you get that little “kiss” in the center.

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For the rose effect, you use the same tip, but start at the center, then work your way outside in circles.  Don’t build up the frosting by overlapping like you do on the swirl one – you want it to lay flat.  The tip does all the work for you.  Just be sure to let up the pressure before you get to the very end, and then gently pull across to finish the rose.   The red streak was done by striping the inside of the bag with red gel food color, but these look just as pretty in solid colors.

Hope you all try it out!  And thank you very much to all of you for your kind words about my Godfather.  I truly appreciate it.

Best,

Stephanie

11 comments:

  1. Glad to hear you are back to baking. Your cupcakes are always so pretty. The 1M tip was the best investment I ever made (after following your advice to do so months ago!). Your directions on how to get the effect are great, Steph.

    Yummy...now I want a cupcake!

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  2. steph my cupcakes never look this good, i could use some lessons! i don't have that tip but i have to give it a try! they look like they came straight from some fancy bake shop!! hope you are well sweet friend!! xo susan

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  3. Beautiful, Steph! I love my one M tip too. I have to make something for my 6 yo gson's bday tomorrow, cake? cupcakes? he loves brownies! Such a dilemma!
    Hope all is well there! Gorgeous today, wasn't it?

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  4. Both of them are so beautiful and they look so good! I'm really wishing that I was your neighbor right now.

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  5. you've been really busy!!! I love PW cin. rolls - heaven -
    still a tiny bit warm here but so looking forward to baking season!!! and yes your cup cakes have me craving one pretty bad.

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  6. STEPHANIE,

    YOU are so kind to always visit with me, and look at what awaits me as I come to see you....do you know that cupcakes hold a fond place in my heart. My mother used to make me chocolate cupcakes for after school with the best buttercream frosting...all made my scratch. THAT ROSE TOPPING IS SO BEAUTIFUL!

    Your encouragement and sweet words are so kind and I thank you....let's see where my art ends up!!!! Anita

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  7. We should throw a blogger tea and your goodies would be the stars! Baking (and eating) has always put a smile on my face... Hope you are well!
    xxoo

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  8. oh my goodness. i could never make my cupcakes look so good. yours are beautiful. you need a little cupcake shop. wouldn't that be fun.

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  9. lovely--I tried something like this for my daughter's birthday--she wanted a tie dye cupcake--if I got heavy handed they looked like mud!

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  10. Love the rose effect in red and white. It would also be great on mini cupcakes for an afternoon garden party treat!
    xo E + J

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