Keeping your piping bag steady while decorating cookies can take some time to master. While practice and patience are important tools to becoming an expert decorator, these 5 tips will help get you on your way to perfect piping.
If your decorating bag is filled to the top, it will be very difficult to control the flow of icing. I keep my bags less than halfway full when decorating cookies. Not only does this help with steady piping, but it also keeps things neat and clean as you work. There's nothing worse than icing leaking out of the back of your bag, dripping all over the table, and potentially ruining your freshly iced cookies! Yes, you will need to refill your bag more often, but it's worth the trouble.
--
2. Do The Twist
Twisting the piping bag where it rests between your thumb and forefinger will help put pressure on the icing so that you don't have to squeeze so hard. This is especially helpful when working with stiff consistency royal icing (for information on achieving the right icing consistency for your cookie decorating project, read this post).
--
3. Less Is More
Once your piping bag is filled and twisted, make sure that you're only holding a handful of icing before you start decorating. Squeezing the icing from halfway down rather than trying to squeeze from the top will make things much easier on your hand. The bag tie on the end will hold the extra icing in place. Keep in mind though, that if you don't have that twist in the bag mentioned in tip 2 above, it will be nearly impossible to squeeze the icing from this position.
--
4. Get A Grip
Place one or two fingers from your other hand on the bag to keep your piping hand steady. For more support, wrap your thumb around your wrist. Also, make sure your forearm is resting on the edge of your work table.
--
5. Consistency Is Key
Having the right icing consistency for your project is crucial! If your icing is too thin, your perfectly piped details will become an unrecognizable blob. Read
5--
You can find more tips and tricks for perfect piping in my online cookie decorating class. Click here for 50% off enrollment! Have any tips you'd like to share? Let me know in the comments!-
Can I ask the mixture on the surface of the cake so how sir ?. I'm a big fan of your cake, if you're near me, I will definitely come to you to learn how you made the cake so great. Pity because I live so far away you are. i am Vietnamese
Hi Amber! I have a question? Everytime that I go to any event and they give me cookies as beautiful as the ones U make I never eat them bc they be so hard. Are they suppose to be hard or can we eat the cookies or U just make them more as a decoration or as a favor. What recepie can I use for a good cookie bc I wanta learn how to make them bc I battled breast cancER and I would love to make them for this year for the awareness month to give them out as favors at the walk that I do every year. And what kind of royal icing do U use. The regular one or is it a special one and what kind of food coloring do U use for the icing bc I use the Wilton that comes in a gel. Thanks Amber anf Godbless u and ur talent???
Amber, thank you very much for a package with a USB Drive And Scribe Tool. Lessons are perfect. I am delighted at what you do and I follow closely all the web. . My friend Leszek intermediary in bringing your tutorial. He lives near you 🙂 in USA. Best wishes. Anka Polek 🙂
--
--
Can I ask the mixture on the surface of the cake so how sir ?. I'm a big fan of your cake, if you're near me, I will definitely come to you to learn how you made the cake so great. Pity because I live so far away you are. i am Vietnamese
What brand of tips do you use?
Hi Courtney! I use Wilton tips.
Hi Amber! I have a question? Everytime that I go to any event and they give me cookies as beautiful as the ones U make I never eat them bc they be so hard. Are they suppose to be hard or can we eat the cookies or U just make them more as a decoration or as a favor. What recepie can I use for a good cookie bc I wanta learn how to make them bc I battled breast cancER and I would love to make them for this year for the awareness month to give them out as favors at the walk that I do every year. And what kind of royal icing do U use. The regular one or is it a special one and what kind of food coloring do U use for the icing bc I use the Wilton that comes in a gel. Thanks Amber anf Godbless u and ur talent???
Hi Amber, thanks for the great tips.
Amber, thank you very much for a package with a USB Drive And Scribe Tool. Lessons are perfect. I am delighted at what you do and I follow closely all the web. . My friend Leszek intermediary in bringing your tutorial. He lives near you 🙂 in USA. Best wishes. Anka Polek 🙂
Thank you so much for your purchase! I hope you enjoy the tutorials and the scribe tool 🙂
Great tips!
Thank you for the tips!