The secret to piping buttercream is actually nothing to do with your technique – it starts with getting your basics right first.
Here are the top three things you should have sorted to make great buttercream.
1. A good recipe, that’s solid and not sloppy.
Most recipes are too loose for WA conditions to start with, and call for wayyyy too much liquid. For me, starting with a former buttercream works a lot better. We don’t want it to be a brick but if you scoop up a chunk and turn your spatula over, it should hold there for at least 10 seconds before gravity does it’s thing. Any less and you’ll struggle to get crisp piping.
2. A quality bag.
This is a no zip lock or supermarket brand bag zone haha! If we’re using a thinker buttercream, we need a thicker bag! My favourite brand is the Loyal brand. I don’t get paid to say that, it’s just what I always use.
3. The right size nozzle for the job.
Covering a whole cupcake or large cake? Use an appropriate sized nozzle. Small nozzles are great for mini cupcakes or accent piping, but not covering a large area. It doesn’t matter if nozzles are plastic or metal, but it’s all about the size. My favourite nozzle is a 1M nozzle.
The actual piping technique and holding of the bag comes down to practise, but if you haven’t got these basic sorted first it’ll make it a lot harder than it needs to be!
If you want to get started asap, I have an online class and kit available.