Frosting tips are one of the most important cupcake decorating supplies you can have on hand. At least they are if you want to make an impressive treat. The question is which tips are actually useful and which ones will just cost you money and take up excess space. Here is a list and description of the 7 most useful cupcake decorating frosting tips. There are many sets that include at least half of these tips, but you’ll still have to buy from the open stock to get some of the best frosting tips, so you can save yourself time and frustration and just start with the correct tips listed here. Be aware I am not discouraging the new hobbyist from buying a set or all of the cupcake decorating tips, but for those who just need the bare essentials here is the best list.
Frosting Tip #1M
The frosting tip #1M is the best tip for making large quantities of cupcakes look fancy and elegant with very little effort. This frosting tip is larger than the standard tips, so you’ll need a large coupler if you are going to interchange decorating tips while decorating. You’ll also need the 16 inch frosting bags or larger to fit the amount of frosting you’ll need for two dozen or more cupcakes. This frosting tip pipes out a lot of frosting on each cupcake. That said, you might want to be very careful not to decorate with a heavy frosting, or your guests will be throwing half of the frosting away. Whipped topping is a very simple and elegant frosting that looks beautiful piped through this tip. Start by piping the frosting around the outer perimeter of the cupcake and move towards the center. You can also make flowers or large star trim. This frosting tip does not come in any kits and will need to be purchased individually.
Frosting Tip #2D
The frosting tip #2D is a tip that Wilton’s cake decorating beginners book suggests you buy. It does not come in a kit, so you will need to purchase it separately. This decorating tip makes perfect flowers for wedding cakes and cupcakes, parties, and bridal showers. The flower this tip makes is large enough to save you covering your cupcake or cake with a ton of flowers, but not too big that it becomes and eye sore. It can also be used like frosting tip #1M, but it doesn’t make the cupcake as tall and fancy looking. However, it makes much prettier flowers.
Frosting Tip #3
Frosting tip #3 is from the “family” of writing tips. You can purchase any writing tip size you want, but #3 provides a good balance between the smaller round tips. Many cake decorating sets do carry this tip and 2 or 3 other writing tips. This tip gives you the ability to write a message in frosting, make dots or balls, and draw filigree patterns. It is easy to clean with a toothpick if you don’t have a frosting tip cleaning brush, as compared to the smaller tips.
Frosting Tip #16
Frosting tip #16 is know as a star tip. This is a very popular frosting tip for making character cakes because the stars will cover the whole cake top in a variety of colors and it doesn’t have to be perfect. It is easy to figure out how to pipe with this tip so it is recommended to beginners. This tip comes in most decorating kits along with 2 or 3 other star tips. It can also be used to make a small shell border, or tiny flowers. Be careful when cleaning the star tip so you don’t bend the prongs or it will change the shape of your star. Clear any clumps of frosting from the tip immediately or your frosting will not flow properly.
Frosting Tip #12
Frosting tip #12 is a round frosting tip and it is very versatile. It is the best cupcake decorating tip for making faces, bodies, boarders, large dots, centers in flowers, and a center ring in between layers for holding in pudding. This frosting tip comes in most decorating kits and is a must have in your collection. It is easy to clean, and fun to play with.
Frosting Tip #67
Frosting tip #67 is commonly known as the leaf tip. You never know when you will be asked to make a cake that has flowers, or vines, and the leaf tip just completes that garden look. Even someone just starting cupcake decorating might find this very useful. Green is one of the easiest colors to fit into a cupcake cake design. Ground cover, trees, vines, forest. The leaf tip adds a lot of dimension with little effort. The most difficult thing about this tip is getting it to form a point. If your frosting is thick, this will likely not occur on its own. Wet your clean fingers and gently pinch the tip of each leaf to form a point. This decorating tip does come in some kits, but not all.
Frosting Tip #233
Frosting tip #233 is the grass tip. In Wilton’s basic cake decorating books a star tip is suggested for making grass. Skip this unnecessary grass idea and buy the grass tip. It is not sold in cake decorating kits, but it is the most practical tip for creating a grass look in soccer fields, football, baseball, backyards, forests, etc. It is extremely easy to use. If it is your first time playing with it, don’t worry if one patch comes out really long and the next one comes out short. Grass is uneven and you really can’t mess this up unless you’re trying. I would recommend making a thick frosting that will hold its shape well. Frosting from the baking isle at the grocery store will “melt.” Use a store bought cake decorating frosting, or buttercream frosting.