Are you looking for cake decorating ideas for your special cake? - Then you are in the right place! Discover 30 easy piping techniques to decorate birthday cakes, wedding cakes, cupcakes, and cookies with star tips. I carefully picked simple yet beautiful designs that are easy to achieve with a bit of practice for bakers at all levels. I hope they'll give you some inspiration for your next project!
You can also pipe each design with round tips. Or check out the 32 ways to pipe with round tips - You can see what some of the designs look like with round tips, as well as other unique designs that are not introduced in this post.
Finally, I highly encourage you to watch the video tutorial in this post to have a deeper understanding of the hand movements for each piping technique.
Let's get started!
📌 Pick Star Tips
2 types of star tips
Star tips are often categorized into 2 types:
- Closed-star tips: The tips are curved.
- Open-star tips: The tips are not curved.
Today, I used open-star tips: 21, 1M, and 6B.
- 21 is one of the popular small star tips.
- 1M is the most commonly used medium-size star tip.
- 6B is also a popular choice and the largest tip among these 3. The jagged pattern is very fine and it is called a French star tip (French piping tip) - Often, the tip is not curved like this one, but some are slightly curved, which are categorized as closed star tips.
Pick any star tip with different sizes and shapes!
📌 Different Types Of Buttercream Frosting
You may wonder which type of frosting you should use for piping each design. You can use any stiff frosting, such as buttercream, whipped cream, and royal icing.
There are so many kinds of buttercream you can pick from. Here are the differences between each:
- Swiss buttercream: Swiss meringue + Butter
- Italian buttercream: Italian meringue + Butter
- French buttercream: Pate au bombe + Butter
- American buttercream: Sugar + Butter
- German buttercream: Pastry cream + Butter
- Russian buttercream: Condensed milk + Butter
- English buttercream: Anglaise sauce + Butter
In addition, you can add flavors to them, such as vanilla extract, almond extract, and cocoa powder. Cream cheese frosting and lemon frosting are some of my favorites!
For this tutorial, I used Swiss buttercream recipe. It is very stable, fluffy, smooth, and shiny and is one of my favorites. Check out the post to see how to make it step-by-step.
📌 30 Ways To Pipe With Star Tips
1. Shells
The top runner is one of the most basic and beloved patterns. It looks simple yet beautiful. Hold the pastry bag at about 45 degrees, squeeze out the frosting until it reaches the desired size, and quickly slide the tip away backward to create the sharp "tail." Pipe with a round or leaf tip to create a more sharp look.
2. Drops
This is also one of the most commonly used piping techniques. Enjoy a different look using a larger tip. Hold a piping bag straight, slightly lifting the tip away from the surface, squeeze out the frosting, and move the tip upward as you stop adding the pressure.
3. Basic swirl
A simple yet beautiful swirl. This is a design I probably use most often. I like how elegant it looks, especially with French tips. Squeeze the frosting as you move the piping tip in a circular motion, and quickly slide it out at the end.
4. Strawberry
I came up with this one recently. (I'm sure many people in the world are using it already, though!) Set your tip very low and add small pressure to create a flat base. Next, pipe a drop on top!
5. Ruffles
Keep going up and down as you squeeze out the frosting to create a simple yet beautiful border.
6. Braid
Pipe a short line diagonally and pipe the next line on top of the edge to cross them over. Repeat the process to create the braided pattern! You can create a delicate knitted look by lining the braids together.
7. Bumps
This piping technique is often used to decorate classic cakes, such as traditional-style wedding cakes. Use a small tip for a more detailed look!
8. Accordion
Go right and left as you pipe, creating a dynamic look. Fill the entire surface of the cake to create a cute, ruffled look. Use a petal tip to create more delicate ruffles.
9. 3 petals
Pipe 3 petals. Repeat doing it to create a classy border.
10. Spirals
Continue rotating as you move your tip backward to create the spirals. It looks beautiful when all the circles are piped with the same size.
11. Spikes
It's similar to drops but pipe many of them longer this time. It makes a great accent for your cake decorating. The technique is often used to create green bushes or animal furs.
12. Triple spirals
Apply the basic swirl technique, but this time, go upward as you pipe to create the ice cream look!
13. Lines
The tip should not touch the ground but is lifted instead to draw a line easily. Use smaller tips to create more intricate designs.
14. Ammonite
It's similar to the basic swirl, but instead of curling the tip toward the center, fades it out backward.
15. Dramatic decor
It is a combination of a longer swirl and a basic swirl. Repeat them to create a cake border.
16. Wiggly ruffles
Go right and left very fast as you move the tip to create wiggly ruffles. It's very easy but makes the festive look instantly!
17. Drops 45 degrees
Pipe at 45 degrees to make the line.
18. Whip
This time, go up and down fast as you go up. It looks like a whip from a spray bottle. I love it!
19. Low waves
Go up and pull it back to create the wave. You can make the wave as long as you'd like!
20. Triple shells
It's a combination of a shell and a ruffle piping technique. It kind of looks like 3 shells are laid close like fallen dominoes.
21. Drop + Shell
Pipe a drop and a shell next to each other to create the pattern.
22. Pull-out star
Set a piping top very close to the table and add pressure to squeeze the frosting out flat. It's easy to pipe and makes a cute accent!
23. Ammonites, 2 sided
Pipe the "Ammonites" from different sides and repeat the process to create a classic and elegant pattern.
24. Dramatic Waves
Pipe the 3 long swirls closely together to create the wave. You can do 2, 4, or more in a row as you like! It creates a classic look when decorated on the sides of the cake.
25. Shell + Spoon
First, pipe a basic drop. Next, scrape down the half or more with a spoon or a small offset spatula to create the pull-out dots.
26. Flowers
Use the basic shell piping technique to create the flower petals. It makes a cute accent for your cake. Add some dots in the center to add more detail.
27. Double swirls
This is an advanced version of the basic swirl. Go up this time as you draw spirals to create the tall swirl. It makes classic cupcake swirls.
28. Basketweave
First, draw straight lines. After that, pipe short lines vertically with the same intervals to create the weave.
29. Triple swirls
This is the triple version of a basic swirl! Well, you can go as high as gravity works. It looks like ice cream!
30. Rosettes
Lastly, it is a rosette, which is a very popular way to pipe buttercream, especially as a cake decoration. Draw a swirl flat to create the rose look. Try it with different tips, and enjoy the different looks!
📌 Combine The Piping Techniques!
The magic happens when pairing different piping techniques to decorate your cakes and desserts! They add fun textures and unique looks. Frost your birthday cakes, cupcakes, plated desserts, icing cookies, or any desserts you like!
📌 VIDEO: Watch How To Pipe Them!
To see all the steps visually, check out the video tutorial!
💬 By the way, I shared a written "message" to my viewers at the end of the video using the 30 piping patterns. Watch till the end and see the reveal😉
Lastly, please share your feedback in the video or in this post if the tutorial was helpful for you. I'd like to know what kind of cakes or desserts you created for your special event!
📌 Frequently Asked Questions
About Piping Tips:
It depends on the countries or areas you live in. Here in the States, 1M and 2D are some of the most common star tips. (This can change depending on the trend!). I personally love any French star tips, just like the 6B I used today. It creates such fine, detailed looks. I suggest you use any of your favorites!
YES! You can use round tips instead. Enjoy the different looks.
About Buttercream:
Any type of buttercream is stiff enough to pipe the patterns I shared in this post, but if I have to pick one, I recommend Swiss buttercream.
It depends on the recipes, but the most stiff buttercreams are Swiss, Italian, and American buttercream, in my opinion. For Italian and Swiss buttercream, the meringues are the key to making them stiff. Swiss meringue
is a little bit more stable than Italian meringue since it's cooked with higher heat. American buttercream is also stiff, but it's slightly more sensitive to heat since it's a mixture of butter and sugar. To sum up, I think Swiss buttercream is most suitable to pipe, especially for more fine, detailed piping techniques.
I recommend gel or paste food colorings since they color frosting better without changing the consistency as much as liquid colorings. This one is my ultimate favorite!
📌 Pin It!
Pin it if you love this piping tutorial, and find so many other recipes on my Pinterest page!
Sandra crisp says
This tutorial was Fun
ayacaliva says
I'm glad😊 Thank you!
Maria Elena says
Hi
I enjoy all your teachings. I watch your YouTube videos. Thank You. God Bless you and Family. 👩🏻🍳👌🏼😍🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
ayacaliva says
Thank you for watching the video as well🥰 Thank you, same to you!
Silvia says
Podría pasar,la receta de la crema número 1 , merengue suizo y mantequilla, gracias
ayacaliva says
The link for the Swiss meringue buttercream is listed in the post. Or you can find it from "Frosting" section in this blog!