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August 14, 2022 BUTTERCREAM

30 Ways To Pipe With Star Tips (+VIDEO)

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In this post, I’m sharing 30 different ways to pipe with star tips for beautiful cakes and desserts. Use the piping techniques for buttercream, whipped cream, or any other stiff frosting you like.

Showing 30 Ways To Pipe with Star Tips

Hope they'll give you some inspiration for your next project. !

Jump to:
  • 📌 The Star Tips I Used
  • 📌 The Buttercream I Used
  • 📌 Frequently Asked Questions
  • 📌 30 Ways To Pipe With Star Tips
  • 📌 Combine The Piping Techniques!
  • 📌 VIDEO: 30 Ways To Pipe With Star Tips

📌 The Star Tips I Used

Before we get started, let me share the piping tips I used today.

I used open-star tips: 21, 1M, and 6B.

They are mainly two types of star tips:

  1. Closed star tips: The tips are curved.
  2. Open star tips: The tips are not curved. 21 is one of the popular small star tips. 1M is the most commonly used medium-size star tip. And 6B is also popular: The jagged pattern is very fine and those tips are called French star tips. Some people categorize French star tips separately from open star tips but I categorize them as open star tips simply because they are not curved.

You can enjoy all the patterns I'm introducing today with both open-star tips and closed-star tips. Just use your favorite star tips!

star piping tips, 21, 1M and 6B
star piping tips: 21, 1M and 6B

📌 The Buttercream I Used

Today, I used my Swiss buttercream recipe for this tutorial. It is very stable, fluffy, smooth, and shiny, and is one of my favorites. Check out this post to see how to make it. I'm explaining all the crucial steps in detail and also sharing 10 tips to make it successful at home.

shiny, smooth and fluffy Swiss meringue

📌 Frequently Asked Questions

About Piping Tips:

What are the most popular star tips?

It depends on the countries or areas you live in. But I would say here in the states, 1M and 2D are the most common star tips oftentimes.
I 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!

Can I apply the piping techniques to round tips?

YES! You can pipe them with round tips as well. Enjoy the different looks. (I hope to show that version too sometime.)

About Buttercream:

What's the difference between each buttercream?

1. Swiss buttercream: Swiss meringue + Butter
2. Italian buttercream: Italian meringue + Butter
3. French buttercream: Pate au bombe + Butter
4. American buttercream: Sugar + Butter
5. German buttercream: Pastry cream + Butter
6. Russian buttercream: Condensed milk + Butter
7. English buttercream: Anglaise sauce + Butter
.... and so on!
In addition, you can add extracts or any other ingredients to them but they are the main components!

Which buttercream is most suitable to pipe with?

Any types of buttercream are stiff enough to pipe the patterns I shared in this post but if I have to pick one, I recommend Swiss buttercream. Let me explain in detail:

It depends on the recipes but the very stiff ones are Swiss, Italian, and American buttercream in my opinion. For Italian and Swiss buttercream, the meringues are the key to making them stiff. And Swiss meringue is more stable than Italian meringue since it's cooked with higher heat. Therefore, the buttercream stays more stable even hours after it was made. American buttercream is also very stiff. But it is very very sweet. And it is slightly more sensitive to heat since it's a mixture of just butter and sugar.

So! To sum up, I think Swiss buttercream is most suitable to pipe, especially for more fine, detailed decorations.
It is solely from my experience but hopes you can take it as one opinion!

What type of food coloring do you recommend to color buttercream?

I recommend gel or paste food coloring. They color better and do not affect the consistency much compared to liquid colorings. My favorite brand is Ameri.

📌 30 Ways To Pipe With Star Tips

1. Shells

Orange buttercream decorations: small shells
Orange buttercream decorations: shells

The top runner is one of the most basic and beloved patterns. It looks simple yet beautiful.

2. Drops

blue buttercream decorations, drops
blue buttercream decorations, smalll drops

This is also one of the most commonly used piping techniques. It looks very different depending on what star tip you use.

3. Basic swirl

buttercream piping techniques: basic swirl
buttercream piping techniques: basic swirls

I use it very often for cake decorating. I like how elegant it looks especially with French tips.

4. Strawberry

buttercream decorating: pink and white strawberries
pink and white buttercream decorating: how to pipe strawberries

This is the one I recently came up with. (I'm sure someone in the world is using it already though!) First, set your tip very low and add small pressure to create a flat base. And next, pipe a drop on top!

5. Ruffles

purple and blue buttercream piping: ruffles
purple and blue buttercream piping: ruffles line

Keep going up and down as you continue adding the same pressure to create the ruffles.

6. Braid

white buttercream piping: how to pipe blade

As a small tip, touch the ground each time you pipe so that the end sticks to it and comes off easily!

7. Bumps

blue buttercream decorations, bumps
blue buttercream decorations, humps

This piping technique is often used as a decoration for classic cakes such as traditional-style wedding cakes. Use small tips for a more detailed look!

8. Accordion

buttercream piping: Accordion shepe
buttercream piping techniques: Accordion shape

Go right and left as you pipe and it creates a very cool texture. It's a type of ruffle!

9. 3 petals

blue buttercream decorations, 3 petals
blue buttercream decorations, 3 small petals

Pipe 3 shells like petals. It looks very classy piping them as a line.

10. Spirals

Orange buttercream decorations: spiral
Orange buttercream decorations: spirals

Continue rotating as you move your tip to create the spirals. It looks extra beautiful when all the circles are the same size.

11. Spikes

blue buttercream decorations, small spikes
blue buttercream decorations, spikes

It's similar to drops - just pipe the drops longer. By piping a lot of them, you can create spikes!

12. Triple spirals

pink buttercream decorations, triple spirals
pink buttercream decorations, triple spiral

Pipe 3 spirals each time to create a different look from the basic spiral pattern.

13. Lines

Orange buttercream decorations: line
Orange buttercream decorations: lines

And the very basic! When you pipe a line, the tip is not touching the ground but lifted instead. You can pipe easier that way.

14. Ammonite

multi-color buttercream piping: Ammonites
multi-color buttercream piping: Ammonite

It's similar to the basic swirl but instead of curling the tip to the center, fades out like the photo.

15. Dramatic decor

blue buttercream decorations, dynamic decoration
blue buttercream decorations, dynamic decor

It is a combination of a longer swirl and a big swirl. It creates a kind of traditional look!

16. Wiggly ruffles

white buttercream piping: ruffle
white buttercream piping: ruffles

Go right and left very fast as you move the tip to create wiggly ruffles. It's very easy but looks festive!

17. Drops 45 degrees

pink buttercream decorations, drops
pink buttercream decorations, drop shapes

Pipe at 45 degrees to make the line. Although they are drops, it creates a different look.

18. Whip

pink buttercream decorations, Whips
pink buttercream decorations, Whip

This time, go up and down fast as you go up. It looks like a whip from a spray bottle, don't you think? Love it.

19. Low waves

blue buttercream decorations, low waves
blue buttercream decorations, low wave

Go a little bit up and pull it back to create the wave. You can make the wave as long as you'd like!

20. Triple shells

purple buttercream decorations: triple drop
purple buttercream decorations: triple drops

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

Orange buttercream decorations: swirls and shells
Orange buttercream decorations: small swirls and shells

Pipe a drop and a shell to create the pattern. You can try swirl and drop or any other combination you like!

22. Stars

Orange buttercream decorations: stars and blue buttercream decorations, low wave
blue buttercream decorations: low wave and Orange buttercream decorations: stars

First, set a piping top very close to the table. And next, add pressure to create a flat star shape. It's easy and creates a very good accent!

23. Ammonites, 2 sided

orange and pink buttercream piping: Ammonites 2 sided
orange and pink buttercream piping: Ammonites, 2 sided

Pipe the "Ammonites" from different sides each time to create a unique and elegant pattern.

24. Dramatic Waves

blue buttercream decorations, dynamic wave
blue buttercream decorations, dynamic 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!

25. Shell + Spoon

multi-color buttercream decorating: how to pipe drops with a spoon

First, pipe a basic drop. And next, scrape down half with a spoon. I love the mixture of smooth and sharp textures!

buttercream decorating: how to pipe drops with a spoon
multi-color buttercream: how to pipe drops with a spoon

26. Flowers

buttercream piping techniques: flower shape
pink buttercream decorations, flowers

Using the shell piping technique, you can also create flowers like this. I did 5 petals today but you can do more or fewer petals as you like!

27. Double swirls

white and orange buttercream decorating: how to pipe double swirls
white buttercream decorating: how to pipe double swirls

And this is an advanced version of the basic swirl. Go up this time as you draw spirals upward.

28. Basketweave

multi-color buttercream piping: basket weave

First, draw straight lines. After that, pipe short lines vertically with the same intervals to create the weave. Check the photos below to see the steps:

multi-color buttercream piping: 3 lines
multi-color buttercream: how to pipe basket weave
multi-color buttercream piping: piping basket weave

29. Triple swirls

multi-color buttercream piping: triple swirls
multi-color buttercream piping: piping triple swirls

I showed the double swirls earlier and this is the triple version! Well, you can go as high as gravity works. I almost named it "Ice cream".

30. Rosettes

multi-color buttercream piping: many kinds of piping techniques

Lastly, this is 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 many types of tips and you can enjoy different looks!

📌 Combine The Piping Techniques!

A multi-color buttercream heart with many kinds of piping techniques

There are so many other ways to pipe! The best part though is when you combine a variety of piping techniques I introduced today, you will create a fun texture like the heart shown below!

Just like I mentioned at the beginning, you can use piping techniques not just for buttercream but also for whipped cream or other stiff frostings such as royal icings for cakes, plated desserts, cookies, etc.

A multi-color buttercream with many kinds of piping techniques

📌 VIDEO: 30 Ways To Pipe With Star Tips

To see all the steps visually check out the video tutorial:

By the way, I showed a little surprise at the end of the video! With all 30 patterns, I wrote a message to my viewers. I finished it up with some fruit decorations before the reveal. I hope you'll check it out!

decorating fruits on buttercream piping
fruits on buttercream piping
blueberries on buttercream flowers

Lastly, please share your feedback in the comment section under the video if the tutorial was helpful for you. I also appreciate it if you can leave a comment on this post and share it with your friends and family!

You may also like:

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About Aya Caliva Page on Pastry Living
Hi, I'm Aya!
Welcome To Pastry Living

Welcome to Pastry Living!

Hi, I'm Aya. I’m the pastry chef behind the blog.

I started my career in the baking world in 2009 and now opened up my blog so that you can get trusted recipes with detailed explanations anytime, anywhere for your special occasions!

More about me →

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