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- Frosting cupcakes is not that difficult once you know the right tricks. How to frost cupcakes will help improve your frosting techniques and ensure your cupcakes look as good as they taste.
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Introduction
- While frosting cupcakes might not seem like a tough task, making elegant cupcakes is an art that shouldn't be ignored. Knowing a few tips on how to keep crumbs out of your icing, making a smooth surface and how to deal with difficult frosting will help improve your frosting techniques and ensure your cupcakes look as good as they taste.
Frosting, Icing, or Glaze?
- Before you try frosting your cupcake, you should understand the difference between frostings, icings and glazes. Basically, the difference lies in the thickness and the ingredients.
- Frosting is the thickest of the three. It is traditionally made with butter, sugar, and either water or milk.C&H Pure Cane Sugar: Frostings - The Sweet Finish It holds shapes better and remains soft to the touch.Christmas-Cookies.com: Decorating Sugar Cookies
- Icing is thinner than frosting but thicker than glaze. As it dries, it thins out and becomes very smooth.Christmas-Cookies.com: Decorating Sugar Cookies Some of the major types of icing include buttercream, royal, ganache and fondant.
- Glaze is very thin and usually drizzled on. It is basically made using powdered sugar and either water or milk.C&H Pure Cane Sugar: Frostings - The Sweet Finish
- For information on how to make different frosting and icings, check out Mahalo's How to Make Buttercream Icing, How to Make Royal Icing, How to Make Cream Cheese Frosting, How to Make Vanilla Icing.
Using a Spatula versus a Pastry Bag
- There are two different methods you can use to frost your cupcakes: a spatula/knife or a pastry bag. Each have their own advantages and disadvantages.
- A pastry bag can give your cupcakes a more professional look as well as add different swirls and stripes onto your cupcakes.RecipeTips.com: Pastry Bag Homemakers.com: 10 Expert Tips for Making Great Cupcakes Use it for icing, which can run if spread with a knife or spatula.Christmas-Cookies.com: Decorating Sugar Cookies
- A small offset spatula will spread frosting evenly and give you extra leverage with the crooked handle.RecipeTips.com: Baking Spatula Cupcakes Take The Cake: Cupcake Tips It is also called an icing spatula, frosting spatula, or pastry spatula.RecipeTips.com: Baking Spatula
- A rubber spatula is gentler than knifes and metal spatulas and less likely to cut off the top of your cupcake.RecipeTips.com: Flexible Spatula Cookies-n-Cakes: Cupcake Decorating Tips (Part 2)
Using a Spatula
- A baking or flexible spatula is one of the easier methods to frost cupcakes, especially since you most likely have one of those objects already. Here are some tips to make your cupcakes look their best:
- }Make sure the cupcakes are completely cool before frosting. Warm cupcakes can cause the frosting to soften or melt.Kraftfoods.com: Baseball Cupcakes
- Divide one batch of vanilla frosting into different bowls and add a few drops of food coloring to ensure a rainbow of cupcakes.Homemakers.com: 10 Expert Tips for Making Great Cupcakes
- Brush the cupcakes lightly with your fingers to remove any crumbs before frosting.DianasDesserts.com: Tips for Cupcakes
- Avoid crumbs by placing a dollop of icing in the center of the cupcake.
- Try not to let your spatula touch the cupcake, which will get crumbs in the frosting.About.com: Cake Decorating, Part I
- Occasionally dip your spatula in hot water to clean off any crumbs and frosting accumulation.C&H Pure Cane Sugar: Frostings - The Sweet Finish
- After frosting, dip your knife in hot water and smooth it over the top of the frosting to make a smooth surface.Epicurious.com: Eyeball Cupcakes
Using a Pastry Bag
- A pastry bag is a cone shaped bag with a small hole on one end and a large hole on the opposite end.RecipeTips.com: Pastry Bag Here are some tips you should consider when using a pastry bag to frost your cupcakes:
Fill the Pastry Bag
- Measure and cut the end of your pastry bag.Baking911: Pastry Bags 101
- Insert the tip before adding the frosting.Baking911: Pastry Bags 101
- Fill the bag half way with frosting.Baking911: Pastry Bags 101 Do not overfill.
- Make sure the coupler ring is screwed on straight and secure and the bag is airtight at the end.Baking911: Pastry Bags 101
- You can twist the bag above the tip and secure with a clip to prevent any frosting from coming out the end of the bag.Baking911: Pastry Bags 101
- Expert Village: Filling a Pastry Bag with Icing (Time: 2:15)
Frost the Cupcakes
- Make sure the cupcakes are completely cool before frosting. Warm cupcakes can cause the frosting to soften or melt.Kraftfoods.com: Baseball Cupcakes
- Brush the cupcakes lightly with your fingers to remove any crumbs before frosting.DianasDesserts.com: Tips for Cupcakes
- Hold the tip about 1/8 inch off the surface of the cupcake.Expert Village: Using a Pastry Bag to Decorate Cakes (Time: 2:42)
- Gently squeeze the pastry bag.
- Release the pressure before lifting the tip.Expert Village: Using a Pastry Bag to Decorate Cakes (Time: 2:42)
How to Make Rainbow Frosting
- For colorful swirled frosting, try this advanced technique:
- Place the pastry bag inside a glass.
- Use a paint brush to paint 1/2-inch thick stripes of different colors on the inside of the bag.Chica and Jo: Colorful Swirled Cupcakes (September 18, 2008)
- Scoop white icing into the bag with a spoon.
- Squeeze the bag until the white icing no longer flows white.Chica and Jo: Colorful Swirled Cupcakes (September 18, 2008)
Conclusion
- Now that you have frosted your cupcakes, you might want to learn some tips on how to decorate them. If so, check out Mahalo's pages on how to decorate Halloween cupcakes, Thanksgiving cupcakes or any of the other pages located in the cupcake section.
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