BEGINNERS LEVEL

Buttercream

Piping Basics

BY KERRY YACOUMIS
 Hello!
I’m Kerry!
I have been baking and decorating from a young age. I loved it so much I
completed my trade certificate in Baking, which means I can make/bake bread,
sweet yeast, specialty bread, cakes, cookies, pastry products and of course
decorate cakes!

I have owned my bakery with my husband since 2003. I have taught cake
decorating personally and professionally at the adult education institute in
Australia (we call TAFE or Trade school), including training our employees.

I love sharing my knowledge and skills and then seeing the students face light
up with pride when they have accomplished their new skill, whether it is to
cover the cake with cream or get the hang of the new piping skill, or even just
to cut a level cake.

My hope for you is to inspire you to start your journey in love with cake
decorating!

If you would like to learn more about who I am and what I can do for you please
visit my website www.tastybakingacademy.com.

Kerry Yacoumis
Copyright © 2020 Tasty Baking Academy | 1 |  www.tastybakingacademy.com
Survey
Q1 BEFORE LESSON

Q
Have you done any cake decorating or using a piping
bag before?

Cake decorating:

Using a piping bag:

A
From 1-10 How confident/ comfortable do you feel in

Q cake decorating or using a piping bag?

Rate from yourself from 1 -10 (10 being the most confident)

Cake decorating:

Using a piping bag

A
Copyright © 2021 Tasty Baking Academy | 2 |  www.tastybakingacademy.com
Table of Contents

CAKE DECORATING FUNDAMENTALS

4
PRESSURE CONTROL
5
BAG PLACEMENT & ANGLES
6
GETTING THE BAG READY
7
FILLING THE BAG
8
HOLDING THE BAG
9
PIPING LINES, STAR DROPS
10
ZIGZAG , ROSETTES
11
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT
12
TEMPLATES
13
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 Cake Decorating
Fundamentals
The fundamentals in cake decorating every cake
decorator should know.

1. Pressure control: The pressure that the hands are

squeezing the piping bag.

2. Correct Bag placement and angle: You will need to

know where to hold the bag in relation to your cake
product often called "clock face" and given a time
reference to point the bag or some time to start piping
or place a decoration. ( E.g. at 12 o'clock pipe the
rosette) and what angle the piping bag should be when
piping.
(This will be explained more in-depth on page 6.)

3. Icing Consistency: Is how thin or thick the

icing is. The standard terms are Thin, Medium, and
Thick.

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 Pressure Control
The most crucial key to master in cake decorating is
pressure control. Practising this will create muscle
memory, and it will become natural to you when
piping your designs.

Pressure control is knowing when to squeeze and

relax your hand to create flawlessly formed piped
decorations.

The other critical factors in cake decorating are

correct bag placement and the icing consistency.

Below are three types of pressure control you need

to master light, medium and heavy

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 Bag Placement and Angles
Bag Placement (Clock Face Concept)
In cake decorating we often talk about
a clock face and the time, this is in
relation to where we might hold the
piping bag or where we will place a
decoration.
Then this is paired with, at what angle
the bag is held at.
For example, to pipe the lines the bag
placement will be at
3 o'clock for right hands.
(9 o'clock for left hands).
Copyright © 2021 Tasty Baking Academy |
Bag Angles
The standard bag angles that you will
hear in cake decorating are 90⁰, 45⁰
and 60⁰.
90⁰ is straight up,
45⁰ is halfway between 0&90
and 60⁰ is halfway of 90 &45.
90⁰ Piping would include: Rosettes,
Bulbs, Star drops, S scrolls, C shapes/
scrolls.
45⁰ Piping would consist of: Shells,
Basketweave, Twisted rope,
Alternating Shells, Fleur-De-Lys.
60⁰ Piping would include
Lines, Zigzags, Teardrop, Snail trail.
6 | www.tastybakingacademy.com
 Getting The Bag Ready
Getting The Bag Ready
There are a few different types of piping bags out there, but mainly two
options. Reuseable and Single-use types.

If you are using the bag for the first time, you may need to cut the bag's
the pointy end (smallest end of the bag), if it doesn't have a hole to fit a coupler
or a nozzle tip.

To ensure that you cut the correct size hole, place the nozzle or coupler into
the bag, take note where the tip comes down in the bag and trim the bag just
past the tip to ¼ of the nozzle/coupler.

Trim bag up to the dotted lines

Start with trimming less off as you can always cut a bit more whereas you can
put it back if you have trimmed too much off.

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 Filling The Piping Bag
Filling the bag
Always check you have your nozzle tip in first!
(Even I have forgotten to double-check and believe me its messy procedure to fix this. )

You can fill the bag in your hand but beginners often find a tall cup can make
the process easier.

Peel the top of the bag over your hand or the cup.

This does two things

1. Protects the bag from getting dirty.
2. Gets the icing closer to the tip and keeps the top of the bag clean, without
icing spilling out from the top.

Only fill the bag halfway, this helps to control the bag easier without the hands
fatiguing, and it's easier to keep the icing in the bag while piping.

When the bag has been filled to the desired level, make sure your hands are
clean and lift the sides of the piping bag up and close the top of the bag.

Then slide the icing down towards the nozzle tip then twist the bag from where
the icing finishes sealing the bag.
(You put an elastic band/tie over the twist if you are not confident in keeping the bag twisted
while you pipe.)

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 Holding the Piping Bag

How to hold the piping bag

*The dominant hand is the hand you write with, and your less
dominant hand is the one you don't.

1. Grab the bag at the top and ensure the top of the bag
is twisted, so the icing doesn't escape.

2. The less dominant hand will be at the top, and the

more dominant hand is at the bottom near the tip.

3. The less dominant hand will be keeping the icing in

the bag while you are piping, and also holding the twist
at the top.

4. The less dominant hand is also pushing the icing

downwards to keep the bag tight so the dominant hand
can squeeze easily to get the icing out.

5. The Dominant hand will squeeze the cream and guide

the tip drawing designs with the cream. Just imagine
the piping bag is a HUGE pen.

6. The two hands work together to achieve decorating

designs.

You could use one hand to do all of this, but you will
notice your hand become fatigued quickly and begin to
shake then the piping quality is low.

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 Lines & Star Drops
INSTRUCTIONS
Piping Lines
You will need a star nozzle tip in the
bag to create this.
To pipe lines, the bag is at a 60⁰ angle
If you are righthanded, pipe from left
to right. (lefthanded if you have
trouble go right to the left)
Or you can pipe towards yourself, but
you have to position the "cake" to
allow enough room to do this to allow
the cream to flow neatly.
To finish the line, stop squeezing
then wipe the tip downwards.
Copyright © 2021 Tasty Baking Academy |
Star Drops
You will need a star nozzle tip in the
bag to create this.
The bag is to be at a 90⁰ angle.
Place bag close to the area but not
touching then squeeze the bag till it
is the desired size then you lift the
bag and stop piping after you have
started to lift the bag up.
This will create a pointed tip on the
buttercream star.
If you don't want a pointed tip.
When reached the desired star shape,
stop squeezing the cream out and
then lift the bag up but doing a little
wipe off on the icing to create a flat
top
10 | www.tastybakingacademy.com
 Zigzags & Rosettes
INSTRUCTIONS
ZigZag
You will need a star nozzle tip in the
bag to create this.
The bag is at a 60⁰ angle.
The process is the same as the lines.
However, you make a zigzag shape
with the cream.
The zigzag can be the same size, or
you can start small then big wide
then back to zig. Or you can begin
little then go big and stop there (you
could make tree shapes with
this design.
To finish the zigzag, stop squeezing
then wipe the tip downwards
Copyright © 2021 Tasty Baking Academy |
Rosette
You will need a star nozzle tip in the
bag to create this.
The bag is to be at a 90⁰ angle.
Essentially you will be drawing a
circle or a big e
Find the centre of the placement for
the rosette, place bag close to the
area but not touching then squeeze
the bag once the cream starts to come
out then draw around the cream in a
circular motion till you have the
desired rosette.
To finish: stop squeezing the cream
out and then wipe the tip-off along
the side of the rosette to create a
smooth end.
11 | www.tastybakingacademy.com
 "
PRACTISE MAKES
PERFECT.

Practise Makes Perfect

Practising your piping skills will not only create muscle memory; it will help
you gain confidence in piping different techniques.

I have some templates that you can use to practice on and refine in on the
piping techniques needed.

Print out the templates

Laminate the page (or place under a clear acrylic board, or put into a plastic
sleeve) will mean you can scrape off the icing and reuse it until you have
mastered the piping skill, without wasting any cake product.

Practice in these piping skills in this order.

1. Piping lines- Pressure control
2. Star drops
3. Zigzags
4. Rosettes
5. Cupcake template

Mastering the pressure control is critical to piping. Knowing how much

pressure to apply to the bag and when will help you immensely when piping
the decorations.

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Survey
Q1 AFTER LESSON

Q
How confident/comfortable do you feel in cake
decorating or using a piping bag?
Rate from yourself from 1 -10, (10 being the most confident)

Cake decorating:

Using a piping bag:

A
Q Which piping technique did you find the easiest?
Rosette Star Drops Zigzag

A
Q Which piping technique did you find the hardest?
Rosette Star Drops Zigzag

Q What did you enjoy the most about this lesson?

A
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 Want More Support?
NEXT STEPS

Did you like Buttercream Piping Basics?

Want to learn more about decorating with buttercream?

Put your name on the waitlist for Beginners Level- Buttercream Basics

What will be covered:

How to make buttercream icing and to colour the icing.
Basic Cupcake Decorating.
How to prepare a cake ready for decorating.
Covering a cake with buttercream and applying various techniques
to the sides of the cake such as Smooth sides, Combed sides, Rough
look, Piped decorations on the sides.
Writing on the cake.
Video tutorials to decorate piped decorations on cupcakes and
various cake covering techniques and more!

Join our email list by visiting our website Tasty Baking Academy to be the
first to be updated with the latest information.

Follow us on social media (links are below), to keep updated with any new
templates, checklists or courses.

come join the fun!

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 American Buttercream Recipe
Commonly abbreviated as: ABC

In baking, it is more precise to weigh the ingredients which will require the use of scales all my recipes
will be in weight measurements.

INGREDIENTS WEIGHT IN GRAMS

Group 1 (Dry Ingredients)
Icing sugar (Powdered sugar) 450g
Egg white powder (meringue powder) 10g
Salt 5g
Group 2 (Solid Fat Ingredients)
Creaming Shortening/Vegetable Shortening 190g
Group 3 (Liquid Ingredients)
5gm
Liquid Flavour
(Vanilla essences, Flavoured oils etc)
Water 40g-55gm
Water controls the consistency of your buttercream, as well as the (40grams If in Summer
temperature/seasons. If you want a soft consistency to add more 45-50grams if in Spring/Autumn
water. If you want a stiffer consistency to add less water. 55gm If in winter)

METHOD
1. Weigh up Group 1 (Dry Ingredients) and sift together.
2. Weigh Group 2 (Solid Fat Ingredients).
3. Weigh Group 3 (Liquid Ingredients). Remember that weather plays a huge role in how
the icing will behave. The ideal temperature is 24c/75f. If its colder add more liquids to
make it softer, and the opposite for hot weather add fewer liquids so the icing is more
stable.
4. Slowly start mixing the fat and dry ingredients, once the fat is in smaller pieces add
the liquids.
5. Stop mixer then using a bowl scraper, scrape all the ingredients from the bowl back
into the centre. (this ensures all the ingredients are thoroughly mixed)
6. Mix the icing a few more minutes to the desired texture, soft and fluffy (if you are
after more of a paste don’t mix it too long.)