How to Decorate Cupcakes- The Basics
In this video, you will learn the basics of how to decorate cupcakes beautifully.
We'll show you how to create swirls of frosting with various tips, simple buttercream flowers, how to stripe a piping bag, how to inject cupcakes with fillings, and more!
Use these beautiful cupcake decorating techniques using your favorite cupcake recipes. Some of our favorites are our Oreo Cupcakes, Vanilla Cupcakes, Lemon Cupcakes, Coconut Cupcakes and Chocolate Cupcakes. Make sure to check out our full listing of cupcake recipes!
Table of Contents
Materials for Cupcake Decorating
We used our Fluffy Vanilla Buttercream Frosting Recipe- our Classic Vanilla Buttercream is a great choice also!
In the video, I am using the following piping tips:
Wilton2D or 1M for the ridged swirl or buttercream rose swirls
Wilton 21 for a smaller ridged swirl/design
Ateco 808- huge round tip (for smooth swirls or a quick way to frost your cupcake before smoothing)
Wilton 12- Medium sized round tip (same use as above)
104 petal/ruffle tip
Viva Paper Towel (the smoothing technique that we demonstrated used this brand of paper towel which has no quilting or impressions).
For even more on the Viva Paper Towel Method of Smoothing (especially for decorating cakes rather than cupcakes) check out our free video: Viva Paper Towel Method of Smoothing
Favorite Cupcake Recipes
We have so many more cupcake recipes and cupcake decorating tutorials for you to try! We'd love to hear from you if you give any of these techniques or recipes a try!
Enjoy the Video
Thanks for stopping by! We hope that you enjoy this cake decorating tutorial and find some techniques you'd like to try! Let us know if you have any questions in the comments below!
If you are looking for more videos on buttercream piping techniques, check out our videos on How to Pipe with a Star Tip, How to Pipe with Ruffle & Petal Tips, and How to Pipe with Round Piping Tips!
Are your liners that you use (the ones you gave the link to) grease proof? I have to spray my liners with Pam to make sure the wrappers come off without pulling the cake off so I'm just checking.
Love love love your site!!!!
Hi Amber, no they are not grease proof. We haven't had that be a problem. Does that just happen with certain recipes ?
Thanks for your nice comment about the site.
I seem to have to do it with my moister recipes and I got so worried that it would happen on an order that I just do it all the time now. I wish I didn't have to though because it makes the liners look ugly. Any suggestions?
Hello. I love the video and I learned so much from it. Please let me know if you can recommend a high ratio density butter cream recipe that will be good to use to do the amazing flowers. I will really appreciate your recommendation.
Hi Luz, you could use the High Ratio Frosting recipe from the recipe section. You should be ready to pipe these flowers as the recipe is written. However, if you find it to be a little soft for the lift you want on your flower petals or leaves just a little more confectioners' sugar. We have also piped these flowers using the all butter, Classic Buttercream recipe and the Fluffy Vanilla recipe.
Hi. Sorry if this has been answered but can’t find anything.
But yesterday I had to bake a few batches of cupcakes for today and had to decorate them as well. Both batches of cupcakes were decorated with Swiss buttercream so I put them in an airtight container in the fridge… But when I served then today some of my cupcakes were not as moist as yesterday and were quite dry. How do you guys store your cupcakes… Both decorated and not decorated.
Hi Avril, when we make cupcakes the day before we plan to serve them we place in a bakery box or under a cake cover. We do not put them in an airtight box because sometimes this will cause the cupcake wrappers to loosen and pull away from the cupcake. The cupcakes we bake for future use are frozen and are good for probably 2 months. We place as many as we can on a cake board or paper plate, wrap in plastic wrap and then in aluminum foil. If you are worried about the plastic wrap sticking to the tops of the cupcakes, you can put the cupcakes in the freezer about 15 minutes then cover with plastic wrap.
We don't refrigerate the cupcakes.
Love the tutorial.!!
Thank you for this great video. You are so clever the way you did the two toned icing. I have just bought a Wilton kit to do two/three tones, I should have thought to look here first!
Thank you, Diane! Happy that you like the video! ;0)
Would these cupcakes dry out if I did them the evening before to serve the next day? They are so darling!
Hi Terri- Glad that you like them! If the cupcakes are frosted, they will not dry out. ;0)