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| After enrobing cupcakes in chocolate, use open tip No. 10 to pipe simple dot flowers. |
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| Ice cookies with warm fondant, and use buttercream to pipe flowers on top. |
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| Create color in your showcase by piping several different types of flowers on the top of cupcakes. |
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| Use open tip No. 12 to pipe a blue octopus and open tip No. 6 to pipe a green and yellow striped fish. |
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| Create a bouquet of heart-shaped balloons by piping two teardrops with open tip No. 10. |
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| Pipe a border using star tip No. 20 and a triple "e," reverse triple "e" motion. |
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| To save time, pipe all of the features of the clown's face with open tip No. 12. |
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| Match the colors of the dog and balloons to the candy bits in the cookie. |
Decorated cupcakes and cookies have become very popular in the past few years. Some specialty bakeshops dedicate their entire product line to them. Cupcakes are wonderful individual servings that can be offered at any event, even wedding receptions. Whether your establishment is devoted entirely to cupcakes and cookies or is a traditional bakery that has decorated cakes, the following ideas are sure to appeal to your customers.
The chocolate enrobed cupcakes are bound to be a hit with party hosts and guests alike. After baking the cupcakes, invert and enrobe them with melted chocolate fudge icing. Allow the icing to set before decorating. I piped a simple, colorful dot flower on each cupcake using open tip No. 10. Use tip No. 352 to add the leaves.
Cupcake flowers
The flower cupcakes are somewhat fancier than the enrobed ones and should be priced accordingly. Begin by base icing the tops of the cupcakes. Then add large, individual colorful flowers. For a daffodil, use flower tip No. 125 to pipe five petals in a clockwise motion. Pipe an open bell shape next with open tip No. 6. Add a lacy effect to the top and stamens with tip No. 3.
Pipe the purple wild flower and the red poppy in the same clockwise motion as the daffodil petals using flower tip No. 125. The centers of each are different, however. For the poppy, use open tip No. 3 to pipe yellow squiggles. Use tip No. 6 to pipe five yellow dots in the center of the wild flower.
Pipe a yellow and pink peace rose using flower tip No. 124. To achieve the variegated effect, stripe a pastry bag with the pink icing and fill the remainder of the bag with yellow icing.
To create a chrysanthemum, stripe a pastry bag with pink and yellow icing. Then, use u-shape tip No. 143 to pipe seven layers of petals. For a gardenia, pipe a row of five petals in a clockwise motion using flower tip No. 125. Then, add a second row of five petals on top and in between the first row. To create the center, hold the large end of the tip against a flower nail and pipe a corkscrew pattern. To finish all of the flowers, use leaf tip No. 352 to add the leaves.
Creative cookies
Other popular individual desserts are 4-in. and 5-in. cookies. After baking, ice the cookies with warmed fondant icing and decorate with traditional buttercream icing. To pipe a sunflower, use leaf tip No. 68 to create the petals. For the other "fantasy" flowers, pipe the petals in a clockwise motion. Use flower tip No. 104 for the pink flower, star tip No. 22 for the white flower and open tip No.12 for the red flower.
Seashore designs can be another fun motif for cookies. Use open tip No. 12 to pipe a blue octopus. For the fish, stripe a parchment bag with green and yellow icing, and use open tip No. 6.
Larger cookies also offer many design opportunities. A 9-in. heart cookie is great for birthdays and other occasions. You do not need to ice the entire cookie top. It will still look nice, and it saves labor. For the balloon bouquet, use a No. 104 flower tip held with the small end away from you to create a pink ruffled border. Pipe a white shell border with a No. 17 star tip on the outside edge. Pipe two teardrops using open tip No. 10 to make heart-shaped balloons. Add the inscriptions and streamers using open tip No. 3. Finish by piping a pink bow using No. 104 flower tip.
Simple flowers on a vine are another idea for a heartshaped chocolate chip cookie. For the border, use star tip No. 20 and a triple "e," reverse triple "e" motion. Sprinkle heart-shaped sugars on top. For the vine, use open tip No. 3 and leaf tip No. 352. Add pink flowers using flower tip No. 104 held in an upright position. Use open tip No. 12 to pipe the red center.
Well-rounded designs
Large round cookies also are ideal desserts. The goofy clown in red, white and blue appealsto all ages. Use open tip No. 12 to pipe all the features. Try varying colors for the clown.
A figure piped blue dog and balloons create another all-occasion cookie. I used a cookie with candy bits and matched the dog and balloons to the candy bits. Pipe the body of the dog with open tip No. 12. Start with a large teardrop body. Next, pipe a smaller teardrop for the head. Add the ears and tail using the same tip. Pipe the legs and paws next. Switch to white icing and use open tip No. 10 to pipe the muzzle. Add the whites of the eyes using open tip No. 5 and the smaller features in black using open tip No. 3. Pipe the red tongue using open tip No. 3. Add the balloons using open tip No. 12, and add streamers with open tip No. 3. Pipe a white shell border with star tip No. 22, and sprinkle colorful sugar dots on the border to match.
These colorful cupcakes and cookies will attract customers and enhance your decorating department.
 | Use open tip No. 12 to pipe a large teardrop for the dog's body and a smaller teardrop for its head. |
 | Use the same tip to add the ears, tail, legs and paws. Use open tip No. 10 to pipe the white muzzle and tip No. 5 to pipe the whites of the eyes. |
 | Pipe the smaller black features and red tongue using open tip No. 3. |