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The Best Piping Tips for Every Bake
• Lynsey Macdonald
Every piped design, from simple swirls on cupcakes to intricate detail on larger cakes, relies on the right piping tip. And with so many options on the market, it can be tricky for bakers to know which will work best! In this handy guide, we’ll outline the best piping tips for every bake, helping you pipe your designs with confidence!
Summary table/Jump to:
The Best Piping Tips - Quick Guide
Building your “Universal Language” Kit
Efficiency with Couplers - How to Avoid the “pop off”
Piping Tip FAQs
The Best Piping Tips for Every Bake (Our Quick Guide!)
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Project Type |
Best Product with Tip Number / Style |
Why You Need It |
|
Cupcakes (classic Swirl) |
1M Open Star Piping Tip (available from Wilton and Colour Mill) |
For a simple cupcake swirl, an open star piping tip is perfect. It allows you to achieve that classic peaked frosting with just a couple of swirls of the piping bag. |
|
Cookies / Royal Icing (flooding or small detail) |
Decorating with royal icing requires precision. So a narrow, round piping tip gives you plenty of control, whether you are flooding a cookie or creating more intricate decorations. |
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|
Buttercream Roses |
#2D Drop Flower Piping Tip (available from Wilton, Colour Mill and PME) |
For that classic rose shape, a drop flower piping tip is just what you need. It creates that soft swirl with petal-like edges - similar to an open star but a little less sharp. |
|
Flower Petals |
#125 Petal Piping Tip (available from Wilton and Colour Mill) |
A petal tip is specifically designed to give you that soft, rounded petal edge. You can layer them one on top of the other to really build your flower. |
|
Leaf detail |
Wilton 352 Leaf Piping Tip / Colour Mill 353 Leaf Piping Tip |
Leaf piping tips are perfect for getting a realistic leaf shape, whether you’re layering them with flowers or using them as detail alone. This tip will give you consistency that is hard to achieve using any other shaped piping tip for leaves. |
|
Shells |
An open star tip helps you achieve the clean lines you need for a piped shell/shell border. This tip allows you to create the definition of a shell, with clear ridges and a fanned out shape. |
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Lettering / slogans |
For clearly defined lettering, go for a fine line piping tip. This style keeps the letters really narrow, resulting in a cleaner message which is easy to read, no clumpy edges or blurring of letters! |
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Grass or Hair |
A multi open piping tip is so much fun when it comes to creating hair or grass texture. It’s quick, thanks to the number of small holes in the tip, meaning you can quickly and effectively create your design without fiddling around with individual hairs at a time. |
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Bows |
Trust us, a leaf piping tip can create the cutest bows for your bakes! We have a full tutorial on the viral bow trend, showing exactly how this works. |
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Ruffles |
Ruffled borders are a really popular option for Lambeth cakes - a specifically designed Ruffle Piping Tip can help you achieve that pretty, vintage style with ease. The defined shape of the piping tip does the hard work for you. |
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Basket Texture |
Creating your cutest basket designs has never been quicker than with a basketweave piping tip. It flawlessly creates that iconic criss-cross shape for you, without you having to layer individual lines. |
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Larger dots, columns and lines |
A clean, round piping tip is your best friend when you have longer lines, larger dots or bubbles to create. These do come in a variety of sizes, so be careful to select the right option for your design. |
Building Your "Universal Language" Piping Kit
When starting out on your piping journey, it can be tempting to buy a bulk set of piping tips. While these can be great further down the line, they don’t offer the flexibility to choose the shapes that you need.
As a beginner, it’s important to select each individual piping tip with a purpose, building up your collection with nozzles you’ll actually use. As you develop your skills, you’ll come across lots of different options that each fit a particular project.
What is the universal language of piping in cake decorating?
Once you start exploring piping tips, you’ll notice common numbers appearing across brands. These numbers are codes associated with the different sizes and shapes of piping tips and are usually marked on the side of the piping tips themselves.
For example, the 1M is a large Open Star piping tip, and you’ll find a 1M in the piping tip collections of Wilton, Colour Mill, Ateco and more. Similarly, a 2D is consistently a medium-sized Drop Flower tip.
The great thing about this universal language is that it makes it so easy to follow almost any online tutorial without guessing which nozzle the creator is using! Just saying “open star” or “round” could mean any size - these allocated numbers help you know exactly what size is required.
How to best store piping tips
If you are not organised, storing your piping tips can become chaotic the larger your collection grows! We recommend buying a dedicated, slotted tip organiser case to house your essentials.
This not only keeps them safe and dry (minimising rusting) but also means you can quickly access the tips you most often need without rummaging through a drawer!
Efficiency with Couplers: Avoiding the "Pop-Off"
A piping coupler is a handy tool which allows you to easily switch piping tips on one bag of buttercream. Ideal for piping different shapes in the same colour! The coupler is made up of two parts:
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The base of the coupler, which goes inside your piping bag.
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The ring which the piping tip goes in - this is then screwed on to the base from outside the bag.
Some beginner bakers experience the dreaded “pop off” when they try to begin piping. This is when the coupler and piping tip literally pop off the end of the bag! The most common reason for this is that the hole that’s been cut in the piping bag is too big.
To stop this from happening:
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Make sure you have picked up good quality piping bags - cheap bags can also be to blame for the “pop off” phenomenon.
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Cut a very small amount from the bottom of the piping bag - you can always cut more but you can’t stick it back on!
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Place the base of the coupler in and ensure that only the very end is sticking out through the hole in the bag. If it isn’t showing, cut a tiny amount more from the bag - just enough to make room for the end to show.
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Choose your piping tip, attach it to the piping bag and base with the coupler ring, and you’re ready to pipe.
Piping Tips FAQs
What are the best piping tips for beginners?
For starting out, we recommend buying a round tip (for borders, dots, lines and writing), an open star tip (for stars, swirls and shells) and a drop flower tip for flowers and softer swirls. Take our handy quiz to find the piping you need for your project.
Do I need a large tip or a small tip for cupcakes?
A larger piping tip, like the 1M nozzle, is best for cupcakes as it means you can effortlessly create a classic shape with just a couple of swirls of the tip. You can more easily create a beautiful, seamless swirl with a larger tip.
Stainless Steel vs. Plastic Piping Tips: Which is Better for Beginners?
Stainless steel piping tips are a better choice for beginners than plastic piping tips for a number of reasons.
It can be tempting, as a beginner, to prioritise pricing. However, going for the cheaper option can often cost you more in the long run! Here are a few reasons to invest in metal piping tips over plastic, even as a beginner.
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Stainless steel piping tips do not bend, making them more secure to work with.
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Metal tips are easier to clean than plastic ones - any grease or colouring will come off more quickly.
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Plastic is cheaper in the beginning, but stainless steel is a lot sturdier, making it better value long term. The stainless steel will last a lot longer.
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There are more options, generally, when it comes to stainless steel. Some styles of piping tips are less commonly sold in plastic because the material is less sturdy.
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Stainless Steel Piping Tips |
Plastic Piping Tips |
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|---|---|---|
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Price |
More expensive to buy up front. |
Cheaper to buy up front. |
|
Ease of use |
Chunkier but stable, generating nice clean lines. |
Lightweight but have the potential to bend during use. |
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Ease of cleaning |
Easy to completely clean and dry. |
Difficult to get completely free of grease/colourings. |
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Longevity |
Will last for years. |
Short-term use only. |
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Shape options |
Most metal styles are easy to find. |
Some styles are less common e.g. basketweave |
Let’s find the perfect piping tips for your project!
We hope this guide has helped boost your confidence when shopping for piping tips, helping you know exactly what you need for each cake project. Don’t forget to share your photos with us! We're at @the_cake_decorating_co, and you can use the hashtag #CakeDecFamous so we never miss a post.
And, before you go, check out this video from our friend Judit at @yoras.cakes, showing just how different the effects are from a range of piping tip shapes.
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