Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Tip: The Best Tip EVER for filling a pastry bag!!

Edited on 7/17/11: Enter to win a copy of Hello Cupcake book HERE!


Since Mother's Day is coming up this weekend and some of you might be making cakes, cupcakes or cookies, I thought I would share this great tip for filling a pastry bag with icing (either buttercream or royal icing). I've been using this technique now for a few months and have managed to save a ton of $$ on bags and just made things a lot easier on myself.

Here is how it work:

You need a plastic pastry bag, tip and coupler.

You also need plastic wrap

First step is to cut a sheet of plastic wrap.

Then, plop some frosting right in the center.

Starting on one side, carefully roll up the frosting. Another great thing about using this method is that the plastic wrap hugs the frosting and eliminates air pockets.

Now, twist both ends tightly.

Pull back the pastry bag and insert the plastic wrapped frosting.

Gently pull the plastic wrap taut.

Snip off the excessive plastic wrap at the base of the coupler.

Screw on the tip.

Add a pastry bag tie thingy if desired (but not necessary)

TADA!! You are now ready to pipe and frost.

When you are done, clean up is a breeze. Simple remove plastic wrapped frosting and save or discard. Wash the frosting tip and rinse out the pasty bag if needed. Mess free....got to LOVE it!!


Source: SweetSugarBelle

56 comments:

  1. What a great idea!! No matter how careful I am, I always get frosting all over the top of the bag, so when I pipe I always get frosting all over my hands. Thanks!

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  2. I am so happy you posted this helpful tip today. Itty bitty's 3rd birthday is coming up in June and I've decided to give my best attempt at making his cake. I've seen the fondant work you've done and am envious. I want to be able to create works of art. Do you have any advice on fondant or any other cake decorating tips? If you get some free time I'd love an email from you. Thank you!

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    1. I know I am way late but if you make fondant out of Marshmellows, it is 10x better tasting. E-mail if you need any help.

      irepadidas@yahoo.com

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    2. You smashed it!! This is such a good idea. I can never fill the pastry bag 'neatly'. This method should save me a lot of mess. Thanks for sharing.

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  3. Great tip- I hate throwing away all of those bags!

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  4. Hi Pretend!
    I'd love to help in anyway I can. My email address is mbrandao0508 at gmail.com

    Happy Mother's Day to you :)

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  5. Love this tip. Will definitely try this next time!

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  6. great tip. I only have one bag so this would make changing colours so much easier.

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  7. Great tip. I'm from Argentinca, can you give me please the recept of this frosting? Thank you so much. Erica!

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  8. Greetings Eriquilla!
    My fav. frosting is Swiss meringue buttercream but the one pictured in this post is a classic American-style buttercream. Here is a recipe:
    http://chefmommy-brandao.blogspot.com/2009/11/vanilla-buttercream-frosting.html

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  9. I think this would be great for multiple colors as well.

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  10. this is most excellent! Thanks for sharing!

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  11. OH MY GOODNESS!!! THANK YOU! I refuse to even try decorating because when I did in the past I HATED, HATED the cleanup! LOVE THIS! Thanks so much!

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  12. This literally changed my life...lol :)

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  13. I just saw this on pinterest and wanted to thank you for the greatest decorating tip I have ever seen (and I've been around a long time!) Thanks, thanks, thanks for sharing!

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  14. I agree...You have totally changed my life! Thank you!

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  15. This is such a great idea!!!! Can't wait to use it! I usually have such messy hands trying to get the coupler out of the bag. Thanks for sharing!

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  16. I just saw a picture from this post over on Pinterest and I'm so glad someone pinned it! I'm just getting ready to ice some cookies and this is going to save me a lot of cleanup (which I HATE) - thanks for the awesome idea!

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  17. Saw this on Pinterest also. This totally rocks! I wasted so much LESS frosting and cleanup was easier! I could even switch bags, from a large tip bag to a small tip one, just by wrapping another piece of plastic around the original. The only change I made was to knot the back end; thereby, preventing end blowout.

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  18. bleepin' brilliant! thank you for sharing!

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  19. Thank you so much for this tip! I`ll try it soon.
    Alicia (Deli Cupcakes / Uruguay)

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  20. Sweet Jesus, thank you for sharing this awesome tip!

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  21. I love this idea. I love to decorate, but hate getting the tips and couplers clean. Definitely gonna try this!

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  22. I am trying this out next week when I make some cupcakes for a friends Halloween Party. I have usually opted to the canned frosting because I have never had good results with a pastry bag - but am making the frosting myself so I figured I better learn at some point! Thanks! :)

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  23. OH MY GOODNESS, if I had you right now, I would give you the biggest hug ever, I am loving this idea and I am going to try it next time I decorate a cake, better yet, I have some icing, i might just try it now. awesome idea!!! Sherry I only use anonymous because I don't know how to do it any other way(i don't have a account with any one)

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  24. There's an easier, less wasteful way to do this. Put a piping bag inside a tall vase or cup, fold the edges over the edge of the vase or cup, and spoon frosting in. No having to cut and waste plastic wrap.

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  25. Anon-
    Yes, that is my other tip for filling a piping bag. That tip is more about the ease of filling a bag than it is about being wasteful. You will save a lot more $$$ by wrapping the frosting or royal icing in plastic wrap first. The price of piping bags is far greater than plastic wrap. You will be able to reuse your piping bags over and over if the frosting is wrapped. If you just fill it with frosting you will need to dispose of the bag afterwards.

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  26. Just used this tip-one of the smartest tips EVER! So thankful people are still willing to share their knowledge!
    Thank you so much! Alice

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  27. Oh my Goddess!! Where was this when I needed it two weeks ago?! Fantastic tip. I look forward to using this in the future.

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  28. Will this work with royal icing? I hate trying to use the parchment triangles, but supposedly it's bad to use the plastic pastry bags for royal icing. Don't know why though.

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  29. Elizabeth-

    YES!!! It works beautifully with royal icing.

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  30. Just tried this making deviled eggs. Success!

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  31. OMG! ty for sharing this. gonna try it

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  32. Wish I had this tip when I was taking the wilton courses ... I would make the icing at home, and put in a plastic container, then at class, i'd scoop out of the container into my re-usable bags. I hate the cleanup at the end of the night. Brilliant, just briallant!

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  33. Oh my gosh! I can't even believe this!! That is amazing!!! Because the icing always gets all over I hate piping and try to avoid it at all costs! But not anymore!!! Thank you so much for the wonderful tip!
    gatheredinthekitchen.com

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  34. Honestly, I think this is a waste of plastic wrap--and a waste of frosting (so much gets thrown out with the plastic wrap!). Use Michael's coupons to buy a few *re-usable* Wilton's Featherweight bags (I've had mine for going on 7 years now)... Yes, you'll need to wash them out afterwards, but honestly, it's not that tough, and plastic wrap is horrible for the environment. Just my two cents.

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  35. This is not a waste of frosting at all! This is the easiest method for saving extra frosting that I have found. If you like featherweight bags (they are more expensive than the disposables) and don't mind the clean-up then this method won't apply to you. As for plastic wrap being horrible for the environment...well, I do use plastic wrap for other kitchen purposes (keep food fresh!) and for this it uses a very small section of wrap.

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  36. Great idea! I always get it all over everything, and you can make some nice color patterns this way

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  37. I just have to say THANK YOU! I used this technique the other night and it worked great. Will never go back to putting the frosting in the bag by itself.

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  38. Just saw this on Pinterest and I am so excited! Cleaning Wilton Buttercream frosting out of those bags is the WORST! I am definitely doing this from now on! Thank you!!!

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  39. I can hardly wait to try this idea. Thanks so much!

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  40. Love this idea! Can it be used with two colors?

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  41. Brilliant! I will never fill a pastry bag the old way again!

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  42. I learned this method on karenscookies.net and it is wonderful! It makes cleanup a breeze and it is so easy to switch colors and still use the same bag.

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  43. Who knew??? Thanks for sharing, Linnea!

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  44. Have you used this method for doing double icing too? When you want to pipe 2 colors at the same time? Thanks. Kim :)

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  45. Kim,

    I haven't yet but I imagine it could work well....worth a try I think.

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  46. I have reusable piping bags and love them. However this tip was awesome when I needed to just pipe a smile on. Saved so much frosting and was able to change colors so easily. Thanks!

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  47. i love youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!!!!!!!

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