The Basics of Cake Decorating

There are three basic types of decorating bags: disposable decorating bags, featherweight pastry bags, and parchment paper bags.

In the next few sections, I will describe the three types in more detail, and explain some of the pros and cons of each type.

These bags are lightweight and strong. They are made of polyester. They are coated to keep grease from seeping through. These bags can be used over and over again, and stay soft and supple.

These bags are made of clear plastic. These are my favorite because they are so handy to use, and when you are finished with them, you just throw them away. This makes cleanup much easier.

Parchment bags are made from triangles of parchment paper. These bags are usually not very large, and are best for doing small details. It is best to get a new bag for each use, and discard when empty. Couplers don't work well on these bags.

Couplers are a wonderful asset to any cake decorator. They enable you to change tips on your bag, without having to change bags.

Unscrew the ring from the coupler, and place the coupler inside your bag. Then, add the tip to your bag. Slide the ring over the tip and onto the coupler and tighten. This will secure your tip to the bag and hold the bag on the coupler.

Couplers work very well with with featherweight and disposable bags. Not recommended for use with parchment.

If you have a new featherweight bag, you will need to trim the end for the coupler to fit. Unscrew the ring and push the coupler tightly in the bag as far as it will go. Take a pencil and make a mark where you want to cut. You should only have about one ring of the coupler showing in a properly trimmed bag. Remove the coupler and trim your bag, but be careful not to trim too much off, or your coupler will not stay in your bag while you are decorating.

Disposable bags should also be trimmed to accomodate a coupler and tip, but you don't cut as much off of one of these bags as you do on the featherweight. Disposable bags stretch a little more, so cut as little as you have to.

To change tips, simply unscrew the coupler ring and replace your current tip with the new one. Then screw the ring back on and tighten.

Icing Consistency

If the consistency of your icing is not right, your decorations will not turn out right. If you feel your icing is too thin, add a little more confectioner's sugar; if you feel your icing is too thick, add a little more liquid.

Stiff icing is used for roses, figure piping and stringwork. If icing is too thin, flower petals will droop. If it's too stiff, petals will crack.

Medium icing is used for decorations such as stars, shell borders and flowers with flat petals.

Thin icing is used to ice cakes, and for decorations such as printing and writing, vines and leaves. To thin icing, add small amounts of the same liquid used in the recipe (usually milk or water) until the icing is the right consistency for spreading.

Filling Your Bag

Fold down the top of your bag to form a generous cuff. Hold the bag underneath the cuff. Add icing to your bag, careful not to overfill or icing may squeeze out the wrong end while you are decorating.

Unfold the cuff and twist the bag closed, pushing the icing down into the bag. Make sure you have released any trapped air in the bag by squeezing some of the icing out of the tip back into your bowl, aka as "burping" the bag.