Back to the Basics: Star Tips

Ok, so yesterday we went over the round or writing tips, and today I have some star tips to show you. They're called this because....they make stars! How easy to remember is that? I have quite a few sizes and that's great for when I do cupcakes. You won't want to use the largest size on mini cupcakes, and it'll take for ever to frost jumbo cupcakes with the smallest star tip. The smaller numbers are logically the smaller tips, but the triple digit numbers will use a larger weight pastry bag (a 16 or 18 usually) and the double digit numbers will usually use the smaller weight pastry bags (12 or 14).

Tips #16, 24, 74, 822, and 828

I use the 822 and 828 for doing cupcakes and larger cake borders, and the 16, 24, and 74 for flowers, stars, and small borders. A good tip to remember when making stars is to keep the pastry bag at 90 degrees, put the tip to the surface then squeeze, and lift directly up. For flowers, do the same except for twist about 15 degrees before lifting up for a more 3D petal effect.

Practice on some wax paper to get it right before trying it on your cake. But, if you do make a mistake, it's super easy to fix, just get your spreader/scraper/flat knife and gently lift the edge of the mistake. It should pop right off!

Have fun playing!