How to Use Piping Bags, Tips and Couplers
A step by step tutorial on how to use piping bags with tips and couplers for piping buttercream frosting, pastry cream, and other fillings.
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Equipment
- Piping Bags, 12 inch and 16 inch
- Piping Tips, variety of sizes
- Couplers
- Scissors
- Rubber Spatula
Ingredients
- Buttercream Frosting, or filling of your choice
Instructions
- Prepping the Piping Bag. First, prepare your piping bag by folding the top half of the bag outwards. This is called a "cuff", and is helpful for covering your hand as you fill the bag to keep things less messy.
- Using Piping Bags without Couplers. If using a large piping tip, such as tip 1M or 2D, you can simply drop the tip inside the bag without a coupler. Use scissors to snip off the tip of the bag. Cut just enough so that the teeth of the piping tip are not covered by the bag, but not so much that the hole is big enough for the tip to fall through.
- Using Piping Bags with Couplers. If using smaller piping tips, or if you're planning on changing tips throughout the decorating process, you need to use a coupler in conjunction with the tips. Drop the larger part of the coupler inside the bag. Use scissors to snip off the tip of the bag. The bag should extend slightly beyond the coupler, but not so far that it will stick out of the tip when you place the tip on. Now secure the piping tip to the coupler with the coupler ring, and screw the ring on tightly.
- Filling Piping Bags. To fill the bag, you may find it helpful to place the bag inside a glass, with the top half of the bag folded over the edge of the glass. Once you're more experienced with filling piping bags with buttercream, you may not find this to be necessary. But I recommend using a glass for stability when filling a piping bag with soft, runny fillings, such as chocolate ganache, pastry cream, royal icing or caramel sauce.Use your rubber spatula, or a spoon, to spoon your filling into the bag, only filling the bag halfway. Press the filling down towards the tip, encouraging any air pockets to escape - this is called "burping" the bag. A little filling may push out of the tip if there are any air bubbles. Now twist the top of the bag to secure the filling inside.
- Securing the Top of the Bag. For runny fillings like pastry cream or royal icing, you may want to secure the top of the bag with a rubber band, as these fillings have a tendency to slip back up towards the top and spill out. With buttercream frosting, it's generally not necessary to secure the top with a rubber band, and twisting the bag at the top is sufficient to keep the buttercream moving downwards.
- Piping the Filling. To start piping, use your dominant hand to hold the piping bag at the top of the filling, where the bag is twisted shut. Use your other hand to help guide the bag as you begin piping. Squeeze the filling with your dominant hand, keeping the pressure as steady as possible, then releasing pressure when you want to stop piping. I find it immensely helpful to practice first on a plate or cutting board, before you begin piping on your cakes, cupcakes or cookies. After practicing, you can scoop up the buttercream and use it again. As you squeeze the filling out, pause to press the remaining filling down towards the tip, and twist the top of the bag again to get a secure grip as you continue piping.
- Refilling Piping Bags. When the bag is empty, or nearly empty, fold the top edge back out and fill the bag again as instructed earlier. Refilling a piping bag can be a bit messier than filling it the first time, but if you didn't overfill it to begin with, then the top half of the bag should be fairly clean, making the process less messy. Burp the bag again, twist the top and continue piping.
- Changing Piping Tips. To change piping tips, simply unscrew the coupler ring, remove the tip, and secure a new tip with the coupler ring.
- Setting the Piping Bag Down. If you need to set your piping bag down to take a break, you can lay it on your counter if it's filled with buttercream or frosting. If it's filled with something softer or runnier, you should set it inside a tall glass to prevent the filling from spilling out.
- Piping Striped Frosting. Prepare a 16 inch piping bag with a tip or coupler + tip. Fill 2 or more 12 inch piping bags with frosting, using a separate bag for each color. The more colors you use, the less frosting you should fill each bag with, since they need to all be able to fit side by side in the larger bag. Snip the ends off the smaller piping bags - no need to fit these with piping tips. Now drop the smaller bags into the larger one, trying to keep them all side by side. Twist the top and squeeze the frosting until the colors flow out of the tip side by side in a striped pattern.
- Piping Blended Frosting. Prepare your piping bag with a tip or coupler + tip. Use a spoon to randomly fill the bag with 2 or more colors of buttercream, so that the colors blend together as you pipe the frosting. You can also combine multiple colors in a bowl, gently swirl them together without over-mixing the colors, then fill your piping bag with the blended colors.
- Using a Double Piping Bag Method without a Coupler for Different Colors. Fit a piping bag with a piping tip. Fill 2 or more separate piping bags with different colors of filling. Snip the ends off the filled bags - no need to fit these with piping tips. Drop one filled bag inside the empty bag, and pipe your filling as instructed. When you want to change colors, remove the filled bag from the empty bag, and drop another filled bag inside the empty bag to pipe with that color.
Notes
If the heat of your hand starts to warm up and melt the buttercream or frosting in the piping bag, stick the piping bag in the refrigerator for a few minutes to firm it back up, then continue piping.
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