How To: Decorate cupcakes using different techniques

Pastry Chef Anne Heap demonstrates how to use a pastry bag, as well as techniques for decorating cupcakes. Frosting a cake or cupcakes with a pastry bag is much easier than using a knife. The bags come with many different styles of tips. Just choose the tip you want to use, fill the bag with frosting, squeeze to apply the frosting, pull up and let go.

Once the frosting is on, the cupcakes can be decorated in various ways, including dipping them into shredded coconut and adding ornaments. It's easy to make cute ornaments out of fondant, which is an edible sugar dough. Just roll the dough out thin and cut out the design with a cookie cutter. Or you can roll the fondant into balls and form it into shapes.

When decorating it’s best to keep it simple, remember that less is more. If you keep the cake all one color mistakes won’t be noticed. Cakes or cupcakes are much more impressive when displayed on a special cake plate or a tiered stand.