Happy Monday y’all! We spent the weekend in Texas and I have been saying y’all way too much since then 🙂 I’m barely recovering from jet-lag, a 4 am (Boise-time) flight, and coming home to a couple of sick boys. But we can’t ever leave you empty-handed (or is it “empty-posted?) especially on a Monday! So I wanted to share a quick tip with y’all (YES, I said it one more time.) I’ve been doing this lately and it’s been sooo convenient! I love to share a good tip when I find one; this one came from Karen’s Cookies.
There are a million options when you’re using piping bags. You don’t always need to use a coupler, and sometimes you can even just pop your frosting in a ziplock bag and toss it when you’re done. There are re-usable bags, disposable ones, or you can make your own with parchment. No matter which option you choose, when you start working with multiple tips, flavors, or colors of frosting, it can get a little tricky. I have to always think ahead of time, “okay, do I need to change the tip on this bag at any point? Do I need to use this tip on more than one bag? Will I need to wash this bag to use a different color? Etc. etc. This little trick is actually really handy. You can use one bag and several colors of icing and never even have to wash the bag! Check it out. Y’all. 🙂
After your frosting is prepared (this is a new chocolate one from our new cook book!) plop it right on a piece of plastic wrap, like so:
Wrap the plastic around your frosting, kind of like a log
And then take both ends and swing it like you would a jump rope. You know, a tiny little jump rope for someone who is 6 inches tall. The long ends of the plastic wrap with roll up tight like this:
I know. Weird, right? Watch this. Take one end of that frosting-jump-rope and string it right into your piping bag and through the tip. I’ve got a coupler in my bag so I can change tips with the same batch of frosting.
Pull it really tight, and then take a pair of scissors and snip that end off, as close to the coupler as you can get.
That’s it! Pipe away, and make beautiful cupcakes (I’m writing a whole huge tutorial right now about decorating cupcakes, and different frosting techniques, so stay tuned for more info on that!)
But here’s the coolest part. When you’re done- or if you want to change colors or tips, just pull the plastic-wrapped frosting out from the back end again:
There’s a little bit of frosting left in the tip, and all you need to do is remove the tip, or wipe it out. The bag itself is completely clean! You put it away to use again later, or fill it with a different color and be piping away again in a matter of seconds.
I thought that was a great little trick and if you work with frosting a lot, you’ll quickly find how useful it is! Enjoy your Monday, and make sure to eat a cupcake. Words of wisdom: weeks that start out with cupcakes are always better than weeks that don’t. Make sure to check in on Wednesday- I’m going to show you tons of behind-the-scenes fun from our weekend trip to Texas!
This is a great tip! I’m always switching bags and tips and there’s always a huge mess! I can’t wait to try this!!!
When I saw Karen’s video, I was absolutely blown away. I had to show my husband because I was so excited. He looked at me like I was completely bonkers. And then when we decorated our son’s birthday cake a few weeks later and used the technique, he was converted. BEST IDEA EVER. I’m so glad you’re passing this along to everyone!
LOL@Husband thinking you were bonkers!! I showed a few corworkers and my husband the video… All I can say is, MINE too!! They just don’t understand… but they sure do when the mess isn’t there to clean up, and the finished product is on the table in front of them!! Here is the link to Karen’s tutorials and video, too: http://www.karenscookies.net/Cookie-Decorating-Videos_ep_73-1.html (hope it’s ok to post!)
This is brilliant!
That’s amazing! Thanks for the tip!
You are so smart! I LOVE it! It actually makes me want to go make frosting right now and try it out!
I love this idea! I always use the disposable bags, but this makes it super easy to change colors. Love it! Love it! Love it! Thank you!
I HATE washing piping bags so I usually use the disposable ones, but LOVE this tip! Also, enjoyed seeing you this weekend in Arlington and thought you should know something I’ve learned after a few years in TX: “Y’all” is singular and “All y’all” is plural. 🙂
Haha, good to know!
actually, y’all is short for you all, so it is plural. all y’all is for five or more. southern drawl not required, lol.
Seriously brilliant…I’ve actually foregone piping when I last made such a mess that I ate almost all the frosting because it kept oozing out of the bag. Thanks!
I was in Arlington at Time Out for Women!! I was so excited to listen to y’all speak. However, I woke up with my back killing me. I took Tylenol hoping it would ease the pain. When we got to the conference center, I made it up two stairs and couldn’t go any further. It hurt so bad. My mom ended up taking me to an Urgent Care facility and I miss the whole conference Saturday.
My sister and her friend were able to attend all day Saturday and told me that you guys amazing. I’m glad that they at least got to attend so they could tell me about the highlights of the day! Thanks so much for taking time out of your schedules to come to Texas and be a part of Time Out for Women.
Oh my josh!!! I just love y’all. I’ve followed y’all for a while now and this is my first comment (I think?). Anyway this is worth commenting on! I would only decorate wedding cakes because of the bags and color mess! Thanks for expanding my world. I’m off to make your toffee bars from a couple of days ago. I might add for the 2nd time! Last night for the family, today for the patients who I cook for everyday. I’m a chef at a rehabilitation center. Thanks always!
That’s awesome! Thanks for sharing…
AWESOME! I’m getting ready to decorate my daughters birthday cake and cupcakes this week. This could not have been more perfect timing! YEA!
I can’t wait to try this! I wonder if you could put several different colors in plastic wrap that way, put them in the same bag, and do swirly frosting. Hmmmm.
Yep, you could absolutely do that!
I just did this with snack sized ziploc bags last weekend but I didn’t think of plastic wrap. Either way, it works great!
Great tip! Looking forward to the tutorial you are working on!
I love this tip. I used to work at Cookie Bouquet and this was how we did it there. We would make saran wrap rolls of every color and when we ran out of one, we’d just pull the used cellophane icing roll out of the bag and pop in a new one. It saves tons of time and money.
Also, I discovered your blog just about two weeks ago and am basically obsessed. Your creamy chicken taquitos have literally changed my life. Every meal for this week is from your site. I can’t wait to try more of them. Cowboy Quesadillas tonight!
What a fantastic tip! Never will I fight an icing-covered spatula again as I try to fill an icing bag. Can’t wait to try this. Thank you for sharing!
Such a clever trick! I’ll have to try this the next time I make frosting. 😀
oh. my. word. Brilliant! I love cake decorating, but usually forgo the piping bag all together unless it’s a special occasion. It’s such a mess and hassle. But THIS! This changes everything! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Great idea!
Could you add a “pin it” button to your posts?
That is soooooo brilliant! Thanks for sharing.
That is genius!! Thanks for the awesome tip!!
Brilliant! I’ve used Ziploc baggies before, but this is much, much better.
This is pretty smart! I would have never thought to do it this way 🙂
BRILLIANT!
I would have never thought of that. This IS a nifty idea. Thanks for sharing
Best tip ever!! I can’t wait to try it! I have two little ones at home with me all day, so anything to save time and frustration is a definite plus! I always buy the disposable bags but hate buying them for every project because of multiple colors, so now I might invest in a good bag and some plastic wrap! Awesome tip!
You are a genius! I have all these canvas piping bag s without po!y lining. I was looking for directions on how to coat them inside This technique with the plastic wrap will work perfectly. Thank you so much!
friggin genius!
What an ingenious idea! Will come in handy for the upcoming birthday season! (my boys birthdays are only weeks apart from each other!) Thanks so much!
This is a great trick! Thanks for the tip! I want to take the rest of that chocolate frosting and just squeeze it right out to eat ha ha.