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!
Questions & Reviews
What a great tip! I would’ve never thought of that. It would definitely make my life in the kitchen a lot easier. Thanks for sharing, Sara! I might try this on my next baking project, so I don’t have to always throw out or wash my Chefast icing bags (which I got on Amazon) after each use.
Using a parchment paper is also an attractive option for me… the less plastic, the better for the environment… do you think parchment paper will work for the trick you shared?
You can always try it! If you do, let us know how it goes! 🙂
This is such a great hack! I use disposable bags for filling body butter samples but this is a fantastic idea! Thanks for sharing!
Wish I had seen this this morning before I decorated my daughter’s birthday cake! Icing was all over me. Lol! But now I know for next time. And with 4 more birthdays coming up I’m definitely going to try this. Thanks for the excellent tip! 🙂
Thank you so much for this!!!
Dear lord when I saw this on Pinterest I could have sworn it was a tampon and almost died so thank God its not
What a great tip,,I will be trying this one. I was wondering what piping tip you have fitted in the coupler in your demo pics, it gives a nice swirl..
This is by far the best tip I’ve seen for piping! I am NOT a baker I can Cook pretty good but never mastered the art of baking however my 12 year old granddaughter loves loves to bake I feel so bad she’s learning from me or maybe I’m learning from her anyway she is getting pretty good does better when I leave her to it and just help with the oven etc. but piping she has such a hard time with never works like she wants and I always end up having to push the old school way of frosting with a good old flat knive. We’ve tried so many piping bags & tips only to have wasted frosting and messy looking cupcakes cakes cookies until she masters the art of piping this tip saves me so much messy cleanup! Love it thank you
this is such a good idea~~thanks, cheers
I’m another soapmaker who wants to use this wonderful tip for piping soap frosting onto my soap cupcakes, LOL! Since I am just now seeing this post, have you completed your tutorial and, if so, where can I find it?
Thanks!
I attach a coupler and frosting tip on the corner of a ziploc, press out the air, seal it up and toss the bag when I’m done. For thicker frosting, I use a quart freezer bag so the seems don’t bust while I squeeze out frosting.
I know. . .what does soap have to do with cupcakes. I get that a lot. I use bags and frosting tips to make soap cupcakes. LOVE this idea for adding design. This tip will help save me a lot of time cleaning up.
Thank you! I hope to find transparent bags as shown – would make it easier to see the end of the wrap, but I was able to pull it through my medium star tip just using a toothpick. Sure cut down on the mess of filling a bag!
A.W.E.S.O.M.E!!!!!!
Thank you for this much-needed tip! xoLexie
Great tip! I recently tossed my piping bag because cleaning it was such a pain. I generally opt for freezer bags, which haven’t failed me yet, but I’d sure love to be able to reuse them. Thanks!
ADOREI A IDEIA
The cling wrap ripped open as I was spinning it and I got frosting all over my clothes, my kitchen, and my living room. =[ No mess piping bag, mess everywhere else.
OMG this tip is amazing!!!!! Thank you so much. Why isn’t it more well known!
I think you just saved my life (and tons of time!) I’m getting ready to do two cupcake weddings and I’m going to be icing the cupcakes on sight. I was going to buy like 10 giant disposable bags and either 10 big couplers or 10 1M tips and probably have to take other batches of icing and a spoon and I was worried because of probably not actually having a kitchen facility available to me at either venue so I’d be covered in icing, etc. I’m going to go with a couple of bags and a couple of tips and a bunch of little icing logs! I’m am SO excited! This was my biggest concern and now it’s not a concern at all! You are truely a genius! I’ve got some icing left from a tasting that I can practice with – I can’t wait!
Genius!!!
This is the coolest idea every. I’ve been frosting cakes for years & never has seen this. How great is that. No more messy bags. Love it. Thank you so much.
Thank you so much for that trick , I actually started a cake decor class today , hate a mess, so from now on , now I know this trick I shall be using it , hey ho my new silicone bag will stay clean . Thank you again xx
Awesome idea! I’ll definitely be doing this next time I need to pipe something! Re-usable piping bags always look terrible even after I try to clean them! Chocolate stains like no other!
OMG!!!! This could have save me so much time and trouble cleaning bags from all the years of decorating that I have done.This is truely one of those moments you say why didn’t I think of this!
THIS IS GENIUS!!! I’ve been racking my brain for months to try and find a way to make the whole icing thing easier. This may have just saved my life and future business!
LOVEEE THIS TIP!!!
I can’t wait to use this technique! I’m making 3 cakes next week and it will surely be so messy, but not anymore with this genius idea. Thank you again for sharing!
You just rocked my world with that one…..
Brilliant, super neat, hate wasting, thank you thank you thank you!!
Awesome tip! Last time I had more than one colour to use I got in a right mess and wish I’d known this before! 🙂