...a set or individual tips?  If individual tips, which tips?

I’m ready to try decorating. I also want to pipe batter into cupcake pans.

Any recommendations would be appreciated.

Flour Girl - 24 February 2013 12:01 PM

...a set or individual tips?  If individual tips, which tips?

I’m ready to try decorating. I also want to pipe batter into cupcake pans.

Any recommendations would be appreciated.

Hi Flour Girl,

You can get a variety of sets out there that range from just a few pieces up to around 50 or so. If you plan on really getting into this you might consider getting the 50-piece set, but for the sake of economics just getting one of the smaller sets, or just a few pieces to start off with might be a better idea. As far as Ateco vs Wilton, I’m not sure one is better than the other. I have some of both and I have not been disappointed by either of them. I can’t remember who told me this, but I someone once told me that they are not necessarily the same size between the two brands even if they have the same number. I can’t say for sure, though, because the Ateco and Wilton tips I have are not the same number.

If you decide to start out with just a few individual tips, then deciding which tips to get is really up to you and depends on what type of decorating you want to do. If you go with this route I might suggest that you start out with a few round tips, star tips, basket weave tips, and rose petal tips. For the round tips you might want sizes 2, 4, 12, and possibly the 230 (this one is handy if you’re filling cupcakes or eclairs with a filling like a pastry cream or jam). For the star tips you might want to start with 22 and 1M. For the basket weaves a 47 is a good one to have. And for the petal tips maybe start out with a 104. These are all Wilton numbers I’m using here. Having these on hand will give you some of the tips for some of the more basic decorating patterns and it’s a good start to a collection if you don’t want to invest in a large set all at once. There are many more tips to get, so it’s entirely up to you what you want to put in your collection, of course.

As far as piping batter into cupcake pans, that will work, but what I prefer is to use an ice cream scooper (the type with the handle you squeeze and it has the metal piece inside the scooper that scrapes the ice cream out of the scooper like this one: http://www.usefulthings.com/shop/kitchen&bar;/ice-cream-scoop.php). I use a 2-oz scoop for cupcakes and I have found that to be the perfect amount of batter for cupcakes. It also helps ensure that each cupcake has the same amount of batter and each one will be the same size instead of having some small ones and some larger ones. But just like the decorating tips, it’s up to you to decide what you want to use.

Anyway, I hope this helps. Good luck deciding on what to get and I hope you enjoy learning how to pipe decorations. It’s a lot of fun!

- MP

Thank you for that excellent information. There is a store near me which sells individual tips and kits. I believe they are Wilton. I will make a list of the numbers you recommend and see if they are part of a kit or I will get a few individually to start with.

At this point I don’t know what I want to do other than finish the cake with a presentable look.

That is a very nice scoop. I will pick one up too.

Thank you so much. Your advice pointed me in the right direction.

No problem, Flour Girl. I forgot to mention that you might also want to purchase a flower nail if you want to pipe any type of flower decorations like violets, apple blossoms, or roses.

Hmmm, I’ve seen them in tip kits but have no idea what to do with it

I don’t do a lot of piping, but I love the polycarbonate tips because they give a much more three-dimensional shape.  Also, they come out of the dishwasher beautifully, without bent prongs.  If you go that route, you might want to get the tips first and then see what sort of pastry bag set-up works with them, as the ones I have have a ridge at the base which keeps them from working universally with all pastry bags. 

Here’s an old post where I used the Matfer polycarbonate tips and farther down the discussion, give links to online sources:  http://www.realbakingwithrose.com/index_ee.php/forums/viewthread/3281/

And here’s a link to Hector’s blog, where he uses a different brand of polycarbonate tip:  http://myyellowkitchen.com/2010/04/10/yellow-08-butter-cupcakes-page-295-–-perfect-cupcake-closeup/

Flour Girl - 25 February 2013 08:33 PM

Hmmm, I’ve seen them in tip kits but have no idea what to do with it

There are several videos on the youtube showing different flowers that can be piped using a flower nail. Here are two that show a couple of tricks to give you an idea. It also shows the poster using somee of the templates Wilton makes for the nail to use to make piping a little easier.

piping roses: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoO93QzhmWk

piping violets: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zq4IyZQu-X0&list=PLB96DCBD73B471502&index=3

Julie - 26 February 2013 11:14 AM

I don’t do a lot of piping, but I love the polycarbonate tips because they give a much more three-dimensional shape.  Also, they come out of the dishwasher beautifully, without bent prongs.  If you go that route, you might want to get the tips first and then see what sort of pastry bag set-up works with them, as the ones I have have a ridge at the base which keeps them from working universally with all pastry bags.

This is great information. I should have mentioned this in my post, but since I have the stainless steel tips I didn’t even think about it. But Julie makes some great points here. I have had to spend a little time reshaping some of my tips after they have been bent out of shape.

Julie - 26 February 2013 11:14 AM

And here’s a link to Hector’s blog, where he uses a different brand of polycarbonate tip:  http://myyellowkitchen.com/2010/04/10/yellow-08-butter-cupcakes-page-295-–-perfect-cupcake-closeup/

Hmm, it seems Hector may have removed that post or his site is having some sort of problem because when I tried to check it out it said the item I was looking for could not be found. Dang, I was really hoping to see that. I love reading his posts.

Wow! That is very cool. I had no idea how those flowers were made. Thank you for all this great information. I havea a llot of studying and video watching to do. I appreciate your help.

Sorry about the link!

If you go to Hector’s site and search for “polycarbonate tips”, it is the second choice in the search results, the one for yellow butter cupcake close up.

Julie - 26 February 2013 11:14 AM

I don’t do a lot of piping, but I love the polycarbonate tips because they give a much more three-dimensional shape.  Also, they come out of the dishwasher beautifully, without bent prongs.  If you go that route, you might want to get the tips first and then see what sort of pastry bag set-up works with them, as the ones I have have a ridge at the base which keeps them from working universally with all pastry bags. 

Here’s an old post where I used the Matfer polycarbonate tips and farther down the discussion, give links to online sources:  http://www.realbakingwithrose.com/index_ee.php/forums/viewthread/3281/

And here’s a link to Hector’s blog, where he uses a different brand of polycarbonate tip:  http://myyellowkitchen.com/2010/04/10/yellow-08-butter-cupcakes-page-295-–-perfect-cupcake-closeup/

Julie, I’m sorry I didn’t answer you sooner. For some reason I didn’t see this post.

I’ll check these tips out. They sound wonderful.

As MJ noted, Hector’s link didn’t open for me either.

May I ask which bags you use?

Julie - 27 February 2013 01:38 PM

Sorry about the link!

If you go to Hector’s site and search for “polycarbonate tips”, it is the second choice in the search results, the one for yellow butter cupcake close up.

Thank you! I will check it out! 

Julie - 27 February 2013 01:38 PM

Sorry about the link!

If you go to Hector’s site and search for “polycarbonate tips”, it is the second choice in the search results, the one for yellow butter cupcake close up.

Julie,  Do you recommend getting all polycarbonate tips or supplementing with some Wilton tips?  Those tips are spendy.

FG, if a polycarbonate set meets your needs then that can be one way to go, but as my needs are minimal I only bought a few of them.  The quality difference is most noticeable in the larger star-shaped tips, for instance the ones that you use to make a swirl on top of cupcakes.  That is where the 3D shaping is most noticeable.  Plain round tips or petal tips have little advantage in polycarbonate, except perhaps resistance to bending out of shape (but you can bend the metal tips back into shape if that happens, and it doesn’t happen very often). 

You don’t need any polycarbonate at all if metal seems easy, inexpensive and a good fit for your priorities.  I never would have bought them for my first set of tips- I wasn’t really sure how much I would end up using them, so my first set was an inexpensive cupcake decorating set from Wal Mart, and I still have and use some of those tips.  But now it always makes me pleased when I can use the poly tips because I like how the swirls look

Another thought- a local party supply store here sells the metal tips individually, so I know I can go there when a specific need arises.

Haha! I was looking at that cupcake set last week! I totally agree.  I would like a few polycarbonate tips and the others Wilton tips. Good idea about the party store. We have a party store and 2 hobby stores in the neighborhood. I will supplement the Wilton tips and get a special polycarbonate when the need arises.

Thank you so much

Hector’s site has a lot of good information.

I found this video there of Rose demonstrating how to use a piping bag. Very informative

http://myyellowkitchen.com/2010/03/10/1695/

Julie - 26 February 2013 11:14 AM

I don’t do a lot of piping, but I love the polycarbonate tips because they give a much more three-dimensional shape.  Also, they come out of the dishwasher beautifully, without bent prongs.  If you go that route, you might want to get the tips first and then see what sort of pastry bag set-up works with them, as the ones I have have a ridge at the base which keeps them from working universally with all pastry bags. 

Here’s an old post where I used the Matfer polycarbonate tips and farther down the discussion, give links to online sources:  http://www.realbakingwithrose.com/index_ee.php/forums/viewthread/3281/

And here’s a link to Hector’s blog, where he uses a different brand of polycarbonate tip:  http://myyellowkitchen.com/2010/04/10/yellow-08-butter-cupcakes-page-295-–-perfect-cupcake-closeup/

It appears as though Hector was using Paderno’s tips. His piping is incredible!

http://www.amazon.com/Paderno-World-Cuisine-Assorted-Polycarbonate/dp/B007MXPX5U/ref=sr_1_6?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1362067651&sr=1-6&keywords=polycarbonate+tips