Get creative with colour when piping buttercream

Colour block buttercream

• A batch of buttercream (225g butter, 450g icing sugar, 2 tbsp milk)
• Pink food colour paste
• Disposable piping bag
• Star nozzle 1

Two tone colour edge icing

• Paint brush
• Wilton 1M nozzle or equivalent
• A disposable piping bag
• Palette knife
• Some claret food colour paste
• Buttercream (as above)
• 1 clean bowl

Colour block buttercream

1

Take ½ the buttercream and colour it with your chosen colour.

2

Open the piping bag and insert the nozzle.

3

Fill one side of the bag with the natural buttercream and carefully spread down the bag to the nozzle. Using a palette knife push the icing downward to keep it to its half.

4

Then place the coloured buttercream on top and carefully squeeze the bag down, squeezing out the excess icing until both colours come through. You are now ready to pipe.

5

To decorate a cupcake like the one pictured, pipe from the middle outwards then build up a second circle on top working back towards the middle.

6

Finish in the centre with a push down.

Two tone colour edge icing

1

Place the nozzle into the piping bag and using a food paint brush, paint the inside of the bag with the food colour paste. Fold the bag over and do a little at a time. Once you're happy with the covering, flatten and squeeze upwards to spread the colouring in the bag. Continue until ¾ of the piping bag is coated.

2

Drop the natural coloured buttercream into the centre of the bag up to the food colour line and gently squeeze down the bag. Squeeze out the excess until the colour starts to come through. You're now ready to pipe.

3

To pipe a rose, squeeze down gently in the centre of your cupcake to release a flower effect, then overlap this working in an outward circle, overlapping every circle, until you reach the edge of the cake where you gently push down to finish.

4

If the bag needs refilling, start from step 1 again.