I need to make a ton of dots on a cake, in two days, but can't seem to get them perfectly round without a peak of some sort... any help welcomed!!!!!

HELP..................................!

The trick is not in piping on the dot, but in going through afterwards with either powdered sugar or water on your finger tip and gently patting in the peak.

i have seen people do dots without peaks but it baffles me. A majority of people make the dots then go back with their finger or a paint brush and "push" the peak down. It's the best way i've seen itt done.

As you pipe the dot, you want to start with your tip slightly above the surface of the cake. As the icing builds up slowly allow your tip to move with it, but be sure to keep the tip slightly buried in the icing. When your dot is to size, release all pressure, bring the tip to the surface, and then I like to do a "swirl" with the tip as I pull away. Some people just swipe the tip off to the side. Does that make sense? It's kind of hard to describe in writing!

I'm with Cindy on this one. You want to making a circular motion with your tip against the icing before pulling away to help your icing break off and not form the peak.

Now if you get in a hurry, like I often do, then the cornstarch trip is a good one.

That's an excellent description, as I was reading it, I could picture it happening in my mind. Can't wait to try it.

I was thinking about this last night, would you use the same technique to pipe lettering? I piped 'happy birthday' onto a cake, and had the peak problem. Would it work the same way, or is there a different technique?

Yep - similar technique (the only difference is that you don't really bury the tip in the icing as you pipe). Just keep in mind - when ever you don't want peaks you need to make sure you release pressure completely before moving tip away.

I have also let my 'dots' crust up and just press them with my dry finger after they have crusted over. I do this often for the bass border on a cake.

here's an example:
http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1780989&sub=1780993

i dip my finger in some corn syrup and go over the dots gently once they crust.
HTH

On a similar topic, can anyone help me with a piping problem?  When I want to pipe a super fine line (or letter) with royal icing, it always comes out of the tiny opening curled up - even if I keep my tip on the surface of the cake.  What am I doing wrong?  (I hope it was okay to ask on someone else's board - I'm not really sure how this thing works yet.)  Thanks for any help!

Jan

I get the same problem, Jan. I'm interested to see what others recommend.

Switch brands of icing tips. I bet you are using Wilton brand, which are notorious for "squirrelly" lines, especially on the very small tips. Something to do with a seam in them although I have never seen a seam in my Wilton ones. Try to get smaller tips made by PME, they're much much better.

AI tend to be a bit spastic with my fingers so I will sometimes use a toothpick to fix any peaks in my dots...or my paintbrush

AI find that thinning my royal icing helps to avoid the curlies.

Thanks for the tips on changing icing tips & thinning the royal icing.  I'll give it a shot & let you know how it works out.

Jan