Learning To Pipe Decorations Buttercream Or Royal?
Decorating By banba Updated 27 Jan 2009 , 11:30pm by banba
I want to teach myself how to pipe swirls, shells etc.
Should I use royal icing or buttercream to start off or does it matter?
Theres great tutorials on Wilton and would anybody know of anymore places to look on the web for teaching myself how to pipe and/or have any hints and tips?
I would start with buttercream. It's easier to work with, plus it's "reusable" if you don't like what you've done so far. RI starts crusting after you pipe it so you can't reuse it.
You may want to purchase the Wilton practice mat set to start out. It has pages for the various things that you'll want to learn. They use this in the Wilton classes and it's wonderful.
I would start out with buttercream, simply because you can use it over and over for practice purposes. Wilton has a practice recipe for buttercream which will allow you to adjust its thickness so that you can practice flower making, borders, or writing. Royal icing would dry out too quicky to be practical for this purpose. Have fun!
I personally don't ever use royal icing...it gets too hard. I use buttercream all the way. I have a clip on youtube, making 10 borders with buttercream, using only a #17 tip. You can use other sizes tips if you don't have a #17....any of the star tips would work....17, 18, 22, ....
I have some videos showing basic and some more advanced techniques, just click on the link in my signature 
I haven't tried royal, I love buttercream!!
Serious cakes I have watched your video clips many times, keep them coming!
I would love to master a little piping with royal icing as I feel the fab cakes you see that are all royal iced and intricatly piped are the real true works of art, craftmanship and dedication.
But I love all the other forms of cake decorating too and all the cakes here!
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