When icing with a BC swirl and leaving the edge un-iced, is there anything to do to keep that area from drying out and getting hard? Brushing with a sugar syrup, maybe??

I just try to do it as last minute as possible...keep the cupcakes wrapped until ready to ice, and then box up for delivery the next day.

I sold my cupcakes in upside down clear cups with lids as their bases. This really helped to keep them moist. Depending on how many you are doing you could keep them in cups.

When I do the swirl, I take it right to the edge, covering all of the top of the cuppie. This is how we were taught to do it at Publix (not that all the other decorators did it correctly).