Kay, if it helps, I STILL do crappy cake writing! If there were no such things as letter presses, none of my cakes would have any words on them at ALL!

I can do layers of stringwork galore .... but can't convert those strings into a pretty "Happy Birthday" to save my a$$!

I'm new at cake decorating... like just 2 months into it and I love to pipe so I practice a lot just cause I enjoy it.

If you play piano then you know that it takes 2 weeks of practicing atleast an hour a day on that Beethoven 5th to be able to get through it all with minimal mess ups then you know that it'll take more than one practice to get good at piping!

I know I need a lot of piping, but finding the time to do that is difficult. I will continue to practice, though, and see if I can improve.
IndyDeb, it was heartening for me to hear that you still struggle w/ letters and words. I still can't do the piping of lines, either, so I have it all to learn!

OMG....I SUCK too!!!! I try to avoid it as much as possible, and if I have to pipe words I do it in all capitals, that is easier. I too need to practice and did some the other night. But OMG.....I SUCK!!!! That is why I love fondant and stay away from buttercream.

It's so heartening to hear that I'm not alone! I bought one of Toba Garrett's books, and she shamed into knowing I need to learn piping skills. sigh....... So, I must practice, practice, practice. I finally got the shell border down to an acceptable level, so that's a start. I suck at making dots with a bag, as they all have umbilical cords. And my letters....total crap!

I am not a fan of fondant at all. I only use it for accents on a cake. Buttercream to me seems to be the challenge and I love the challenge. I havent mastered piping either, but I keep trying. In the meantime, when it needs to say Happy Birthday - I roll out a fondant ribbon and write it with my pens. Has worked thus far with no complaints.

Happy practicing and dont give up.

When you folks say you have trouble w/ piping, do you always mean writing letters? What about swags, dots, and everything that comes out of the frosting bag? I have a challenge with much of it....

Kaymc - I cannot write on a cake at all - my handwriting is very neat - but it refuses to come out of the bag in the same fashion.

I just did my first cake with BC roses and they were fun, as were the leaves. However, I have a friend that has been doing cakes longer than me and the kind criticism were things I could not see and wouldnt had he not pointed it out. I am ok with dots, and things of that nature, but according to him - I have some practice with larger borders - taking a knife and pointing my leaves for my roses - things of that nature.

Now - for an individual that doesnt decorate cakes, they think it is just lovely and perfect. Makes me feel great, but I am my own worst critic.

We just need to practice together.

Took a class on string work and drop string...didn't look bad at all on my dummy cake. Only problem...when I try at home...well, lets just say someone else needs to make my Royal. Have NEVER found the right consistency to duplicate my dummy cake. Hubby beginning to think I stole someone elses dummy cake!

If your dots have umbilical cords, I think you're still squeezing as you're pulling away. When I first start piping dots, I go very sllloooowwwlllyyyy. I literally squeeze, stop all movement, check that I'm not still squeezing the bag, and then pull away.

I have found I do better work when I go at a snail's pace. There's a lot to remember when piping- when to squeeze, when to stop, bag position, etc....


For writing practice, I have used chocolate in a disposable bag. I printed off several phrases in different fonts, taped that to the table, taped waxed paper over it, and piped onto the waxed paper. Toss some chocolate chips or candy melts into a disposable bag, nuke it, mush it around to finish melting, clip a bit of the tip of the bag off, and pipe away. If your chocolate is too warm, it will be too thin so you may have to let it cool a little first. When I'm done practicing, I throw away the waxed paper and let the chocolate harden in the piping bag. When it's hard, I put it in a Ziploc baggie, ready for another day.

My piping sucks too. I just can not get the hang of it at all. It is rubbish even doing dots!!!!! they just dont come out the same size!
Thankfully I live in the UK where fondant rules and if someone asked for a BC cake I would be amazed just not a big thing over here thank goodness cus if someone asked me to cover a cake like a lot of you guys do in BC I would be on here crying lol (well ok not really I would just say I dont do BC)

I would however love to be able to spend more time practising it as I am sure that is the answer but it is one of those things I am going to do one day when I have time

In my years of "practice" that is what it takes. Make sure your arms/elbows are tucked against the side of your body to steady yourself. I think sitting down helps. Elevate your turntable with some cake dummies to get it to eye level when working on the sides of cakes. Always steady your piping hand with your other hand gently touching the bag. It is like a counterbalance to your piping hand.

When I train new employees, it takes a couple of months to really gain control and master the bag....and that is working at it EVERYDAY, for hours!

A good decorator needs to know how to pipe IMO!

I seen this on a show once if you are just piping words or lines you can use one of those medical syringe that you give kids their medicine in. You can find them at your local drug stores. They come in different sizes. It could help you at least practice till your comfortable with piping.

Don't feel bad, I can't pipe for beans either. I love working with fondant anyway.

THAT'S MY QUESTION, TOO! I googled a search for templates for piping, but came up empty handed. Is there anything out there?

I. Suck. at. piping. too. Take a look at my two photos, and you'll gag! Practice makes perfect like people say!

Try this site:

http://www.wilton.com/classes/wmstudents/practice-sheets/DecoratingBasicPracticeSheet.pdf

It has the templates.
HTH

You're welcome. Glad I could help!

I, like some have mentioned before, practice on wax paper or a mat, etc. Pick what you want to pipe and keep piping and wiping until you can master it. But it will take practice. But, eventually you will get it and then you will be so happy when you can pipe with confidence. Good luck.

Print out a comic book page or some clip art and put wax paper over it, tape the whole thing down and pipe over that. Voila -- instant templates! Great for practice!

This thread makes me want to start practicing on piping! I think I've been subconsciously afraid to try it so I stay away. But when I see the beautiful cakes posted on here with the awsome scrollwork, I always think I should just start practicing...then I don't follow through I am definately going to make it a point now. I am scared that I'm going to suck though. I've never made royal icing and all I see posted here is how bad it tastes so I think I'll stick to buttercream if that works for people.

I also suck at piping. I've tried so many different ways and the only thing I've improved is my swear word vocabulary I saw a great youtube video (found it from this site) where the guy said the same things as some people in this thread - to use a piping bag small enough to fit your hand (like a pen) then use the index finger of your non-writing hand to press against the piping bag in your writing hand to steady it. Then when you are doing trickier curvier letters, scroll work you should move the bag upwards and it will make it easier to manipulate the icing into the trickier curvier shapes - I'm going to try it when I am in a less stressed mood

Another thing I did when I first started (and REALLY need to do again) is take the cake pan, flip it over and pipe the whole thing with decorator icing. That's like using a super inexpensive dummy to pipe and the nice thing about the decorator icing is you can reuse it til the cows come home -- it never goes bad!

That's what I hope to do this weekend, bobwonderbun. It's so difficult to find time to do this with working, and it seems I try to catch up on everything on weekends.

This topic makes me feel so much better that I am not alone! I need MAJOR practice, which is whatI will be spending my day tomorrow doing...LOL

What I can't figure out is how to pipe on the sides of a cake. I always get strings of icing drooping or not sticking where it should be. Grrrrrrr.