Hi guys, I've gotten accustomed to doing a simple icing swirl on all of my cupcakes, but I need to do a smooth buttercream finish so I can pipe onto cupcakes I'm making. What's the simplest way? Heat the buttercream up a little in the microwave and dip the cupcakes in? It just seems like that only gives a sparse covering of buttercream. What do you guys recommend?

And no, I'm not trying to do poured fondant this time. Thanks!!

Ice them by hand (or gloved hand, if you prefer).

Get a scoop of buttercream in your cupped hand. Pick up the cupcake with the other hand and put the top of it near the "iced" hand. Twist the cupcake one turn while pressing the icing on, and it's done. Two seconds per cupcake, including the time it takes to pick one up and reload your hand!!!!!!

Wow, it's THAT easy to get a smooth surface on the cupcakes?

I was even thinking of trying the upside-down method, but that seems like an awful lot of work for cupcakes!

Hello, have a pot of boiling water near by. Place your utensil in it & hold a few secs. Dry and lightly smooth across frosting-should work like a charm. Joni

Thanks for all the suggestions guys!! And yes, like someone else who posted, I'd love to see pictures of cupcakes you've iced!

I take an ice cream scoop, the same size I have used for dishing out the cupcake batter, and fill with icing. Put it on the cupcake. Tap the cupcake on the work surface so the icing adheres properly. Wait for it to crust. Use a high density foam paint roller (that has never been used for painting!) and gently roll the icing into the shape you want. It's the Melvira method for cupcakes, but only works for a crusting icing. I do this when I am icing cupcakes which will then have fondant tops on.

Would a rolled buttercream work? Roll out the buttercream, cut with a circle cutter, and lay it right on. (I brush the cupcake with a little simple syrup to make sure it sticks well).

I'll definitely have a go next time I'm experimenting with cupcakes - thanks!

If you're using a crusting buttercream, a high density rolling could be used after letting the frosting crust slightly. It's fast and easy .

You could put a non-slip mat on a turn table, and stick the cupcake in the center, and use a tip 1D, and spin the table while squeezing the bag, while holding the tip to the edge of the cupcake. set it aside, then do the next one. Keep it up until you get a few dozen, then go back and pat it with a Viva.

AI piped a large dot of buttercream icing onto the centre of the cupcake using the Wilton tip #12, creating a mound of icing. I did this to all 24 cupcakes. Next I cut a square of parchment paper that fit on top of the cupcake with a little overhang. I put the paper on top of the cupcake and gently pressed down while smoothing the icing out to the edges, repeating for all cupcakes. I let this crust a little, maybe 15-20 minutes and then I repeated the smoothing process with a fresh piece of parchment paper. This time only gently smoothing all over to get rid of any ridge. I am basically a self taught 'icer' with only the basic Wilton course under my belt and this method was very easy! I'm a quicker the better kind of decorator! Hope this helps - I looked for a while and came up with this idea on my own.