Baking and Decorating Tips

Below are some delicious tips and tricks to help make your National Cupcake Day™ a success! Have fun!

Baking Tips

Ensure all ingredients are at room temperature (eggs, butter, milk, buttermilk).
Weighing ingredients on a digital scale is the most accurate way of measuring.
Cream butter or coconut oil and sugar (for approximately 5 minutes) until pale and fluffy.
Whisk dry ingredients together before adding to wet ingredients.
Always start with dry ingredients when alternating with wet ingredients (3 dry additions, 2 wet).
Don’t over mix once dry ingredients are added. Mix on low speed until incorporated.
Always wait for the oven to reach the correct temperature before baking.
Use the middle rack in your oven and rotate your cupcakes or cakes halfway through baking.
Remove cupcakes from pan immediately after baking and place on a wire rack for cooling.

Make sure your cupcakes are cool before icing them.
If you don’t have piping bags you can use Ziploc bags instead. Use scissors to snip off a small V-shape (to imitate a leaf tip), M-shape (to imitate a star tip) or a plain cut from the corner.
A small spatula is a handy tool for spreading icing on cupcakes. If you can’t find one then a regular knife can be substituted.
To make multi-coloured fur for cute animal cupcakes, hold your piping bag (or Ziploc bag) open and spread a thick line of each of 2 colours of frosting up opposite sides of the bag. Fill the bag down the centre with a third colour (if using).
Thin chocolate wafer cookies make for great dog ears - they can be cut to shape with a serrated knife.
Candy such as jelly beans, M&M’s, mini chocolate chips and marshmallows make great eyes and noses.
Semisoft and pliable candies such as tootsie rolls, caramels and starbursts can be moulded, rolled and cut into tongues and ears.
Rolled fondant can be rolled thin and cut into shapes with small cookie cutters (e.g. dog bone, animal shapes). Let them dry overnight and place on your buttercream covered cupcake.