Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Three-Tone Frosting for Cupcakes.

I think you should make fancy cupcakes today. Don't you?

Or at least fancy frosting.
Maybe pipe it on a spoon and eat it straight for breakfast? Why not!
Let your hair down! It's summer! The three months of the year where it's socially acceptable to eat things like fried Oreos and cheesecake on a stick and chocolate chip cookies stuffed with s'mores.

And spoonfuls of red, white, & blue frosting.

For breakfast. Do it.
What's that, you say? Pie is the new cupcake? Nay. Cupcakes are the new cupcake. You know how I know? Because I made pie last week. And it was not fun.
Forgetting to add lemon to a lemon meringue pie? Not fun. Starting all over? Frozen pie crust that shatters in your hands as you try to unroll it?

Not.

Fun.

These? Fun!
I'm kind of proud of this one. It looks like a flag, no?
I giggled. Then I ate them. I froze them. Then I ate them frozen. And that's how it went.
Want to do it too? Here's how!

Three-Tone Frosting for Cupcakes


1 batch of frosting (I used this recipe for vanilla buttercream, but this is a close favorite too.)
1 batch of cupcakes, baked and cooled completely
4 separate piping bags
1 piping tip (I used a Wilton #1M tip for these cupcakes). 

1. Make your frosting. Actually... make your cupcakes. Allow them to cool completely, then make a batch of frosting and separate it evenly into different bowls, adding whatever color or flavor you fancy.

2. Fill a separate piping bag with each individual color, one color per bag. Don't fill them up too much... they all need to be able to fit into one piping bag in a minute. You can always come back later and add more frosting to each bag as you need it.

Twist the tops of each bag closed to prevent frosting from exploding out.

Trust me on this.

3. Place all three bags into a fourth piping bag fitted with a decorating tip. You may have to hold the ends closed and squish the frosting down the bag to make them long and thin like a hotdog so they can all fit.
Make sure all three colors are placed evenly in the bag, otherwise one color may come out more than the other, and twist the bag closed. 
4. Do a couple of test swirls until the frosting comes out evenly and smooth.
See how the frosting is mostly blue with a teensy bit of red? 
It should look more like this, with the colors mostly even. Yay! Let's do this.

5. Frost your cupcakes! 
Now go make your friends jealous with your awesome new piping skills. 

Comments (19)

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So cool! I would have never figured this out by myself. Can't wait to experiment with colors!
These look fantastic. The 4th is all about fun food that tastes good. I know the kids will adore these. Can't wait. Great tutorial.
I've done multi colors before but I stuck em in the bag together and let the colors run together. Never thought to put a bag in a bag! The cupcakes looks awesome!
I saw these on Tidymoms blog last year and was so enchanted... she really created a beautiful design for us all to mimick! http://tidymom.net/2010/red-white-blue-cupcakes/
Just found your blog - already bookmarked a few recipes! Can't wait to see what else you have you in store.
this is awesome! i've always seen this done in one bag and it gets pretty messy. i love your approach. i will definitely be giving this a shot. great post.
Jennie M. 's avatar

Jennie M. · 720 weeks ago

You. Are. A. Genius.
Thanks for sharing this awesome tip. I'm going to do some camouflage cupcakes for my outdoorsman obsessed nephew!
Thank you so much for this! I've been wanting to experiment with swirled frosting, but didn't know where to start. Great photos.
That is a really neat trick the frosting looks great!
FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I just LOVE your blog. You are a genius. I got so interested that I had to try it myself. BTW, Im only 10.
Bakergirl, where did you find these red and white cupcake liners? I need to find some for a movie theatre themed (popcorn boxes) party. Thanks!
AugustHaley's avatar

AugustHaley · 673 weeks ago

This is fabulous! Thank you for the great tip!!!! I am planning a jubilee party and this will be perfect!
These are so cute! I love this idea. Can't wait to try this technique. Thanks for sharing.
Sooooo cute!
Looks awesome, and sounds much easier to make than it looks!
Great tip, I've done this before but instead of using multiple disposable bags just wrap the separate colors in saranwarp cone shaped packets. Dust the main disposable bag with powdered sugar to help the frosting plasticwrap bunch just slide right in and frost away.
Thanks for sharing this awesome tip. I'm going to do some camouflage cupcakes for my outdoorsman obsessed nephew!
thnks for sharing

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