Guest Barbara Green shows how to make an Easter bunny, basket and tree using simple icing piping techniques.
Materials
spatulas
bowls
decorating bags
couplers
round piping or writing tips, #3, #6, #12
star tips, #16, #18
grass tip #233
leaf tip #352
basket tip #46
paste food coloring
royal icing
buttercream icing
cake, cupcakes, cookies or gingerbread to decorate
Icing Tips
- Fit a pastry bag with a coupler according to the package instructions. To fill the bag, fold down the top edge of the bag, making a cuff for your hand. Place icing in the bag, but don't fill more than 2/3 full. Unfold the top edge and squeeze icing towards the tip, twisting the top of the bag closed so that no icing escapes.
- Figure piping is a method of making animals with icing. There are three basic shapes in figure piping: ball, teardrop (also called shell) and oval (figure A) .
- To make a ball: Fit a coupler with a #12 round icing tip. Holding the bag perpendicular to the icing surface, squeeze with heavy pressure (figure B). Stop the pressure with a tiny circular motion, which will prevent a pointy top on your ball.
- To make a teardrop or shell: Using a #12 round icing tip, hold the bag at a 45-degree angle to the icing surface. Squeeze with heavy pressure to allow a build-up of icing similar to the ball. As you pull away to form the pointed end of the teardrop, lessen the pressure (figure C). This will form the classic teardrop shape.
- To make an oval: This is a combination of the teardrop and ball. Begin making a ball. Squeeze harder as you pull towards what will be the center of the oval. As you come to the end of the oval, lessen the pressure, then stop squeezing with a tiny circular motion to round the end (figure D).
Piping the Bunny
1. Using white buttercream icing and a #12 round tip, pipe a teardrop about 1-1/2 inches long for the bunny's tummy.
2. On each side of the rounded end of the teardrop, pipe long oval legs, each about 1-1/2 inch long.
3. At the end of each leg, pipe a ball for each foot about the same width of the leg (figure E).
4. Pipe long ovals for arms, about 1-1/4 inches each.
5. Pipe balls for hands, approximately the same width as the arm.
6. Ears are piped before the head, so leave about a 3/4-inch empty space for the head. Pipe two long teardrops for ears, making the pointed end of the teardrop next to where the head will be, and the rounded ends of the teardrops are the tops of the ears. Each ear should measure approximately 1-1/8 inches (figure F).
7. Pipe a ball for the head, approximately 3/4 inch in diameter, but making sure to fill the space between the body and the ears.
8. Change to a #6 round tip and pipe two balls for the cheeks.
9. Use a #3 round tip and blue icing to pipe two tiny blue balls, on the head but touching the top of a cheek, for the bunny's eyes.
10. Use a #3 round tip and pink icing to pipe a tiny pink ball between the cheeks for the nose (figure G).
Piping the Tree, Grass and Decorations
1. Using a #16 star tip and brown icing, pipe a tree trunk using long lines (figure H).
2. Using a #352 leaf tip and the same basic motion as with a teardrop, except lifting at the end, pipe green leaves on the tree (figure I).
3. Using a #46 basket tip and brown icing, pipe a basket using a weaving stroke of vertical and horizontal lines (figure J).
4. Using a #233 grass tip and green icing, pipe grass. Hold the bag perpendicular to the icing surface; squeeze and pull straight up until grass is of desired height for a border (figure K). If making grass on the top of the cake, anchor bottom of grass to cake surface and pull in the desired direction, parallel to the cake surface.
5. Add candy eggs and sprinkle flowers as desired.
Tip: Many books on polymer clay can help with ideas for basic shapes. You can different animals just by changing the shapes of the ears (figure L).
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