Cupcakes for Halloween

You know, I titled this post "Cupcakes for Halloween" but really it should be called "An Excuse to Try Russian Piping Tips."  When I was doing some research about cookie decorating, I ran into lots of super cool information about Russian Piping Tips. 

What are Russian Piping Tips?

I'm so glad you asked!

A regular piping tip has a single hole at the end.  Russian Piping Tips are kind of like Play Doh Extruders, but way fancier.  In essentials, with a single squeeze and flick you can create a frosting flower.  Watch the video:

Well, I just *had* to try it for myself.  Definitely not as super easy as the video makes it seem, but surprisingly easy nonetheless.  Without any further ado, here are my purple and black and orange and white Halloween flower cupcakes:

Some things I'm taking away from the experience:

• The two-color flowers look a lot cooler than the single color flowers.
• I used a way too complicated method of getting two colors.  Next time (and there will be a next time) I am going to use the saran wrap method in the video above.
• I was trying to keep it spooky with dark colors, but I really think these flowers would look a lot better in light pastels.
• The buttercream was so soft.  Next time I want to try an egg white based frosting recipe.  I think it will hold the shape better.  My flowers got droopy fast. 
• I piped on a hot day and I think the heat was a factor in the droopiness.  I kept having to put the piping bag in the fridge.
• Leaves are the best.  They fill all the gaps.  But I need to get better at ending them.  Mine are very ragged in many cases.
• The cupcake to frosting ratio was ridiculous.  Next time I think I would go with a cake.  The cake to frosting ratio would be better.

Overall this was a super fun experiment.  The Russian Piping Tips make it stupid simple to get great results.  This was my first attempt.  With a little bit of practice, I can imagine that you could make magic!

Happy Halloween!