Principles of Baking Decorating with Icing

Decorating with Pastry Bags 3 types of pastry bags: 1. Featherweight bags  Reusable; made of polyester, dishwasher safe; sizes 8 in. to 18 in. 2. Disposable bags  Made to use and toss; made of plastic 3. Parchment triangles  Easy to make; also “throw-way” convenience

Additional Tools: Coupler  Allows your to interchange several decorating tips without changing the bag 2 basic parts:  Base  Fits inside bag; decorating tip placed over  Ring  Locks decorating tip in place Decorating Tips Round tips  Writing, dots, vines Leaf tips  V-shaped openings Drop flower tips  All produce 2 types of flowers! Ruffle tips  Teardrop-like shape Basket-weave tips  Smooth and ribbed side Rose tips  Wide opening at one end, narrow at the other Specialty tips  Xmas trees & hearts Star tips  Used for shells, starts, rosettes, and flowers Multi-opening tips  Pipe rows, grass, and hair

Preparing the Bag  Drop the coupler base, narrow end first, into the bag and push it down as far as you can  Using a pen or a pencil, mark the spot on the outside where the bottom screw thread (closest to the tip) is outlined against the bag material  Remove the coupler base from the bag and cut an opening at the mark  Push coupler base down through the opening, place a decorating tip over the part of the base extending from the bag.  Put the ring over the tip and twist it on, locking the tip in place.

Icing Consistency  Icing too thin, add confectioners’ sugar  Icing to thick, add a little more liquid  Stiff Icing  Flowers  If icing cracks, its too stiff  Medium Icing  Stars, borders, icing cakes  Thin Icing  Printing, vines, and leaves  Add 1-2 t light corn syrup

Filling the Bag Step 1: Holding the bag: Hold bag with one hand and fold down the top of bag with other hand to form a generous cuff over hand. Step 2: Filling the bag: Using a spatula, fill the bag with approximately ½ cup icing. *do not overfill; icing may squeeze out the wrong end Step 3: Pull spatula out: Squeeze the bag with your thumb and fingers against spatula to remove spatula leaving icing remain in bag. Step 4: Close the bag: Unfold cuff and twist bag closed to force icing down into the bag Step 5: “Burping” the bag: Squeeze some of the icing out into a bowl to release any air trapped in the bag.

Pressure Control  Learning when to squeeze and relax your hand in order to create perfectly formed decorations Light pressure Medium pressure Heavy pressure

Positioning the Bag Angle: Position of the bag relative to the work surface 2 basic:  90° angle, straight up  Stars or flat petal flowers  45° angle, halfway between vertical and horizontal  Writing and borders Direction: Where the back of the bag is pointed 3 o’clock 6 o’clock Note: Right-handers: decorate left to right Left-handers: decorate right to left

Using the star tip  Hold bag straight up  Tip should be 1/8” above surface  Squeeze to form a star  Stop pressure and pull straight up and away Star boarder:  Rotate hand from parallel to perpendicular to the body

Dot  Hold bag straight up  Tip should be 1/8” above surface  Squeeze at a steady, even pressure  As icing builds, raise the tip with it  Stop pressure, pull off to the side

Assignment: “Principles of the Bake Shop” Worksheet  As you are enjoying your Green Lemonade and cleaning up, complete the worksheet.  You may work with your group members but each person must turn in their own copy