swirly twirly cupcakes

making everyday cupcakes makes my girls happy, but adding a little fancy smancy touch here and there makes it fab-u-lous! and i feel a little like i'm on Ace of Cakes...i'm not gonna lie.

so, in honor of Fancy Nancy (and Duff)...and to make my girlie pies happy too, i made swirly twirly cupcakes!
{ok, so it was for my sofie's first birthday and it was all really for me, but go with me on this one...please}

red velvet always knocks the socks off everyone, so grab a boxed mix at the grocery...mix it up and let's get a move on...

what you need to bake:
1 box red velvet (or any) cake mix and ingredients to make
muffin pan
{i used a wilton 4" depth tall cupcake pan because it's cute. Michael's for $8 an a 40% off coupon...$4.80; one mix makes 5 large cupcakes}
what you need to decorate:
1 can of prepared icing (i use what is on sale)
icing bag and tip of choice
{i bought the 12 piece cupcake decorating set at Michael's for $8 and used my 40% off weekly coupon...$4.80}
food coloring

after the cupcakes are done baking, let set for 5 minutes in the pan. then, release them so they don't get too moist on top...i learned that through blogging! i used two butter knives, one on each side of the cupcake, and lifted them out to cool. i know, there's probably a tool for that, but the knives worked great!

let the cupcakes cool about an hour or until they are no longer warm to the touch...otherwise, the icing melts too and then your beautiful creation is a melty, gooey, not pretty mess.

on to the swirly twirly icing...
i have girlie pies, so i always need pink or purple or something for food to make it fancier! so i added 4 drops of red food coloring to my store bought white icing and mixed well. viola...pink icing!


prepare the icing bag for decorating
decide first what pattern you would like to use and select the appropriate tip (look at the box for ideas). i used the star tip 1M, which does a rosette type pattern.
take the icing bag in hand, and cut about 3/4" of the sealed bottom tip off.
place the tip (1M) in the bag seal against the bag at the bottom where the metal tip is sticking out of the bag hole about 1/2".

filling the icing bagcuff the bag in one hand while using the other hand to scoop icing into the bag. start filling the bag at the bottom or you will get big air pockets that make blow-outs on the cupcakes :)
fill the bag with 1/2 the container of icing, starting at the base of the bag and moving up. before you start to decorate, squeeze the icing bag over the bowl until air is released.


decorating
keep the tip slightly above the cupcake, squeeze out the icing to form a star and WITHOUT releasing pressure, move the tip in a circle on the outer edge of the cupcake and continue to swirl until covered to the center. stop pressure/squeezing and lift tip away!

not you've got swirly twirly cupcakes...plate them up pretty and enjoy!

and now, you can def pull off a cake too!
{below is my very first one i decorated with an icing bag, not anything fab but it's fun!}

same process and even the same tip, just ice the cake all over first! add some saucy little ($0.29 each) candles from the party tree...and you got yourself a bday cake to remember!
so go ahead...make some pretties...and let us know how you did!
you can see more of my crazy fam and our lives over at a thorn among roses. come and visit sometime!