Flat Frosting on Cupcakes for Writing

Let’s write on cupcakes! Smooth, flat, frosting on cupcakes, perfect for your special message.

I’m positive you’ve seen writing on cakes before. But today I’m going to show you how simple it is to write on cupcakes.

Decide what flavor cupcakes you’ll make. I love this chocolate cupcake recipe, and here is my favorite vanilla cupcake recipe. Take a look at all my cupcakes to find other flavor options.

Frosting

Choose what style of buttercream frosting you’ll be making. I keep experimenting with Buttercream frosting. I like working with all varieties of Buttercream frosting but do not prefer the taste of American Buttercream, I find it overly sweet. But it’s the simplest to make and put on baked goods.

I prefer the taste of Italian Buttercream (it is more time consuming to make but that buttery rich taste that is not overly sweet is my favorite).

My second favorite has been Swiss Meringue Buttercream, vanilla, or chocolate… it’s light and delicious and comes in a close second.

I think almost any buttercream frosting will work. As long as it holds its shape when refrigerated, it will work.

Here is my faux Swiss meringue buttercream frosting recipe, fairly easy to make. This is the frosting using coffee creamer.

More frosting and icing recipes.

I’ve been making other versions of buttercream frosting to get the consistency lighter and use less sugar. Both vanilla and chocolate. With really great results, and no eggs, no gelatin, no meringue powder. I made one with a coffee creamer and one with heavy cream. Using ingredients that are readily available is important to me.

Remember this first tip before piping the frosting:

Get out as many bubbles from the frosting as you can! Stir the frosting with a large firm rubber spatula and press the frosting onto the sides of the bowl. Mixing the frosting on a low speed for a couple of minutes will help as well. But I have found that stirring the frosting by hand worked best.

Use a large round piping tip for the best result, it’ll give you nice smooth edges. Use a 1A piping tip (1A often comes in a set) or Ateco 806, 808, or 809 are all very close in size.

I have cut off the edge of a piping bag but it’s not exactly smooth and may leave some marks on the frosting. It’ll all depend on how specifically smooth you want them to look.

I have also tried this technique with a star tip to see how it would look and it did not look nice, but if you have a while batch of cupcakes that get messed up, maybe they fell or slid on a tray when being moved, then this technique may work well to save them, so you don’t have to serve messed up cupcakes.

Simply turn them over and viola. Add some sprinkles, some cupcake picks, royal icing toppers, or chocolate curls.

After many tries, I found that I wanted the edges to look a little puffy, so that meant I had to be sure there was plenty of frosting applied to the cupcakes.

I place the frosted cupcakes onto parchment paper, wax paper will work too.

How to get the frosting flat on cupcakes?

Pipe the frosting with a round tip

Apply the frosting evenly, across the cupcakes

Apply enough frosting so that when the cupcakes are pressed flat they will fill out to the edges of the cupcakes.

The smoother the frosting with minimal bubbles will result in the smoothest finish.

Steps to making the frosting smooth and flat, perfect for writing:

Prepare a parchment lined baking sheet (or waxed paper) and clear space in the fridge for the cupcakes.

Pipe the frosting on the cupcakes.

Turn each cupcake over to flatten out the frosting, pressing each cupcake evenly so the frosting goes to the edge.

Place the tray in the fridge and allow the frosting to get completely cold for at least 30 minutes.

Remove the tray and turn the cupcakes right side up, peeling the cupcakes away from the parchment paper.

Place some contrasting colored frosting into a piping bag with a small round piping tip. I used a #3 piping tip.

Pipe on the words:

Practice first on paper to be sure the words will fit, draw a circle the size of the top of the cupcake, and then try it with the frosting. When you’re all set on the words and spacing. Pipe the cupcakes. If you make a mistake scrape it off with a small offset spatula or thin knife, or place it in the fridge to chill if needed, then scrape it off and try again.

More pretty piping on cupcakes:

Pink Rose Cupcakes Frosting (with how to video)

Place the frosting in a piping bag with a 2D tip or other large star tip 1M is similar. To draw the heart you’ll make a slight swirl at the top of the cupcake, making a small circle shape then down to the center of the bottom of the cupcake. Then repeat on the other side, creating a pretty swirled heart.

What color pink is used for the frosting?

I use this pink food coloring gel, and add a small amount a drop at a time. Mix the frosting, then let it rest for 5 minutes. If you want it light don’t add much more, the color deepens as the frosting rests, to stop the frosting from getting darker, frost the item you’re making then place it in the fridge, this will help it not darken much more.

Happy Baking!