Icing cupcakes tutorial

So, lots of you have commented on my perfect icing and demanded I do a tutorial, so here goes! These are my best tips for pretty icing. I use this recipe for chocolate icing and this recipe for vanilla icing.

I use lakeland 'get a grip' icing bags, but I think any disposable icing bags are good. I did have a nylon one that I re-used, but it got a bit grubby and was so hard to clean, I thought it was quite unhygienic, so I always recommend disposable ones now. I use this icing tip, which came with this professional icing kit .

After making the icing, I use a silicon spatula from Ikea to scrape my icing into one big lump and then spoon it onto my icing bag. I couldn't get any photos of this, but what I do is: I put the tip in the bag, cut off about 4cm of the bag, push the tip through and then scoop the icing into the bag. It is best to try and get the icing in the bag in one go, to avoid pockets of air. Then I push it towards the bottom of the bag and twist the excess bag around.

For my glitter sprinkles, I bought a small paintbrush especially for sprinkling it. I just dab the brush in the glitter then lightly shake it over the cupcakes. It's important to do this as you go along icing them, so that the glitter sticks to the damp icing. If you try and put the glitter on later it just won't stick.

And this is how I ice! It takes quite a bit of practice and it was quite hard to gauge exactly how much to put on each cake, but I've masted it now. I control the icing bag from the top and do it in one smooth movement. It's also important to keep the angle the same at which you hold it at. Also don't try to rush and apply too much pressure, otherwise the icing pops out of the bag!

I hope this helps! I want to see all your pretty iced cupcakes now!