How to Pipe with Star Tips | Buttercream Piping Tutorial
Chef Alan TetreaultIn this tutorial: What You'll Need · Three Rules Before You Start · Top Borders · Two-Tone Techniques · Side Borders · Advanced Techniques · Fixing Mistakes · Full Cake Demo · Tip Reference Guide
Star tips are the workhorses of cake decorating — with just a handful of them, you can create everything from simple borders to elegant scroll work to full basket weave patterns. In this nearly hour-long tutorial, Chef Alan Tetreault of Global Sugar Art covers every major star tip technique, from basic stars and shells all the way through to decorating a complete cake using only star tips.
📌 This is part of the Buttercream Basics series: Part 1 – Baking the Cake from Scratch · Part 2 – Making Buttercream Icing · Part 3 – Piping with Star Tips (you're here) · Part 4 – String Work · Part 5 – Petal & Leaf Tips · Part 6 – Advanced Borders
What You'll Need
- Open star tips: #13–#22 (start with #16, #18, and #20)
- Closed star tips: #30, #31, #199
- Specialty star tips: #48 (flat basket weave), #74 (one large point + small cuts)
- Buttercream icing — proper consistency is critical (see notes below)
- Piping bags — start with an 8 or 10-inch bag, not a large one
- Coupler set — so you can swap tips without changing bags
- Tip saver tool — for fixing bent open star tips
- Paste or gel food coloring — for brush striping and spatula striping
- Parchment paper triangles — for brush-striped bags
- Damp cloth — for keeping the tip clean
- Turntable — helpful but not required
- Cake tester or needle tool — for fixing mistakes
Before You Start: Three Rules
↪ 1. Use a small bag
The biggest mistake Chef Alan sees with beginners: using a 16 or 18-inch bag. You don't have the hand strength to push all that icing through a small opening — your hand shakes, and you can't develop any control. Start with an 8 or 10-inch bag. Chef Alan decorates for 5+ minutes and uses only half the icing in a 10-inch bag.
↪ 2. Always burp the bag
Squeeze a little icing back into the bowl before you start. Otherwise, air bubbles will shoot icing out in unpredictable bursts and leave holes in your decorations.
↪ 3. Get your icing consistency right
The icing should hold its shape but not be so stiff that your hand shakes trying to push it out. - Too soft? Add confectioner's sugar or cool the icing down. - Too stiff? Add a small amount of corn syrup or water. - Hot hands? The icing will soften as you hold the bag. Swap it out for fresh, cooler icing when this happens.
Top Borders (Piped on a Flat Surface or Cake Top)
↪ Stars
Tip: #30 (closed star) | Angle: 90° (straight down)
Squeeze — release pressure — lift straight up.
The most common mistake: lifting before releasing pressure, which creates unwanted points. Always release the pressure first, then lift.
↪ Rosettes
Tip: #18 (open star) | Angle: 90°
Pipe in a small circle, finishing in the center — release pressure — then lift. Same principle: stop squeezing before you pull away.
↪ Zigzag Border (Narrow and Wide)
Tip: #16 | Angle: 45°
Move your wrist back and forth while keeping steady, even pressure. Use your other hand to steady your wrist. Wider zigzag = wider back-and-forth motion.
↪ Shell Border
Tip: #20 (open star) | Angle: 45°
The most popular border in cake decorating. Squeeze and let the icing roll over itself (don't try to create the hump by lifting — just hold steady and let the icing do the work), then relax pressure and pull back for the thin tail.
💡 Master this one first. Nearly every advanced border is a variation on the shell.
↪ Reverse Shell Border
Tip: #18 | Angle: 45°
Alternate between clockwise and counterclockwise C-shapes. Relax pressure at the tail end of each one. One of Chef Alan's favorites — "I love the movement of it on a cake."
↪ Puff Border
Tip: #18 or #503 | Angle: 45°
Start with light pressure, build up in the middle (zigzag motion), then relax at the end. The center is fat, both ends are thin. Different tips create different textures — #503 (closed) gives tighter ridges than #18 (open).
Two-Tone Techniques
↪ Brush Striping
- Use a parchment paper bag (not silicone-coated baking parchment — the color won't adhere).
- Paint two stripes of paste or gel food coloring up the inside of the bag.
- Fill with icing and squeeze until color appears.
Creates a bold, distinct two-tone effect — great for colonial scroll borders.
↪ Spatula Striping
- Open the bag at least one-third down.
- Smear a thin line of contrasting-color icing down each side with a spatula.
- Fill the center with your main color.
Creates a softer, subtler two-tone than brush striping. Chef Alan uses this for rope borders and puff borders.
Side Borders (Drop Garlands)
↪ Drop Crescent Border (Zigzag)
Tip: #16 | Mark your garland drop with a guide string first.
Light pressure zigzag following the curve — build slightly in the middle, lighten at the peaks. Lift your elbow as you approach each peak to keep the curve smooth.
↪ Circular Drop Border (E-Motion Border)
Tip: #16 | Same guide string.
Pipe small circles following the garland curve. Relax pressure slightly at the peaks where two garlands meet.
↪ Crown Border (Side Shells)
Tip: #199 (or any open star #18–#22) | Angle: 45° from below
This is just a shell border piped on the side of the cake — approach from below, let the icing roll over, and pull down. Works beautifully with a rosette embellishment between each shell.
Advanced Techniques
↪ Lattice
Tip: #13
- Anchor the icing to the surface, lift off the cake, and pull back — this is the only way to get perfectly straight lines.
- Pipe parallel diagonal lines in one direction.
- Repeat in the opposite direction.
Don't drag the tip along the surface — lift it and let gravity straighten the line.
↪ Basket Weave
Tip: #48 (flat ribbon tip with notched edges) or any star tip
- Pipe two vertical strips.
- Pipe short horizontal strips going over one vertical and stopping at the next.
- Skip a row, repeat.
- Add the next vertical strip, then fill in the alternating horizontals.
The key is keeping the spacing even. Star tips (#18 or #19) work too — just keep the horizontal strips closer together since star tips are narrower than the #48.
Fixing Mistakes
Messed up a border? Chef Alan shows his technique:
- Use a needle tool or cake tester to get under the icing.
- Lift the broken piece off the cake from below.
- Wipe on a paper towel and re-pipe. No one will see it.
💡 Work from top to bottom when decorating. If a side border breaks or drips, it won't land on a finished bottom border that you'd have to clean.
Decorating a Complete Cake with Star Tips
Chef Alan demonstrates a full cake using only techniques from this tutorial:
- Lattice on top — use a cake pan pressed gently into the icing to mark a half-moon guide, then pipe the lattice within it
- E-motion drop border on the sides, with drop string accents
- Puff border on the bottom
- Reverse shell border on the top edge
- Small shell accents inside the top border
- Drop string on the puff border
- Rosettes at each garland peak
All done with star tips #13, #14, #16, #18, #19, and #29.
Quick Reference: Tip Selection Guide
| Border | Recommended Tip | Angle |
|---|---|---|
| Stars | #30 (closed) | 90° |
| Rosettes | #18 (open) | 90° |
| Zigzag | #14–#16 | 45° |
| Shell | #18–#20 (open) | 45° |
| Reverse Shell | #18 | 45° |
| Rope | #17–#18 | 45° |
| Puff | #18 or #503 | 45° |
| Crown (side shell) | #199 or #18–#22 | 45° from below |
| Lattice | #13 | 45° |
| Basket Weave | #48 or #18 | 90° |
| Colonial Scroll | #13 | 45° |
This tutorial is part of Global Sugar Art's library of free cake decorating videos by Chef Alan Tetreault. Browse all tutorials →
