Do you have any special tips for frosting cupcakes? The tip# that makes the neat design on top. Anything looks better than spreading it on with a butter knife!
Do I have to use the icing, or can I use the prepackaged kind? The kind you buy at the store tastes MUCH better than cake icing! Thanks for any help!

you can use tip # 32....if you make little c's on the outside moving in and layering slightly on the previous layer it looks really nice. you can also use the largest star tip...I cant remember the number but the biggest one you can get, and again start from the outside and wouk in.

I dont have a pic of cupcakes I have done with #32 (I am doing some this weekend that I will post) but the piglet cupcake in my pics is the large star tip. hope this helps!

Hey...I use the largest star tip (I can't remember the number and I'm still searching the internet to try to find it)!! It gives the cupcakes a nice swirl look...I have some in my pics if you want to take a look! I never ice with a knife anymore...too messy and time consuming...using the star tip is so much faster!!

Ok an I have to ask what kind of icing are you talking about....I have never had store icing that was better than homemade!! And the homemade buttercrams are easy to make!! I use the following recipe:

8 oz unsalted butter
8 oz crisco (when cakes don't have to be WHITE I use butter flavor crisco)
2 lbs sugar
2 tsp vanilla
hot water - too get right consistency

Good Luck!!

You can use Tip 1M to swirl the frosting (in circles) or use it to pipe large stars on the cupcake. If you want to pipe stars/rosettes I suggest using tip 16 or tip 18. I also use tip 18 to make ribbed lines (up and down) on the cupcake for something quick and easy that looks nice and decorative.

I generally don't like frosting as it is, but I use the butter, crisco, powdered sugar and vanilla recipe VERY similar to yours, except I use milk instead of water. I just don't like it. All that crisco I guess? I don't know.
Anyhow, in the stores, the canned icing I prefer, tastes much better. I like the thinner consistency as well.
Thanks for the tips. I'll try the different tips using the "c" method.

Be careful trying to pipe the store bought canned icing (assuming you're talking about something like Betty Crocker or Duncan Heinz), the consistency is too thin and you'll end up with "mush" on top (for lack of a better word). You won't have well defined swirls/circles/rosettes.

ETA: One other thing you can try when making your own is to add a 1/2tsp of butter flavoring when you add the vanilla. That's what I always do and I tend to get rave reviews.