I am totally confused. I have never taken cake decorating class. I bought the Spiderman Cake pan as a "practice cake pan when it was on sale. My question is when piping the outline do you use piping gel or buttercream icing? I am having a discussion with a lady that says you use piping gel tinted to the color you need. But after all the wonderful advice I read on this forum, I think I will trust your suggestions better.

Also is piping the same thing as outling?

Thanks,
Cecilia

You are right- buttercream. I would only use piping gel as an outline if I were using piping gel to fill the picture in. Gel is very soft. I don't see it withstanding being filled.

Cecilia,
Piping gel is something you add to your buttercream icing. You don't want to add icing to the piping gel. It's for outlines, writing, leaves, shinny things etc. It just gives a shine & also thins out icing, makes it easier to flow through the tips. Just use buttercream on your cake w/ a little piping gel if you like. No need to use piping gel at all unless you want to. Piping gel is to expensive to be used instead of buttercream. Good luck on your cake.

If you are going to be using a fine tip for the outlines, I'm guessing you will, it helps to add a touch of piping gel to your buttercream. It helps with the flow of things, just as if you were doing stringwork!