I like the look of the swirls on cupcakes but it's a rediculous amount of icing. Does anyone have any other ideas instead of icing. Stabelized whipping cream doesn't stand up on a hot day.

You could ice them with just a bit of BC and then dip in glaze - it sets and looks like a choc. dipped ice cream cone.

I did this for some cupcakes I did for my church one time. Put about 1/2 cup of buttercream in a microwave safe bowl and warm it until it is runny (do on 10-20 second increments). As soon as it is runny enough, working QUICKLY - scoop a little out with a regular teaspoon and put in the middle of the cupcake, spread around - again quickly because it sets up fast. I don't know if I have a pic in my photos or not. Makes a nice flat surface and is very pretty.

Too much icing. Hmmmmm. Is this even possible?

Since you mentioned stabilized whipped cream, I like using Bettercreme or Frostin Pride when I want all the icing without the sweetness. It has stood up fine on hot days (on especially hot days, 90+ deg, I have mixed it with some instant pudding to give it even more stability).

I had 4 graduation cupcake cakes this past week and they were all outdoor picnics and the icing held up just fine.

What I have done in the past is coat the cupcake with a thin layer of buttercream and put a circle of fondant on top and add some vanilla to it so it tastes really good. Also, you can inject some buttercream or pudding in the middle to give it even more flavor without having a heaping mound of buttercream on the top.

use a smaller tip. a small star tip won't emit as much icing as the big giant start tip. Nice and dainty.

Why don't you just apply the frosting wtih a knife, and control the amount you put on the cupcake?

I want the look of the large tip swirl, I was hoping someone had a recipe for a topping that would work.

The Frostin Pride will definitely swirl up high without the sweetness of icing.

I use it 90% of the time swirled with either a large star or round tip, either plain, mixed with some instant pudding, chocolate syrup, torani syrup, the flavoring list goes on, but I use the Frostin Pride as the base.

The biggest comment is that the people that generally scrape off most of the "grocery store buttercream" icing because its so sweet always tell me how much they love this because it's not that sweet at all.

I'm in Canada, never heard of Frostin Pride. What exactly is it?

Indydebi's recipe will hold up in the heat if you don't mind using buttercream. If you make the swirl a little ways in from the edge of the cupcake it still looks as nice and takes half as much buttercream, even with the large tip.

Yeah, either use a smaller tip or do a smaller swirl more toward the middle of the cupcake (so you can still see some cupcake on the perimeter, if that makes sense).

I like IMBC on cupcakes as it is less sweet - also I start the swirl from the middle and work out which gives you the rose look - you also get a flatter swirl that looks good without having to build up a mound of icing.

Try these ideas:
- Meringue: It pipes & you can torch it once on top of the cupcake. Lemon cupcakes w/lemon filling & plain meringue on top sort of like a lemon meringue pie :0)

- Ganache: make white chocolate ganache, let it sit for a day or so then whip it. White chocolate cupcake w/raspberry filling & white chocolate ganche top :0)

- Crumble topping: Brown sugar & oats (fine grain) on top of apple cupcakes w/a cream filling. You could use this for any fruit, like a cobbler cupcake :0)

- Ice cream: A scoop of ice cream on a cupcake is like heaven in a bite. Try pistachio cake w/cherry ice cream :0)

None of these will hold up outside but inside on the table they will be a huge hit.

I also have the same question as Ballymena - I like the look of the 1M big swirl or the big fat round swirl but it's a TON of butercream which tastes gross - IMBC is a bit too buttery for my tastes and stabilized whipped cream is a bit too light and fragile - just wondering if there is something that can be put on a cupcake in a 1M big swirl which doesn't taste toooooo sweet and can last out of a fridge for several hours - whipped cream cheese frosting is ok but are there other options? Thanks in advance

Why don't you try whipping some Rich's Bettercreme with a pouch of your favorite instant pudding mix? It's shelf-stable for seven days so it's good if you can't refrigerate it. It's not too sweet but it is thick and tastes rich.

I also use the wider tip but just put a smaller swirl in the middle. It looks really cute still. Then I'll usually top it off with a little something depending on the flavor of the cupcake and frosting such as chocolate covered cherries, chocolate swirls, mini chocolate chips and the list goes on. People usually notice the extra addition on top and don't realize there's less frosting, but sure love the taste as is!

Yes, it's very similar in taste to Cool Whip, but it doesn't have to be refrigerated. I think you can make Dream Whip with evaporated milk and not have to worry about refrigerating it, although I have never tried it.

You can also whip instant pudding mix with regular whipping cream. The gelatin in the pudding will stabilize the whipping cream so it doesn't wilt.

maybe you could place a dounut hole or a cake ball ontop of the baked cupcake and do the swirl icing around it. That way you'd have the height but it would have cake or a dounut hole in the middle with icing swirled around it.

A lot of icing?! hmmm

I make a brownie trifle every Christmas and I use this method successfully. The original recipe calls for Cool Whip but I don't care for Cool Whip so I use real whipping cream with three tablespoons of instant vanilla pudding whipped in (you can use whatever flavor, just make sure it's instant). The trifle holds up well and doesn't wilt after the first day. It has to be refrigerated though.

I'm not sure if this is what you are looking for, but I also like the look of the big star tip and the swirl it makes. But I think it's just to much icing...

Then I found "Fair Cake" and I just love the way she does her cup cakes. First icing it flat, then adding a nice swirl that is not to big.

This picture is from the "Fair Cake" web page: