Hi all! Newbie to CC here... I'm looking to make cupcakes similar to these for my DD's 3rd birthday in September! I love baking and usually do cakes... but I'm in love with the look of the icing on these cupcakes. Any suggestions on the type of icing (is it normal buttercream) and what tip/size to use to get this look??

Any help is appreciated!!

Yes it looks like normal buttercream but not sure of the nozzle although it looks like a large round tipped one.

Just use a coupler without a tip or a parchment cut to your desired size.

Yeah, that does not look like a tip was used. You can tell by the look of the swirls.

A coupler or a 1A tip would get this look I have a photo in my pics that has cupcakes in red liners that are done with 1A tip and look similar.

Because of the shine on the buttercream, I would say it's not a crusting BC. It looks like my Swiss Meringue BC or another cooked variety.

As for the tip, I have several very large Ateco brand tips that I purchased in my restaurant supply store. The largest round tip I've found is the Ateco 809. The piping end is 3/4" wide, height is 2", and the base that goes in the bag is almost 1.5" wide! It's great for cutting out polka-dots, too!! I love Ateco as they are seamless, and keep their nice finish after washing. HTH

http://cooksdream.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=809

This is a great chart showing Ateco's tips and their piping end dimensions

The one in my pics with a similiar (not as tall but could have made it this tall) swirl was a Wilton 1A, but I have used the coupler by itself to do the same thing! HTH