AI have seen this cupcake technique on Pinterest and I'm dying to know how they did it! I tried it myself but it turned out to be a disaster my spatula just ended up pulling off the cupcake liner. Please see the pic I've attached, the technique I'm referring to is the cupcakes in the middle of the bunch, flat iced with a perfect swirl on top.[ATTACHMENT=1302]image.jpg (346k. jpg file)[/ATTACHMENT]

That is a poured icing or poured fondant.  Then a buttercream swirl is piped on top.

You need to hold the cupcake to prevent the paper from pulling off when you spread the frosting, that's the "trick". Than they go back and pipe on a rosette of frosting.

AIt's just regular BC, flat iced with an added swirl & decorations.

It's regular buttercream. Cupcake gets baked low, not too much batter, then you fill to the top with buttercream and flatten. Here's a little tutorial.

http://cookingwithemmarussell.wordpress.com/tag/flat-top-cupcakes/

And listen to what Stitches said. That's the trick.

AAnd you may need to thin the buttercream when flat icing.