Hi everyone, I have baked two batches of cupcakes this weekend, they were my first ever, Im pretty new to this cake decorating lark 
I dont have much experience of piping, and today piped the buttercream on, hoping to get that luxurious swirl look that all your cakes have....
Mine looked OK, but they looked like i just went round in circles on the cakes (which i did i guess), instead of "swirling"
How do you do it?? How big a tip do you use and is it a star tip? What angle do you hold the tip at and how do you move it as you go round, if you see what I mean?
Forgive my silly questions, as I said, Im still a novice lol!
Thanks in advance for any advice!
I had the same question when I first came on this site.... the answer I got was the best and I will never turn back!
I use the Wilton 1M star tip for the nice big elegant swirl. If you take a look at my photos you can see a few of the ones I've done. To get a heap in the middle (so it sits higher) I just put a big dollop of icing than start at the edge and twist my wrist around and around. I don't move the cupcake at all, just my wrist.
There is a tutorial on You Tube somewhere but I can't remember where exactly so I'll try to look. Good luck!
There are step-by-step instructions on the Wilton site:
http://www.wilton.com/technique/1M-Swirl
Hope it helps!
Thanks everyone! LOL edna, yes I do mean cupcakes, though to be fair, I was wondering how long it would be before I dare to pipe names and stuff onto cakes, so your answer helps there!!
Thanks for the wilton instructions JGMB, thats helpful, and for your advice too, eyecandy, will also try your metod, I will keep practicing!!!!!!!!!!
So to ice these little things, you start on the outside and work your way in? Do you leave a bit of cake showing so icing doesn't get on the paper line? Want to make some for the schools silent auction, so I'm wanting to learn and not look like a newbie when it comes to decorating. My kids don't care, but I want it to look right at the school.
You can really do it either way, sometimes I let it touch the liner and others I leave a small gap so it doesn't droop if the icing gets too warm. (My icing sometimes "melts" if I use the canned variety).
I always work from the outside, in, I have more control over the swirl this way.
Does anyone have a good chocolate french buttercream recipe? I want to make some for cupcakes but want it to be good. Thanks!
Here's another great video: http://www.how2cakes.com/swirl.html
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