Cupcake decorating: my slow ascend to pro status

What better way to start off the week than with cupcakes?! (I mean really, who doesn't love a good cupcake?)

I recently invested in a Wilton's decorating set (courtesy of my coworkers' birthday gift to me - thanks guys!)  and decided that the best way to try it out would be, of course, to make cupcakes. I made red velvet cupcakes (which I have to say, were quite good) and butter cream frosting. I know traditionally, you should pair red velvet cupcakes with cream-cheese frosting, but I was just looking for a quick frosting to practice with. I know my cupcakes don't look like anything too fancy (or like these) but I am amazed at what pipping tips can do for decor! They were a bit harder to get used to than I expected (and I haven't posted pictures of all the cupcakes that went wrong), but I think pipping can be quickly mastered with more practice. I added colored, ball sprinkles, chunks of chocolate, and red, edible "confetti" (see below for how that's made) as garnishes.

Let me know if you want the recipes I used - they were pretty full proof and trustworthy!

Hope these little cakes make your Monday a bit happier. :)

Love,
Ellie

Butter cream frosting, pre-color. (I really try to be a clean baker!)

With just 1/2 a teaspoon or so of red food coloring. 

Cupcakes before I attempted to take them out of silicon cups...

And some of the cupcakes after I tried to get them out of the silicone cups. (Side note: those  cups were such a disappointment! Maybe next time I need to pray non-stick in the cup too?)

Cupcakes that made it out of the silicon cups and received successful pipping!

I learned this technique here. All you do is dry out a bit of crumbs from the actual cupcake - that's it!  (And  from the picture above, I clearly had lots of cupcake crumbs to work with.)

I loved attempting to mix the different tips to create various patterns. I'm still  learning!