Piping With a Frill Border Tip

Ateco makes an especially interesting line of tips for piping "frill borders." The first time I piped one of these, it was actually mistaken for fondant. I piped the above ruffle with this tip, the 040, using medium consistency buttercream icing:

 Any time I break in a new tip, I like to use a practice board first before potentially making a mess of the cake. The amazing thing about Ateco's frill border tips is they actually ruffle the icing on their own; all you have to do is squeeze steadily while moving the tip to the side. Hold the end of the tip just above the cake's surface; almost touching. Angle the rest of the tip slightly away from the surface so the ruffle has somewhere to form. Start squeezing steadily while slowly moving your hand to the side. When you're actually piping on the cake, you'll definitely want to use a turntable.

Your speed should allow for each frill to fully form before you move on to the next.

 If you don't move fast enough, you'll have tightly compacted frills with no room between them. This might be ideal for certain things!

When I piped the ruffle on this cake, I kept about a third of the tip's length over the top edge of the cake, which allowed the ruffle to spill over the edge and flare out over the drop strings beneath it. 

 

The frill border tip adds a surprising amount of depth and sense of motion. It's hard to imagine ever piping a shell border again! By the way, Happy Birthday, Nana! I hope you enjoyed your cake!