Royal Icing Snail

When I piped yesterday's oyster, I discovered that tip #98 by Ateco is really quite versatile. As you may recall, it is scallop-shaped and grooved on one side:

 To pipe the snail's shell, you need to cover the fingertips on your non-dominant hand thoroughly with a dusting pouch filled with a 50/50 mix of powdered sugar and cornstarch. Hold a pastry bag loaded with stiff consistency royal icing and fitted with tip #98 just above the surface of your fingertips, and start squeezing steadily. Coax the icing into curling over itself.

 Once it "catches" it should roll up easily into a tidy spiral.

 Place the shells on a piece of parchment paper to firm up enough to handle.

 Pipe the body on a parchment square with a round #10 tip and stiff consistency royal icing in a contrasting color. Hold the bag at a 45 degree angle just above the surface, squeeze out a ball, then move the tip along the paper for about an inch, decreasing pressure as you go to taper the body into a tail.

 Place the shell on top in the middle while the body is still soft. Press it down slightly.

 Switch to the #2 tip and pipe a couple of eye stalks. Place the tip against the body, squeeze, and move the tip away about a quarter-inch. Stop pressure and pull the tip away.

 Allow the eye stalks to dry a little before making the eyes. You can either use a food-safe marker like the Gourmet Writer by AmeriColor, or use a toothpick to dab on a dot of black Soft Gel Paste food color (also by AmeriColor). This little critter might be considered a pest, but I think it would be appropriate on any garden-themed cake or cupcake.

Royal Icing Oysters

I hope I'm not boring anybody with all these little sea creatures; one seems to inspire another! I piped this tiny oyster with the Ateco tip #98, which is scalloped with grooves on the outer side. 

I stuck a square of parchment paper to a flower nail with a dab from a glue stick. I held the tip against the paper and piped a shell shape by keeping one side of the tip still and moving the other side around in a clockwise motion while vibrating the tip to create ridges. 

 Here's another view of it:

 I piped a neighboring shell next to it, trying to keep them similar in shape:

 I tapped one of them flatter than the other with a fingertip after touching it to a dusting pouch; this will be the side on the bottom:

 After allowing them to dry under a desk lamp for about 45 minutes, I glued a tiny sugar pearl to the center with a dot of icing piped with a round #2 tip

 I piped another ball to act as a "hinge" on the other half of the shell…

 …and then I assembled the oyster. Obviously I got a little crazy with the color, but that's half the fun!