Buttercream shells and pearls, often seen on grand-scale wedding cakes, are a fresh way to present a classic motif on a batch of cupcakes. The piped designs are among the easiest to achieve—the pearls are merely dots, while the tip does most of the work in creating the shells—and the small scale of the cupcakes means that even beginning pipers will find them achievable. Even so, you may want to practice making shells on parchment paper before piping onto the frosted cupcakes; any mistakes piped onto the cupcakes can also be gently scraped away before you try again.

　　

Ingredients

makes 48

　　48 White Cupcakes (page 154)

　　2 recipes Swiss Meringue Buttercream (page 304)

　　Gel-paste food color (egg yellow is pictured)

　　

Step 1

Tint 5 cups buttercream pale yellow with gel-paste food color. Transfer remaining untinted buttercream to a pastry bag fitted with a coupler. Using an offset spatula, spread yellow buttercream over each cupcake in a smooth layer. Refrigerate 30 minutes to allow frosting to set.

　　

Step 2

Using a small French-star tip (#199), pipe shells with untinted buttercream: Holding bag at a 45-degree angle, with tip close to center of cupcake, squeeze untinted buttercream, lifting tip slightly for the raised side of shell and pulling bag toward you. Stop squeezing to end in a pointed tip. Continue piping four more shells in a circle, with each shell slightly touching the next, and rotating the cupcake as you finish each.

　　

Step 3

Pipe pearls: Switch to a small plain tip (#3), and pipe a series of pearls (or dots) in a U-shape, starting with tip of one shell and working out to edge of cupcake and back to tip of next shell. Repeat until all shells are linked with pearls. Refrigerate 30 minutes to allow frosting to set. Cupcakes can be refrigerated up to 3 days in airtight containers; bring to room temperature before serving.

　　Martha Stewart's Cupcakes