Tips on piping soap-(no pun intended!)

[skayc1]

So long before I learned to make soaps, I decorated cakes, so the piping part of piping I get...What I'm not good at yet is-
1. do you use the same recipe or a different recipe?
2. how to know the batter is thick enough?
3. do you prepare the piping batter before your main batter, at the same time ie bigger batch?
4. knowing how long you have to wait for piping batter to get thick enough?
5. do you spray with rubbing alcohol to ensure it sticks?
6. any other tips or tricks you have?

Oh & I use wilton disposable bags for now, do the cloth piping bags clean up just as easy & how long do they last?

So far I find myself pouring the piping on cause I'm too impatient to let it thicken.

 

[shunt2011]

I too decorated cakes before getting into soap.

I use the same recipe for both. I generally make one batch and split it. You can also make separate batches.

I just pour my base and then wait for the frosting to thicken to a good consistency which takes some practice. I found its trial and error. If it's too thin it just comes out of the bag.

I use disposable bags as it's just easier to cut the tip off and discard the bag. I hate the waste but I have found them a pain to clean

It's a bit more challenging then using frosting.

 

[snappyllama]

Ditto to everything Shunt said. I also tend to make a bigger batch and split off a section for frosting - stick-blending it to a more firm consistency (very heavy trace). I judge if it's thick enough by making sure it can hold a stiff peak in the bowl before transferring to the bag. Normally, it's just about ready by the time I've got my soap in the mold and cleaned up everything else. I like to use the a larger bag.

Personal preference: get really big tips. They look better.

 

[skayc1]

I mostly have the smaller tips, just allocated a bigger tip to my soap making tips from a set of three I got to make a cake for my great nieces first birthday (feb 1st) I'll get more in feb. do you split the batch after you add the fo or before? do you weigh the batter when switching?

 

[snappyllama]

I normally end up using a different FO for my frosting, but the main thing is just to use well behaved FOs. I just add my FO in when I stick blend the batter initially. My recipe is typically high lard so I have a lot of time to work with it. I had a FO start to accelerate on me once, and it did cause a jagged/cracked appearance to my piping. I was using a french tip - I think I could have gotten away with it using a round tip or maybe a star one.

I really should weigh it out, but I just eyeball it. I always make a bit extra and use the same containers each time so I *kinda* know what how much batter I need for which portion. Any extra batter goes into an individual mold I keep handy or I throw together a cupcake if there is enough leftover. Of course, I just got a new mold and decided to pipe a portion at the last minute. Really mucked up my proportions on that one... my soap looks like a squat piece of cake slowly being engulfed by droopy white foam. It didn't help that I couldn't find my large round tip so made do with a small one and tried to force bigger plops out of the small hole. At least I think it will smell nice...

ETA: This is the jagged I was talking about:

I barely got my last cupcake frosted before the FO hardened. Piping that one was like using old playdoh in the hair extruder top as a kid.

 

[newbie]

Does anyone use this cling wrap method when piping soap? I've seen it in a few places and I would think it would works for soap as it does for icing. Less clean-up is always attractive.

http://ourbestbites.com/2012/04/kitchen-tip-no-mess-piping-bags/

 

[skayc1]

would that work with larger quantities?

 

[galaxyMLP]

Does anyone use this cling wrap method when piping soap? I've seen it in a few places and I would think it would works for soap as it does for icing. Less clean-up is always attractive.

http://ourbestbites.com/2012/04/kitchen-tip-no-mess-piping-bags/

Ive never seen that!! Thats so cool! I can imagine doing multiple colors pretty easily with this.

Skayc,
I too make one big batch and separate. I add in the FO from the beginning.

Although I like to use a well behaved FO, sometimes not everything goes as planned. I pull out a silicone mold for that just in case. If things start to take off, I pour it into the silicone mold.

Otherwise, I add in my FO and if everything looks like its going well I pour the medium trace batter into the cups/main mold. I don't pour at thin trace because if the base batter is still thin when you start piping, your "frosting" will fall into your base soap portion. When I finish with that, I SB the rest of the soap to a thick trace (you can alternatively wait for it to firm up. Just check the consistency often.). It should be thick enough that a spatula/spoon will not fall if you place it into the middle of the soap standing up. Then, just place it into the frosting bag and pipe away.

And yes, big tips work waaay better for soap. Those tiny tips look kinda silly unless youre doing extremely detailed work.

 

[MySoapyHeart]

Does anyone use this cling wrap method when piping soap? I've seen it in a few places and I would think it would works for soap as it does for icing. Less clean-up is always attractive.

http://ourbestbites.com/2012/04/kitchen-tip-no-mess-piping-bags/

I must try this next time, thanks for the tip!! (pun intended:mrgreen

 

[tinycyclops]

I hope I'm not hijacking the thread, but I'm wondering about amounts. When you're planning on adding piping to a loaf, how much extra soap do you usually make? I'd like to try piping but I'm worried about having too much/little for piping.

 

[snappyllama]

It really depends on how high you want to pipe. Take a look at your mold and determine the overall height of the piping you want, then guesstimate. If i want around 1 inch of piping on my 4in tall mold... I just make 25% more batter.

For cupcakes, I normally do 1lb for my base and 1.5lb for my batter.

I end up with a little piping batter left over, but it's better to have too much than not enough.

 

[tinycyclops]

Well, that makes sense. I'll do that when I'm ready to give it a shot. Thank you!

 

[Cactuslily]

If you end up with more frosting than you need, you can just pipe out some flowers etc onto a silicone pad or freezer paper and save for another soap. If you're an advanced cake decorator, frosting a soap is not much different, so it'll be easy for you. Sadly, I have just a few simple techniques, but it's so fun learning new things. I've seen things online that take your breath away. Has anyone purchased Ateco tips from webstaurant? Seem to be good prices. Sorry if I got off topic. Feel free to ignore if so. Happy soaping!

 

[skayc1]

If you're an advanced cake decorator, frosting a soap is not much different.!

So I suppose I could make roses with the leftover batter!

 

[shunt2011]

Yes, you certainly can try. I've not had good luck at that.

 

[skayc1]

I'm going to make roses today, & find out how long it takes my soap recipe to thicken up enough to pipe at the same time. I want them for embeds that fit in a 1 inch area...I might have trouble making them so small.

So I piped successfully! I'll post a picture in a little bit- one lesson to remember for next time-
1. be careful when adding embeds & make more white less leaf color(for the rose embeds that I piped ahead of time. now to hopefully not mess it up tomorrow when I cut them.

My piped roses, I wish I had made more rose buds, cause I like the look of the ones with 2 rose buds & 1 rose better!

my 1 lb mold- I didn't do a high top as the bars easily weigh over 4 ounces when cured.

My origional Idea was to make a rose & fan design, which I used the embeds of the fan that I tried to make. I didn't like the fans as much as the rose buds only I didn't have enough!