Pastry Tips & Couplers

Pastry tips are also sometimes called pastry tubes or piping tips. They are the metal ends that go on your pastry bags to create all of your cake decorations. A coupler is what holds the tips onto the decorating bags.

I do not recommend ever buying the plastic tips. These tips will simply not last. They break very easily. Stick to the metal ones, you will be glad you did!

Take good care of your tips and they will last you a long time. Do not wash metal tips in the dishwasher. Wash them by hand with warm, soapy water. Dry them off well, immediately with a paper towel. This will help keep them from rusting. If one of your pastry tips does rust, throw it out! You do not want rust getting into your icing. This is dangerous. Throw it away and get a new one.

When you look at a pastry tip you will notice a number on it. These numbers help us recognize both the shape or design of the tip and the size.

Coupler

A coupler is what holds the tips onto the decorating bags. You can learn about how to put a coupler on your pastry bag here.

Pastry Tips

Below is a list of the most commonly used pastry tips and what they are used for.

You can purchase a set of pastry tips or buy them individually.

Round Tips

• Tip #'s 1-12, 1A, 2A
  
  
• Round tips are used for writing and various decorations using dots. They can also be used for line-work and various scroll work too. The smaller the #, the smaller the opening in the round tip.
• Learn about writing with the round tips.
  

Star Tips

• Open Star - Tip #'s 13-22, 32, 199, 362-364, 172, 4B, 6B, & 8B
  
  
• Closed Star - Tip #'s 24-30, 31, 33, & 35
  
  
• Star tips are most often used to decorate the border around a cake. They are also used to decorate character shaped cakes.
  
  
• Start with some good standard size star tips like #17, 21, & 32


• Star tips are also used in making shell borders.
  

Learn how to create stars.


 

Basket Weave Tip

• Tip # 48
  
  
• Tip #'s 44-47 are smaller basket weave tips and are great for smaller cakes or more intricate basket weave designs.
  
  
• This tip has two sides, a rough side and a smooth side. It is used to do a basket weave on your cake. You can use either side of the tip depending on the look you want for your basket weave.
• Learn how to do a basketweave here.
  

Flower Tips or Rose Tips

• Tip #'s 104 and 126
  
  
• These tips are used to make petals for various flowers including roses, pansies, and daisies. The # 104 is a standard size tip for making most flowers. The tip # 126 is a large petal tip used to make large roses and flowers.
• Learn how to make roses here.
• You can use this tips for making ruffles also.
  

  

Leaf Tips

• Tip # 352
  
  
• There are other tips used to make leaves, however, this one makes the prettiest leaf and is also the easiest to use.
  
  
• Other common leaf tips are #'s 65-69
  
  
• For larger leaves use tip #'s 112 or 115
• Learn how to make leaves here.
  

Drop Flower Tip

• Tip 2D, 2C, 224 or 255
• Learn how to make drop flowers

Grass and Hair Tip

• Tip # 233
  
  
• This tip is a simple way to make grass or hair on a cake. Perfect for filling in around flowers or making a furry teddy bear.
  

Learn how to use tip #233.

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Related Cake Decorating Tool and Supply Pages
~Pastry Tips, ~What are pastry bags?, ~How to fill pastry bags, ~Metal spatulas, ~Cake boards and boxes, ~Cake Foil, ~Flavorings, ~Coloring Icing, ~Natural food coloring, ~Fondant supplies, ~Cake Decorating Supplies, ~Cake Decorating tools, ~Cupcake Supplies, ~Character Cake Pans, ~Ball Cake Pans, ~Cake Decoration Books

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