How to Pipe a Shell Border

The shell is one of the most versatile icing decorations. Use it to pipe a simple border or pipe rows of shells to accent or cover a cake. Try piping shells in multiple colors and in combination with other decorations like dots or zigzags to create your own unique designs!

Skill LevelBeginner

Ingredients & Tools
Instructions

Instructions

How to Pipe a Shell

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Fit a decorating bag with a star tip and medium consistency icing. Hold decorating bag at an angle with the back of the bag facing you, tip slightly above the surface.
Squeeze hard, letting icing fan out generously as it forces the tip up.
Gradually relax pressure as you lower tip, at the same time pulling the bag toward you until tip reaches the surface.
Stop squeezing and pull tip along the surface to form a point.
To make a continuous shell border, start your next shell so that the fanned end just covers the tail of the preceding shell to form a chain.