Piping bag substitutes

A quart or gallon freezer bag is thick enough to squeeze without splitting and seals at the top so nothing comes out the wrong end.

Best for

frosting cupcakes and cakes, filling deviled eggs, cannoli and stuffed shells, piping whipped cream and mashed potatoes

Prep

Stand the bag in a tall glass and fold the top over the rim to fill it. Fill it no more than half full, push the frosting into one corner, press out the air and seal. Twist the bag behind the filling, then snip the corner: ¼ inch for lines and borders, ½ inch for cupcake swirls and fillings. Cut small first, because the hole cannot be made smaller. To use a metal tip, cut the corner so about half the tip pokes through, drop the tip in, then fill.

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The seam at the corner makes the opening slightly flat instead of round, so lines come out a little oval. Without a tip it makes only plain round shapes. Use freezer bags, not thin sandwich bags, for buttercream. Let hot fillings cool until just warm before filling, because the plastic softens with heat.

A triangle of parchment rolled into a tight cone, called a cornet, is what pastry cooks use for fine lines and writing.

Best for

writing on cakes, royal icing details on cookies, drizzling melted chocolate

Prep

Cut a 12-inch square of parchment in half diagonally to make two triangles. Hold one with the long side away from you, curl one sharp corner over to meet the square corner nearest you, then wrap the other sharp corner around the outside to meet them. The tip of the cone forms at the middle of the long side; tighten until it is closed, then fold the top edges down to lock it. Fill it no more than half full, fold the top over twice, and snip a tiny bit off the tip.

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It holds only a few tablespoons and it is made for thin icings, glazes and melted chocolate. Stiff buttercream or a heavy dough forces the cone open or tears the paper. Do not use wax paper for warm chocolate, because the wax softens.

A plastic squeeze bottle with a narrow nozzle pipes anything pourable in a steady line and can be set down without leaking.

Best for

flooding cookies with thin royal icing, drizzling glaze, chocolate and sauces, pancake and funnel cake batter

Prep

Fill with a funnel or a spoon, tap the bottle on the counter to settle the contents, and snip the nozzle wider if the flow is too thin.

Only thin, pourable mixtures come out. Buttercream, whipped cream, choux paste and mashed potatoes are too stiff. A clean, well-rinsed condiment bottle works. Do not fill a thin plastic bottle with very hot liquid.

Where piping is only a way of getting frosting or filling into place, a spoon places it and a knife or small spatula shapes it.

Best for

frosting cupcakes, filling deviled eggs and stuffed shells, frosting a layer cake

Prep

Drop a heaped tablespoon of frosting on the center of each cupcake, then turn the cupcake while pressing the back of the spoon or the flat of a knife outward from the center to make a swirl.

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The finish is a swoop, not a piped rosette or border, and there is no way to write, pipe dots or fill a narrow opening such as a cream puff or a cannoli shell.

A spring-release scoop portions soft mixtures into neat, even mounds, which covers the piping jobs that are really portioning jobs.

Best for

domes of frosting on cupcakes, portioning cream puff and gougère dough, filling muffin cups with batter

Prep

Use a scoop of about 1 ½ tablespoons for a cupcake. Level it, release the mound onto the center, and leave it as a dome or flatten it slightly with the back of a spoon. For choux, scoop mounds 2 inches apart and smooth any peaks with a wet finger.

It makes mounds only. It cannot make lines, éclairs, borders or writing, and it cannot fill anything through a small hole.

A thin sandwich or storage bag works the same way as a freezer bag, for soft mixtures and light pressure only.

Best for

thin glaze and icing drizzles, soft whipped cream, melted chocolate that has cooled slightly

Prep

Fill it no more than one-third full, snip a very small corner and squeeze gently from the top. Fold-top bags must be twisted shut and held closed.

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The side seams split under the pressure that stiff buttercream, cold cream cheese frosting or any dough needs, usually in the middle of the job. If it is the only bag in the house, put one bag inside another and thin the frosting slightly with 1 to 2 teaspoons of milk.

A cone rolled from office paper or the cut corner of an envelope is a common suggestion in place of parchment.

Best for

nothing that touches food

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Plain paper absorbs fat and water from the frosting, goes soft and tears within a minute or two, and office paper, inks and envelope glue are not made for contact with food. Parchment paper works because it is coated to resist grease and moisture.

Piping churro, funnel cake or doughnut dough from a household plastic bag held over a pan of hot oil.

Best for

cold and room-temperature piping only

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Stiff dough needs hard pressure and a household bag can burst at the seam, dropping dough into oil at about 350°F and splashing it. Plastic also melts if it touches the pan. Pipe the dough onto a parchment-lined tray away from the stove instead, and lower the pieces into the oil with tongs.