Pastry & Baking Arts Chef-Instructor Sohrob Esmaili shared his tips and tricks for seamless pastry piping.
Piping is an essential skill in any pastry chef's toolkit, and switching between several tips and fillings can be time-consuming. In his classroom at ICE's Los Angeles campus, Chef Sohrob explains his hack of easily alternating between piping tips and frosting colors.
First, place the piping bag in a cup or container to give it structure as you scoop in the frosting. To fill the bottom of the bag with frosting, hold the bag closed and swing it down and away from your body. The momentum will force the frosting to fill the tip of the bag.
Place a piping tip in an empty piping bag. Run scissors around the piping tip to cut the end off of the bag. Use a separate bag for each tip that you plan to use. Next, cut the end of the filled piping bag. Make sure it's wide enough to fit the largest piping tip you'll be using.
Place the filled piping bag into the empty bag with the piping tip you'd like to use, and voilà, start piping. Switching between piping tips is as simple as slipping the filled bag out of one piping bag and into another. This can also be used to easily switch between fillings when you want to use the same tip for different types of frosting.
A little bit of preparation beforehand makes the actual piping process much quicker. Try out Chef Sohrob's piping pro tip next time you need to juggle several piping tips and fillings.
