Cuteness Fail--4th of July Frosting

This week when one of my piano students came, she had a food magazine with the cutest frosting ever. Also, it sounded so...easy.

I would do it. And blog it. Hahahahahahaha. Cuteness and I don't always get along. Part of the problem being that I was rushing trying to get it done before I had to go pick up a child. Part of the problem being, well, me. And part of the problem being magazines that make things look perfect and sound easy when they really take a little practice and fiddling to get right.

I still think this method could work. But I'm not the blogger who will make another batch of cupcakes and frosting tonight just to get it right. It's easier to just make fun of yourself.

They were supposed to look more or less like this (only I was only going to use blue and white on my red velvet cake).

To achieve this, you take two pastry bags (or Ziploc bags), put a different frosting in each bag, and cut the tips off. Then put these two bags into one bag with both their tips side by side and ready to squirt out of the other tip. See, it doesn't seem too bad. And for my first cupcake, it was kind of okay.

Here's the first--a little wobbly, but kind of the right idea.

Then, well, one of my bags must have slipped or it kind of seemed like one of the bags had frosting that was softer than the other. Maybe one of my openings was bigger than the other or obscured or whatever. At any rate, it all went downhill from there.

Starting with top left, we've got Swirly, Double Double, Blobby, Dumpy, Original, Whitey, and then Halfsy in the middle. Not quite the ideal I was going for. 

Then I thought, "Hey maybe I can fix these and just use the tip of a spoon to give them a gentle swirl." Sure I can.

Don't get me wrong. They weren't hideous. And my kids and their friends were kind of hanging on my elbows as I was taking these pictures begging me to be done so they could eat them. But they weren't quite the centerfold beauties I was going for either.

I still think the method is sound. It would have helped if I had used actual pastry bags instead of going the Ziploc route. And a little practice would surely go a long way. We'll talk again at Halloween. Or maybe Christmas.

If you do this better than me (it won't take much), I'd love to see a pic in the comments or on my facebook page.