Piping bags are incredibly useful in cake and biscuit decorating, and for piping things such as macarons and meringues. Which is why it can be so annoying when you realise part the way through a baking project that you have run out. But fear not! You can make piping bags yourself with just baking paper.
Cut your baking paper, or grease proof paper as it is also called, into a square. Fold the paper in half, corner to corner to create a triangle. Then cut the paper in half along this fold. Now here's the trickier part. There's a video below that might make it easier to understand. Hold the triangle by the top two corners, those that were created by the cut along the fold. Take one of these corners and bring it round in front of the bottom corner to create a cone shape. Take the other top corner and bring it round the outside of the cone to join with the other corners. Fold down the joined together corners. It is now technically useable, but I find it easier to staple down the folded down corners to keep them in place.
You can use the baking paper piping bag just like a normal plastic one. You can add a piping tip or simply cut off part of the tip of the bag to pipe directly from it. However, the baking paper piping bag is smaller than a standard plastic piping bag. As such, it is better suited for use with smaller quantities of icing, such as for piping decorations and letters rather than piping buttercream onto cupcakes. But in a pinch it can be used for this too. Another solution is to use freezer bags. I find, however, that they often split from the pressure they're put under when piping, so I suggest using the baking paper solution.
So there you have it. You can now make your own homemade piping bags! I hope you found this guide useful, if you're having trouble I would suggest watching the video as I think that makes it easier to understand what I'm talking about. If you have any questions then please don't hesitate to ask. And remember to Bake A Day Of It!
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