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Help making buttercream “popcorn” for movie themed cupcakes
In Cake Decorating

Help making buttercream “popcorn” for movie themed cupcakes


I am not a baker or cake decorator so talk to me like the novice I am. I have 50 cupcakes baked using fresh-milled whole einkorn for the flour. It’s really light but the top is almost brownie like.

I want to pipe these little popcorn pieces, let them harden and put them on top of fresh frosting so they stick. My daughter doesn’t like super sweet frosting so I usually do a 1:1 butter to sugar American butter cream. I’m not sure that will hold together well enough. What should I use? Should I let the frosting cool before piping to hold shape or do I need it softer? Would a Swiss meringue be better for the kind of cake either the frosting for the cupcake or the popcorn? Thanks for the help!!

by jamminjudd

12 Comments

  1. jamminjudd

    Adding another question… how much frosting do I need for these? There 2.5” so just a little bigger than a standard cupcake.

  2. GwentanimoBay

    There’s calculators and guides for frosting volume you’ll need, but i would just make 2x batches of a standard recipe you trust.

    American buttercream is very sweet! It dries with a skin/crust that some people love, others hate.

    Swiss meringue buttercream is less sweet and dries without a crust, but is more involved to make.

    Truly, either will work for what you’re doing, use what you know if you’re happy with it!

    The tip you need is a star tip (hmm i think wilton 16??)!!! Pipe at nearly a 90 degree angle, let them harden in the fridge for at least 20 minutes.

    You got it!!

  4. lenaguzzo7

    An American buttercream of that proportion might not work, but you can do 1:1 and test it. If it’s not stable enough, you can add more powdered sugar. Although swiss is less sweet, when it’s cold, it’s hard

  6. Exciting-Duty-8302

    I love what you are pipping and it would look better than marshmallows. What tip is that? Great idea!

  7. TheMillennialDiaries

    Buttercream won’t “harden” without being refrigerated and/or frozen. If you want to attempt to pipe the popcorn shaped pieces, pipe them onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and then pop them into the freezer. Once you’ve frosted the tops of the cupcakes regularly, use a small offset spatula or a pair of long tweezers to place the frozen popcorn pieces onto the fresh buttercream.

  8. RuralZoomer

    You could freeze the frosting after piping it onto parchment paper, and then transfer them once they’ve hardened. I’ve done this with other buttercream decorations before.

  11. Tylandredis

    i’d recommend a meringue-based buttercream unless you have really hot hands. american-style buttercream is just too stiff to get this effect to work most of the time.
    you hold a star tip (5-, 6-, and 7-pointed would probably look best) against a parchment-lined tray and squeeze really hard, very briefly. you’ll get a feel for it as you go, and you can just scrape off the “learning experiences” to reuse. then just freeze, put a thin layer of icing on the cupcakes, and place them on.
    i’ve done this method for popcorn, flowers, and sea anemones. it’s really versatile!
    (also i would probably experiment with mixing italian/swiss and french meringue buttercreams to carry more butter flavor while also coloring the buttercream yellow through the yolks!)
    you can also do a stabilized whipped cream or use the whipped cream-style icing they use at grocery stores (they’ll often sell you the whole container), but you have to do them on the cake since they don’t freeze as hard and can become unstable after thawing.