Piping gel has various uses that range from doing design work (writing on your cake, stained glass effect, a lake etc.), to preparing your cake to be iced, or to decoratively glaze fruit and baked goods.

Piping gel readily takes icing color, so add color (gel or paste colors) a little at a time until desired shade is achieved or, you can purchased pre-colored piping gel. 

You can flavor piping gel with a little concentrated flavoring oils.  

You can even make Chocolate Piping Gel: You can use either white or dark chocolate. Melt 1 part chocolate in a double boiler and then cool to room temperature. Add melted chocolate to piping gel. You can use it as “stained glass lead” on a cake design or for writing the message.

Stir Piping gel before using, but be careful not to create too many bubbles. 

Use a disposable decorating bag fitted with a small round tip or a plastic squeeze bottle when decorating with Piping gel. Fill bags or squeeze bottle only half full.

Below are some more suggestions in how to use Piping gel:  

Crumb Coat a Cake:

Before icing cake, heat gel in the microwave and add flavoring (vanilla, almond, etc.). Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Take a pastry brush and brush heated gel on cake and let dry fully before going to the next step of icing the cake. Called crumb coating, it seals the cake layer so there aren't crumbs that can get in your frosting and provides a smooth surface to ice and decorate on, as the gel fills-in the cracks.

To Stabilize Whipped Cream and Meringue:

Whether you want to use whipped cream to ice or as a filling, stabilizing it with piping gel can be so helpful. Add 2 Tablespoons of piping gel to 1 cup liquid heavy whipping cream and 1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar. Whip with electric beaters until stiff peaks form. You can use the stabilized whipped cream to make rosettes, shell trim, star trim and other border designs. 

Piping gel even prevents meringue on a pie from weeping by stabilizing the meringue on pies. Just use about one tablespoon for each three to four egg whites. 

Attach Decorations to Cakes: 

Use piping gel as the glue to attach decorations to cakes and cookies.

Writing Messages:

Piping gel is great for writing messages on cakes, cookies and candies. Either use clear gel and then tint with your desired shade of paste or gel color or use pre-colored decorative gel when writing your message on a frosted cake or cookie. Or, make your letters on a piece of waxed paper and remove them to put on the cake. If you want your writing to have a 3D effect then pipe your message first with icing and then re-write on top of the icing message with gel. 

Glazing Fruit and Baked Goods:

Mix two parts gel with one part water for a piping gel glaze. Mix until both ingredients are well incorporated. Dip whole fruit in mixture until thoroughly covered. (I find it easier to get a large bowl, mix the piping gel glaze, and simply drop the fruit in it). The glaze helps seal in their natural juices of the fruit so it will look & stay fresh longer. On the baked goods, brush it on with a pastry brush AFTER baking and cooling. It will give a glossy sheen that looks nice for presentation. I have sometimes warmed the glaze when putting it on so it goes on more easily. 

Icing Borders, Leaves and Vines:

I wouldn’t recommend using Piping gel by itself for borders, etc. - for it is best to incorporate it with frosting which stabilizes it. 

Take an icing spatula and stripe the inside of your decorating bag with piping gel and then add your frosting. If you just want to give it a sheen then use clear piping gel. If you want to have actual stripes of gel then use colored gel (either tint it yourself with paste or liquid food color or use pre-made decorative gel). For example perhaps for a Fourth of July cake you may want to stripe your decorating bag with red and blue gel and then add white frosting and you’ll have a red, white and blue effect. 

Or perhaps you want to add some dimensions to your leaves and vines - you can stripe the inside of your decorating with a green gel colored some shades darker than your green leaf color and you will have a distinctive stripe. 

Or what I like to do when I do flowers is to place coming off the leaves some vine tendrils and then some cascading vines done in a deep green colored piping gel (use a fine to medium round tip - like a writing tip for this). It adds dimension and interest to the flower design.

Water or Lake Effect:

Add blue paste food color to clear piping gel till you get the desired shade you want for your water. Apply the colored gel to the area on your frosted cake that you want to have your “water”. If you are doing a river or water falls, you can add streaks of white frosting (put a small amount of white icing on a toothpick and pull lines through your water to give a subtle effect).

Raindrops on Cakes and Cookies and Dew on Flowers:

Use clear piping gel to add a few drops of dew to flowers. Use colored piping gel for raindrops on cakes and cookies.  It shines just like the real thing.  

Use Piping Gel to Add Sparkling Sugar to Your Cakes or Cookies:

If you use clear piping gel you can sprinkle colored sugars or sparkling sugar onto the piping gel for a festive look. Flavor with concentrated flavoring oils. For example, outline a snowflake pattern on a piece of waxed paper. Remove the waxed paper, sprinkle with edible glitter and you have a sparkling snowflake. Lift carefully and place on cake or cookie, right-side-up. Use the same method and transfer an initial or name onto a wedding/birthday cake or cookies. 

You Can Paint Baked Cookies Using Piping Gel: 

Use a small container – the top of a margarine container works well – put 2 teaspoons of clear piping gel and a small amount of paste or gel color until the desired color is reached.  Stir and add dots of water until paint consistency is reached.  Paint the cookies with a paintbrush and allow to dry.  

Stencil Using Piping Gel:

Lay stencil on iced cake or cookie. Brush piping gel and egg white mixture through gaps of the stencil. Sprinkle decorating dusts on. Carefully lift stencil off.

Use Piping Gel to Make Complex Designs on Your Cakes and Cookies: