Homemade Piping Gel Recipe – Two Methods
How to make Homemade Piping Gel – Two Recipes Gelatin & Vegetarian
This homemade piping gel is so quick and easy to make you will never have to go without it ever again. It has become an important aspect of cake decorating form glue to sticking flowers. In this post I share with you two recipes one with gelatin as well as a vegetarian.
Homemade Piping Gel – Two Methods
If you are a cake decorator then you must have used piping gel. You can find it any cake decorating store. When I started cake decorating it was not very easily available and when I got it the shelf life was always an issue.
So I had to find a way to make my own. I found many recipes online and have gone thru quite a few recipes to find what works for me.
Homemade Piping Gel – Two Methods
What do we use Piping Gel for ?
- Piping gel is often used to give cakes the glass effect such as the stain glass cakes.
- When you need to create water for a swimming pool cake or the water for the water fall
- When working with wafer paper flowers. Piping gel works best to stick wafer paper to wafer paper.
- As glue when working with sugar cookies. I use piping get to sick fondant to my cookies.
Homemade Piping Gel – Two Recipes
This recipe source.Â
I won’t say that this is my original recipe – more like adapted from those found online. I’ve gone thru a couple of piping gel recipes and come up with this ratios of gelatin or cornstarch that work best for me. I hope you will find it useful too.
Difference between the two Homemade Piping GelsÂ
The main difference of course is one is made with gelatin and one is made with cornstarch. Which means one is vegetarian and the other is not. But as you can see there is also a slight difference is color.
This one is made with gelatin and as you can see this one is more transparent as compared to
Homemade Piping Gel with Gelatin
This one is made with Cornstarch and its a bit more opaque. While it’s not a huge difference I think it’s worth mentioning.
Homemade Piping Gel with cornstarch
Consistency of Piping Gel
Understanding the consistency of piping gel is very important. It’s soft consistency and does not dry hard. I will dry but not like royal icing so please do not mistaken it for royal icing.
Using this homemade Piping GelÂ
- You may need to add hot water to bring to the piping gel to the consistency you need.
- Below is the piping gel consistency when made. It would work great to create water or waves where you need it to hold share.
- But if you need it as glue this might be thick so add a few tablespoons of hot water and mix thoroughly
Homemade Piping Gel to make waves or water
Storage and Shelf life
- I find that it’s best to store piping gel in a little glass jar like the ones I show you here.
- I always keep it in the fridge to increase it’s shelf life.
- In general Piping gel has a short shelf life – I’d say about 2 weeks. Â So I always make a small batch and prefer to make it often.
Homemade Piping Gel – Two Methods
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Homemade Piping Gel with Gelatin
I personally prefer to use this recipe though it is a bit more expensive than the second recipe. It dries better than the second recipe and I personally think the gelatin and corn syrup is tastier. If you are a vegetarian then you probably need to see the second recipe below.
IngredientsÂ
- Gelatin – 2 tbsp
- Water – 2 tbsp
- Light Corn Syrup – 2 cups
- Clear vanilla or Almond extract.
MethodÂ
- Dissolve gelatin in the water for 2 minutes
- Place in the microwave for 20 to 30 seconds or in a double boiler and melt the gelatin.
- Place the corn syrup and extract in a sauce pan on low heat. Once the corn syrup is hot add in the gelatin mixture.
- Stir well to combine.
- That’s it – your piping gel is ready.
- This gel will thicken as it sits.
Some Progress PicturesÂ
Homemade Piping Gel – Two recipes
Homemade Piping gel with cornstarch
The benefit of this recipe is that it is cheaper. I personally do not like the taste of strong lemon but it does go nice and smooth so you get a nice glass effect.
Ingredients
- White granulated Sugar – 1/3 cup
- Corn starch / Corn flour – 1 tbsp
- Lemon Juice – 1/4 cup
- Water – 1/4 cup
Method
- Dissolve the cornstarch in half the water.
- Place the sugar, remaining water on low heat and stir until all the sugar has dissolved.
- Add in the lemon juice, cornstarch mixture.
- Stir until thick and opaque
- The cornflour should cook until it become opaque (see image below)
- Switch off flame.
- Store in a glass jar or container
- Once cooled use as desired.
- If necessary add hot water to bring to consistency.
Important – Cook this Homemade Piping Gel until cornstarch looks like this. Almost translucent.Â
Homemade Piping Gel – Two Recipes
Save this recipe for later on PinterestÂ
Homemade Piping Gel – Two Recipes
Recipe Card – Homemade Piping Gel – Two Methods
Homemade Piping Gel - Two Recipes - Gelatin or Vegetarian
Prep
Cook
Total
Yield 2 cups
This homemade piping gel is so quick and easy to make you will never had to go without it ever again. It has become an important aspect of cake decorating  form glue to sticking flowers. I share with you two recipes here one with gelatin as well as a vegetarian with cornstarch.
Ingredients
Ingredients  - Homemade Piping Gel with Gelatin
- Gelatin - 2 tbsp
- Water - 2 tbsp
- Light Corn Syrup - 2 cups
- Clear vanilla or Almond extract.
Ingredients - Homemade Piping Gel with Cornstarch
- White granulated Sugar – 1/3 cup
- Corn starch / Corn flour – 1 tbsp
- Lemon Juice – 1/4 cup
- Water – 1/4 cup
Instructions
Method - Homemade Piping Gel with Gelatin
- Dissolve gelatin in the water for 2 minutes
- Place in the microwave for 20 to 30 seconds or in a double boiler and melt the gelatin.
- Place the corn syrup and extract in a sauce pan on low heat. Once the corn syrup is hot add in the gelatin mixture.
- Stir well to combine.
- That's it - your piping gel is ready.
- This gel will thicken as it sits.
Method - Homemade Piping Gel with Cornstarch
- Dissolve the cornstarch in half the water.
- Place the sugar, remaining water on low heat and stir until all the sugar has dissolved.
- Add in the lemon juice, cornstarch mixture.
- Stir until thick and opaque
- The cornflour should cook until it become opaque (see image below)
- Switch off flame.
- Store in a glass jar or container
- Once cooled use as desired.
- If necessary add hot water to bring to consistency
Courses Dessert
Cuisine American
Caution
If you are using any recipe it best to first do a test to see if it’s the right one for the project on hand.
What ever recipe you use be it the one with gelatin or with cornstarch, if  you do not make it the same way I have it my not not work for your project.
Please test it to see if it can create those waves or that water fall you want and make adjustments.
As you can see in the images above this how it looks when I made it. I hope it works for  you too.
Homemade Piping Gel – Two Recipes
Hi veena, i tried your recipe but we don’t have corn syrup and gelatine so i use agar agar and granulated sugar. And as of now looks fine…. I will let you know when it is complety sit. Thanks.
Ah I didn’t know it would work with Agar Agar or not.. so happy to hear it’s fine. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you Veena for sharing your recipe. Can i replace gelatin with agar powder?
I have not tried agar agar yet Rachana.. I’m thinking agar agar may make it stiffer… Try and let us know if it works.
Hi Veena. Pls can you really tell me the difference between corn syrup and glucose syrup? (from your own point of experience)
he he.. know what you mean.. well, form us simply… Corn syrup and glucose syrup are more or less the same in terms of usage. corn syrup is usually more liquid while glucose in thicker so you have to use a few tsp of water to dilute. Often we use one for the other and it works like in this recipe or in fondant recipes.
Thanks for the recipe. Pls can i replace the corn syrup with glucose syrup in the first recipe
I have not tried it with glucose syrup so not sure if it will work. Let me know the outcome if you try.
Hi, thanks for sharing. I want to make one of them, but I need the pool to be on top of a cake which I frost with vanilla cream. Not butter frosting but similar (made of heavy cream and pudding), can I spread it on top of the cream??
Thanks
yeah I think you can… I’ve not done it but if you make it thick should be ok.
I want a recipe for gumpaste. Also I have a problem.. When I add red colour to the gumpaste it turns pink. How can I get proper red(Christmas red).. Please help me..
Add a dab of brown to deepen the red <3
Can i make this ahead and put in fridge before using it to decorate?
Homemade Piping gel has a short shelf life. I would say two weeks.
Hey Venna,
Can food coloring gel be added to this recipe and at what point is it added?
You can add the gel any time in the process while its still warm
Me as Jain want to know is gelatin pure vegetarian
Hi! I only have high fructose corn syrup here. Can i use that as substitute? Thanks
I think you can use glucose too but I have not tried it yet.
Can i use a high fructose corn syrup?
Hi Veena!
I am LOVING your tutorials! So glad I found this site!
Question on your piping gel recipe: how much vanilla extract do you use & when do you add it? Thanks in advance!
Jenn
You can add it at the end or in between – either is ok.
Thanks a lot veena for sharing your recipe. This is a big help for me. Salamat.
Thanks a lot Veena for this recipe.
How long does this last mean does ut go off x
Thank you Veena for sharing the recipe. This is really what i need =)
Thanks a lot. Very nicely explained tutorial .
thank you for your tutorials I love them.!
madam can we use this piping gel as a protective coating all round the cake/cookie as we use gumpaste instead of buttercream.I want to go for low fat cream.So asking this question
Not sure I understand your question. But this is to be use as glue, to make water effects and such. You can also do stained glass effect. BUt no it is not frosting or filling so do not use it as that.
you can buy 'KARO Light Corn Syrup' from Tesco [£3.50] it will be in the international food isle [America] BUT, having googled for a substitute you can use GOLDEN SYRUP and if i'd've known that I would have used it..
instead of corn syrup, try using glucose syrup. I’m in New Zealand and have found corn syrup in a specialty store, 4oz for about $7.00, so I’m going to try with glucose syrup.
could you please tell what corn syrup is, I live in England and want to know what to use, thank you for your time
could you please tell what corn syrup is, I live in England and want to know what to use, thank you for your time
Love this
Thanks
Can I use this to make a lake then put fondant kayaks on it or will they dissolve? thank you
Can I use glucose gel in place of corn syrup?
Hi I was wondering is there I can use something to replace corn syrup with- glycerol, honey….?
What can i use to replace the lemon if i do not want to use it?
Hi I had a question…can we add food colouring to the piping gel? and when do we add it? When it is hot or after it cools down..Thanks a ton for your help 🙂
Hi,
You can add the food coloring when it is still hot. it makes it easier to mix as it is still at a runny consistency. once it cools off, it thickens more. you can still do it when it is cold, just mix well. Also, go one drop of coloring at a time. one drop goes a long way; it does not take much.
hope this helps.
hiya – I wanted to ask about Piping Gel… how soon do I need to put this on the cake? will it last over night/ few days? or smudge the fondant – I will be transporting the cake in the car for a few hours? any tips…pls thx u
Hi Veena, I google searched for piping gel for cakes and found your recipe. Is it really this simple? I'll try it this week and let you know. 🙂 Thanks a bunch 🙂
Gauri.
Because the recipe says corn SYRUP not oil
Why are you using corn oil? It's corn syrup…!
Sorry you probably misread..
Try again..
what is 2 cups in grammes please
Hi just wanted to ask if I can use china grass powder as I cant use gelatin and the only suitable for vegetarians are in a sheet so not sure how many to use?
Thanks for the piping gel info.I used to get confused about the recipe but now i am sure i can make one..
Hi veena is piping gel and neutral gel are same.
Hi Sejal… not sure what is neutral gel..!! Not heard of it.
If you see the recipe – for piping gel perhaps check the list of ingredients for neutral gel and decide how similar they are
Thanks