How To Make An Icing Pansy

Many of us have looked at cakes and cupcakes in the windows of bakeries and assumed that those beautiful designs adorning our favorite baked goods are not feasible for a home cook.

But Jennifer Aaronson of Martha Stewart Living disagrees — and luckily she was willing to show us how to make our own cakes and cupcakes look as professional as the store-bought kind. One of the easiest flowers to make on a cake is a pansy, and Aaronson says that the materials required are actually quite minimal. "You definitely need a pastry bag and for the pansy you only need two tips, a petal tip... and then you also need just a plain round tip to make the center," she says. If you have that and some different colored icings, you are all set to get started!

You can watch the video above to see how it's done, and if you are inspired you can head over to Martha Stewart for a full series of cake and cupcake-related videos.