Filling a Pastry Bag

To fill a pastry bag, first place your pastry tip inside the bag and poke it out the small hole in the bottom corner, wedging it tightly in place. Give the corner of the bag a twist, and push the twisted part of the bag into the tip. This will keep whatever you put into the bag from being forced out the tip as you fill the bag. Holding the bag with one hand, use the other hand to fold down the top of the bag to create a wide cuff. It should be about one-half the length of the bag. Don’t cheat on the depth of the cuff or you’ll have a mess on your hands later on—literally! Use your free hand to open up the bag to create a nice, big opening for your filling. Using a rubber spatula or a rounded plastic bowl scraper, carefully fill the bag half full. Don’t overfill it, or you will spend your time cleaning up after yourself and messing up your cake or tart. Once the bag is half full, uncuff it and push the filling to the bottom of the bag. Untwist the twisted part you jammed into the tip, and push the filling into the tip, forcing out any air bubbles at the same time. Twist the top of the bag several times at the point at which the filling ends.