Baking - Red Velvet Cupcakes

A friend is addicted to these reality TV shows - Real Housewives of Something Something - and they apparently guzzle these Red Velvet Cupcakes and she was desperate to try one. So I had a crack at them. Well - the verdict fromn the old boy was they were a bit dry, and I have to concede that was probably true. But they were still edible. But how to get your icing neat? I can never do it...