I am not an expert cake decorator, or baker for that fact. With that said, I do possess some basic skills to decorate a cake. Some of which I hope will be helpful to you.
Confectioners' Sugar
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| I used a fine sieve instead of a sifter. |
- Sift the confectioners' sugar to eliminate any lumps in the icing
DIY Cake Board
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| Shown: the bottom of the cake board. Use the smooth side as the top. |
- Cover a cutting board with aluminum foil.
- This idea was copied from my SIL who custom makes all her children's cakes.
Pastry Bag
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| Reusable pastry bag, coupling and star tip. |
- You can purchase either disposable or reusable pastry bags. Disposable pastry bags are great for when you are using a variety of different colors or do not want to handwash pastry bags. I prefer a reusable pastry bag for my simple cake decorations.
- To fill a pastry bag:
- Place the pastry bag inside a tall glass and pull the pastry bag over the side of the glass.
- Spoon icing into the glass.
- Lift the pastry bag out of the glass and twist the end (where you filled the icing) and pipe a little icing on a spare plate to remove air bubbles.
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| Keep a firm grip on the top of the pastry bag. |
- To decorate with a pastry bag:
- Use your dominant hand to gently twist the top of the pastry bag
- Use your non-dominant hand to guide
- If the icing starts to melt, wrap the pastry bag in plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 5 minutes for it to firm up
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| The icing firms up nicely after a few minutes in the freezer. |
Frosting the Cake
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| Be generous with the icing for your crumb coat. |
- To frost a cake, first you need to do a crumb coat which gives the cake a nice finished look without any crumbs.
- Generously spoon a good amount of icing to the cake and using an offset spatula or the back of a butter knife, smooth the icing evenly over the cake. Add more icing as needed until the whole cake is covered in icing. To minimize crumbs, chill the crumb coated cake in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to allow the icing to firm up.
- Spoon more icing to the cake and spread evenly until all sides have been covered with icing. Smooth any uneven surfaces.
- Place your cake in the fridge (in its own special area so it won't get squished) to allow the icing to firm up before decorating.
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| Smooth it out or leave it rugged. |
Decorating a cake
- Pipe your design to the cake. Since I am a novice cake decorator, I decorated the edges with stars.
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| Star tips are the easiest to pipe and most forgiving. |
- Write your custom messages first with a toothpick in case you make a mistake or run out of room, you can easily smooth over the boo-boo.
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| Made a mistake? Smooth out the mistake with an offset spatula. |
- Once you have finished decorating your cake, place in the fridge immediately to allow the icing to set.
Here are some ideas and tips on cake decorating from three trusted and reliable sources:
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