Basic Cake Decorating Techniques

A celebration without cake is incomplete! Beautifully decorated and iced cakes immediately catch attention at any event, be it parties, weddings, or birthdays. The art of cake decoration is centuries old. Iced with butter cream, fondant, icing flowers and decorated with cake toppers, such cake are almost irresistible! From all around the world, chefs and bakers have used the art of decoration to make delectable masterpieces, which have become the centerpieces of all kinds of occasion. How many times have you wished to decorate a cake and get applauded by your guests? While cake decorating is an art, it is also an art that almost anyone can learn. Decorating a cake consists of a few basic methods. It can be as simple as adding touch with buttercream icing or can be complex as making intricate designs! While creativity is an essential ingredient needed to decorate a cake, the correct tools and some easy tips can make this easier to attain. Here are some basic cake decoration techniques to help you in designing those mouth-watering delicacies.

Easy Tips For Cake Decoration

Make sure that the cake has cooled completely, before starting with decorations. Warm cake can spoil your decoration!
The next thing that you should remember is to put all cake decorating tools near your reach. You will need decorating bags to hold the icing. You can choose from featherweight, disposable and parchment bag.
For creating various designs on your cake, you will need decorating tips. Along with decorating tips, you will need a two-part device called coupler, which will help you interchange several decorating tips without changing the bag. It’s a great convenience to decorate your cake with a variety of designs, using the same color icing!
Before icing your cake, it will be a good idea to level the cake, to give it a professional look. Level the cake with the help of cake leveler. But, do make sure to wait until cake has cooled down for at least one hour, before leveling.
Icing is the most important part of cake decoration. It’s essential to maintain the right icing consistency for that perfect look of the cake. If the icing consistency is not correct, your decoration won’t be perfect either. You might need to try different icing consistency, when decorating a cake, to find which works the best. As a general rule, if you feel that your icing is too thin, add a little more confectioners' sugar. The technique is to add the sugar little by little, as excess can result in stiff icing. If you feel that icing is too thick, a few drops of corn syrup can do the magic.
Remember that consistency of icing will differ with its usage. Stiff icing is generally used for creating upright flower petals. A bit less consistency will make the flower petals droop. You can use medium consistency of icing for petals and stars. Thin icing is used for writing messages on the cake.
Color is as essential to your decorating. Use your favorite colors in your decoration. To begin, use white icing with concentrated icing color, this will not affect your icing consistency. Avoid using standard food colors, as they can thin down your icing, thus affecting your ability to make certain decorations. The trick is to dip a toothpick into the color and swirl it into the icing. Add color little at a time, to attain the desired shade. Using spatula, blend the icing well.
Keeping crumbs out of the icing and preparing perfectly smooth iced cake seems a difficult task? Start with thinning the icing by adding three to four tablespoons of corn syrup. This will help in spreading it easily on the cake. The trick to keep crumbs out of your icing is by using spatula. Glide your spatula over the icing, not allowing it to touch the cake surface or to pull out already spread icing from the cake surface.
Once you are finished with icing, start decorating the cake. The angle and direction of holding the decorating bag plays an important role in this. This will influence the shapes and patterns you will make. Generally, there are two simple ways of holding the bag. The first way is to hold it at 45 degrees, to make sweeping styles and shapes. Another way is to hold at 90 degrees. It will only need easy movements for easy decoration.
Set your imagination free and decorate your cake with some basic patterns, like bows, basket weave, and lacework.
Sprinkle powdered sugar, sugar sprinkles, or cocoa powder on top of the cake to garnish it.

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