Cake Decorating Ideas

A delightful cake is all that we require celebrating an occasion. It not only adds color to our joy but also transcends us into a glorious world of fashionable food.

No cake is complete without its decoration. In fact decoration makes the cake fancier and makes us more eager to have it. For decorating a cake all that is required is sugar for icing and plentiful creative ideas to enhance the look and feel of the cakes. Moulds are available in the market in various shapes and sizes such as flower moulds or moulds in the shape of some cartoon characters. Thick cream can be filled in these moulds to get different kinds of items for beautification. Apart from cream other edible articles such as chocolates(grated, solidified into figures or in the liquid form), candies, butter cream, fruit pieces like cherries, strawberries and pineapples can be used according to imagination and occasion.

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Thematic decoration of the cakes not only adds flavor to the occasion but also proves the importance of the occasion. Such as a cake meant for a wedding or an anniversary can be given a glossy or a snowy look by sprinkling fine sugar loosely over the top layer and its sides can be decked out with floral designs made of soft cream. Likewise a kid's party or a birthday can be made more colorful by positioning Disney characters using moulds on the top layer.

Cake Decorating Ideas

Cake decorations can also be designed with similar colors or symbols to remind important days like a cake with the color of national flag or symbol add stars to the celebration of the Independence Day. Similar arrangements can be done matching to the taste of the season.

There are a number of frostings or icings used for cake decorations. Victorian style, Royal icing, Fondant, Ganache, Marzipan are a few of them.

While cake decoration is a form of fine art, there are a number a number of culinary schools that teach this wonderful art. This art form can be learned from home too with the help of various books and CDs that provide step by step, simple procedures to master this skill. Cake decorating can become a good source of income once you become proficient in this art. Greater numbers of companies are looking for new and creative ideas for the decoration and ornamentation of the sugary coated sweet desserts. It can also be developed as a hobby that provides immense satisfaction and applauds once you are through with it. Hence cake decoration is a magnificent art.

Cake Decorating Ideas

Cake Decorating Ideas is a blog dedicated to cake decorating. Learn decorating techniques, view pictures of beautifully decorated cakes, read about what tools you can use to decorate cakes, and more by visiting this blog.

Cake Decorating Techniques - Icing Your Cake

Icing a cake is probably one of the most challenging yet fun part of baking a cake. It is challenging because it takes skill to produce a smooth finish and this improves with practice; fun because there are so many ways of icing a cake and make it look beautiful.

What types of icing are there?

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- Buttercream
- Fondant
- Royal icing
- Ganache
- Glazing
- Meringue

The most common form of icing is buttercream which is also the type that you get out of the ready-made mixes. It is made of butter, confectionery sugar and milk, although some have eggs and salt depending on what you prefer.

Preparing your cake for icing

1. Once the cake is baked, allow it to cool completely over a wire rack before you start icing. If you apply icing on a cake that is not completely cooled, your icing will not turn out well. If you do not have time to do the frosting on the same day, you may refrigerate the cake for a day or two. If you need more time you can also freeze the cake. Make sure you wrap it in cling wrap and then in aluminium foil. In this case, you will need to defrost the cake completely before you start icing. If it is not completely thawed at room temperature, you will notice that your icing will 'sweat'.

2. Make sure the cake is flat. If it is not flat, slice the bottom layer so that it sits flat on the table. Never use the sliced surface for icing.

3. A swivel cake stand would be useful as it enables you to handle your spatula at your best angles.

4. Place strips of wax paper around the borders of your cake so that your icing does not smear the cake board.

Applying the Icing onto your cake

1. You will need to have two layers of icing, the first layer being the 'base' to seal the crumbs. This is just a thin layer of icing. Let it set completely before applying the next layer. You may refrigerate the cake for a day so that it completely seals the crumbs.

2. Make a considerable amount of icing to produce a smooth and even finish. The last thing you want is insufficient icing and you need to make another batch. Worse still, you make do with what you have and produce an uneven finish.

3. If you want to add colour to your icing, use paste colour instead of liquid colour. The latter may change the consistency of your icing.

4. Starting from the middle of the cake, use a large metal spatula to spread the icing towards the edges. Be careful not to scrape up the crumbs.

5. For the sides of the cake you may choose to use a small angled metal spatula. With the spatula vertical, carefully work your way around the cake. Some people prefer to start from the top of the cake, whilst others from the side. It is entirely up to you and how you think it works best for you.

6. The tip is to dip your metal spatula in hot water to produce a smooth finish. Over time with practice, what may take up to an hour may become a 5-minute job to you.

Now that you have covered the cake with frosting, it is up to your imagination to decorate. Piping, fresh flowers, fruits, candy, nuts....have some fun and let your flair and creativity take over!

Cake Decorating Techniques - Icing Your Cake

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How to Make Icing For Cake Decorating

Cake decorating is an enjoyable hobby. Once you have decorated one, you'll be looking for occasions to do it again. Start out simple and in no time you will advance in your new found talent. First things first; if you don't already have icing decorator bags and tips, go to your local hobby shop and purchase these.

This basic cake decorator icing recipe will yield great results.

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1 bag confectioners' sugar
1 cup shortening
1 teaspoon almond extract

Beat this icing mixture on low speed about one minute to combine, then on high speed for an additional 3 minutes. If the icing is too thick, add a couple drops of water; but just a few, as you don't want a thin icing that will be near impossible to decorate with.

Never substitute butter or margarine for the shortening, or your icing will be an off-white color. Also, don't bother with liquid food coloring. Using colored paste will give richer colors and won't cause your icing to thin out.

When you spread the icing on the cake, use a long bladed knife to ensure smoothness. Afterward, there are usually a couple areas that need further smoothing out. Dip a clean knife into very hot water and run the blade over the rough areas of icing with a light hand.

Animal shaped cake pans are popular with children and easy to decorate as well.

Here is an elegant pattern used by beginners as well as experts -- After smoothly icing the sides and top of the cake, let sit for at least 4 hours, allowing the icing to slightly harden. Lay a paper doily onto the cake. Sprinkle colored sugar crystals over the doily; carefully remove the doily. All around the edge of the top and bottom, decorate with small stars using a star tip. Whenever decorating the bottom and top edges with a shell border, stars, etc., the border on the top should be smaller in comparison to the bottom. Now show off your lovely cake!

How to Make Icing For Cake Decorating

If you are eager to know more about cake decorating check out the popular Cake Decorating Course here.

Kid Birthday Cake Idea Collection - Cake Decorating Without Fear

Our kid birthday cake idea collection makes cake decorating fun and fearless. You don't have to be a pastry chef to create a professional quality cake for your child's birthday or other special event. Learn unique and easy cake decorating ideas to make spectacular homemade cakes.

PARTY CAKE CONCEPT AND DESIGN

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The most important kid birthday cake idea is choosing a cake concept which fits with your party theme. You can start with a simple sheet cake topped with small toys or figures, or piece the cake itself to form a unique design.

For example, a Construction Party cake could be topped with tiny toy dumptrucks and bulldozers pushing a chocolate chip mountain. Or, the cake itself could be cut, pieced and frosted to look like a dump truck.

For a Train Party, set a miniature choo-choo train on licorice tracks atop your cake, or line up several brightly colored frosted loaf cakes to form train cars.

For a Luau party, a simple round or sheet cake can be festooned with a silk flower lei, or form a string of cupcakes in a circle and adorn each one with silk or frosting flowers. Connect with a licorice string to make a cupcake "lei".

Baking cakes in an oven-safe glass bowl or in a special 3D sports ball pan is great for making any kind of perfectly round ball cake, or the dress part of a Barbie doll cake. A wonder mold cake pan makes small single serving doll cakes and other cute creations!

Think of the design you'd like to make and what shapes you need to make it - round, sheet, loaf, cupcakes, or a combination.

Peruse cake decorating books for a kid birthday cake idea which fits your needs. Many books provide templates forcutting and piecing cakes to create any number of popular designs. You decide just how simple or challenging your cake will be.

For a no-fuss kid birthday cake idea, apply an edible cake art image to the top of a frosted cake. Many popular themes and copyrighted images such as Disney are available to provide a professional looking cake design.

Themed cake pans are another popular cake decorating option. They provide the shape and visual design to follow for an impressive finished cake. Popular TV and cartoons characters are well represented in cake pans, as well as teddy bears, butterflies, pirates, Tigger,Mickey Mouse, and lots more.

FROSTING CHOICES

Homemade Frosting - Dig up that famous family recipe or check out one of the many online recipe sites and make your cake frosting from scratch. Be sure to plan ahead how much of each color will be needed for both basic foundation and decorative trim.

Canned and Tube Frostings - Easiest and quickest, prepared canned frostings are available in grocery stores in the baking aisle with the cake mixes. They generally come in white, chocolate, and a handful of other popular flavors. Keep a few ready-to-use tube frostings on hand in various basic colors to add the finishing touches.

Fondant Frosting - Gaining in popularity in this country in recent years, fondant frosting gives a beautiful smooth finish to your cake decorating creation. Fondant can be rolled out and draped over a cake, poured on as a glaze, or sculpted into shapes. It is easily tinted, and can be flavored as well. Ready-made fondant is available through party supply outlets. There are also many recipes online for homemade fondant.

CAKE DECORATING WITH CANDY AND SMALL TOYS

Cookies, candies, and other materials can be used for special and impressive effects. Frosted sugar cones can serve as the fins on a space ship cake or the turrets on a castle cake. Make a surprise cake filling with jello.

A wide variety of plastic stand-ups or cake toppers are available in craft stores. Or, simply use a toy which fits in with the party theme as a cake topper and give it to the party child when the party is over. Action figures, small dolls, animals and cartoon characters all make good choices.

Add cool candy accents with M & M's, licorice pieces, licorice whips, animal crackers, oreo cookies, paper umbrellas, pretzel sticks, tootsie rolls, jimmies, gummies such as worms, bears, etc, gumdrops, mini marshmallows, colored coconut, jellybeans.

THE LATEST CAKE DECORATING FADS!

There are many novel choices for placing the finishing touches on your party cake. Dress it up in style with one or more of these unique special effects:

Spray Color Mist - is a fun addition to your baking repertoire. Frost your cake white, then spray on edible color from an aerosol can. Available in many colors, it can be used with stencils to make unique designs, as a highlight to whipped topping - even on your child's mashed potatoes!

Luster Dusts - are an edible food safe "dust" which can be used on any frosting recipe that dries hard and firm to the touch. Brush it on white frosting for a metallic-like glossy sheen or layer it for interesting color effects.

Cake Stampers - can be used along with brush-on color for fondant icing. Simply stamp shapes and designs into the finished fondant and tint with brush-on color.

Cake Stencils - Place stencil on iced cake and sprinkle edible glitter, confetti sprinkles, or use spray-on color mist.

Edible Color Markers - These unique markers are used just like an ink marker. Draw fun designs on cakes, cookies, fondant frosting, even cheese, fruit slices and bread. Decorating marker kits are available for children.

Edible sugar-shape decorations,
decorative candles, themed cake picks and rings,and edible glitter are all fun tools in your cake baking arsenal.

Now you're armed with lots of great ideas for cake decorating success - without fear!

Go forth and create... and above all, have fun!

For more cake decorating information, check out our webpage: Kid Birthday Cake Idea Collection

Copyright 2005 Kids Party Paradise All Rights Reserved

Kid Birthday Cake Idea Collection - Cake Decorating Without Fear

Patricia B. Jensen is a mother of three and kids party enthusiast. She is the webmaster and owner of Kids-Party-Paradise.com - a complete resource for kids party ideas including invitations, cakes, decorations, games, costumes, favors, and food.

For all the latest party news, read her Kids Party Blog.

10 Cake Decorating Tips For Buttercream Frosting

Buttercream frosting is probably the most popular cake decorating ingredient. It is light and fluffy, and with a modest amount of practice is easy to use with basic kitchen tools, a decorator's bag, and a variety of tips. Following are ten basic buttercream cake decorating tips:

1. Use the right icing consistency. For example, stiff icing works for roses and carnations; medium icing works for covering the cake, borders, and stars; and thin icing is good for writing and making leaves.
2. Remember the undercoat - spread a thin layer of icing onto the cake to seal in the freshness and to prevent crumbs from mixing into the main layer of icing.
3. Cover the bowl with a damp towel to keep the icing moist.
4. Always refrigerate leftover icing as it is perishable. It will keep for up to two weeks if well sealed. Rewhip any icing that has been stored before trying to put it on the cake.
5. Shop for cake decorating supplies at a major craft store or a cake decorating supply store for the best selection of colors and other supplies.
6. Items to include in your starter tool kit: pastry bags, couplers, icing spatula, serrated scraper and a variety of icing tips. With the correct tips you can create decorations such as twisted ropes and leaves, stars, swirls, scrolls, embroidery, shells, dots, and zigzags.
7. Never color icing with liquid food color as it will alter icing consistency - try a gel or paste.
8. Add color carefully, gradually mixing in very small amounts at a time - stop when the color is almost the shade you want - the color will get darker with time.
9. Purchase tubes of pre-colored icing - handy when you make multi-colored decorations. You can even purchase ready-made icing for the whole cake when you are pressed for time.
10. Buttercream will melt if the temperature is too hot - something to keep in mind if you are planning a summer garden party.

Bonus Cake Decorating Tip - How to Learn More

Cake Recipes

The main skill needed for decorating with buttercream frosting is knowing how to use a decorator's bag - knowing what pressure to apply and the angle to hold the bag is crucial, as is becoming familiar with the many different tips for creating different effects. Another skill that will help you make impressive cakes is transferring patterns to a cake by tracing them with piping gel.

The best way to acquire cake decorating skills is to attend classes in the community or online. Some people can learn from books, but this approach isn't for everyone. The advantage of courses is that you connect to an instructor and other students - you'll find that over time you will share many cake decorating tips and ideas with your new friends.

10 Cake Decorating Tips For Buttercream Frosting

Learn more about taking buttercream frosting cake decorating classes to take your skills to the next level. Are you enthusiastic about cake decorating? Then discover a series of free cake decorating tips including more buttercream frosting cake decorating tips.

All the Best Cake Decorating Tips

You don't have to be Martha Stewart to follow these easy and simple cake decorating tips. All you need is the desire to create a beautiful cake and the guts to try something new and different in the kitchen.

One of the best cake decorating tips you will ever get is about supplies. The secret to beautiful and creative cake decorating is working with the proper tools. If you don't have the right tools, the process will be more difficult, less enjoyable and probably even a bit less attractive. There are number of different tools used in the cake decorating trade, so plan ahead and make sure you have everything you need before the cake goes in the oven.

Cake Recipes

The basics of cake decorating starts at the beginning - with the cake pan. Everyone has the generic 13 by 9-inch rectangular pan that most cakes are made in. Some people even splurge and purchase a Bundt pan or a couple of round cake pans for making a layer cake. There is a much wider world of cake pans out there to be had, and they come in all shapes and sizes - from Barbie to Superman to flowers to giant cupcakes.

Probably the simplest way to make a fun and different cake is to use a decorative cake pan. Depending on the design and shape of the cake, you may be able to frost and decorate it just as you normally would but using a few different colors of frosting. Most specialty cake pans come with ideas and cake decorating tips, so check the package before you throw it out.

Sometimes creating a special and unique cake is an easy as cutting the cake into a few different shapes. For a small child, cut the cake into a bunch of squares, frost them and mark them with letters to create a cake of blocks. For older children, cut the cake into their initials or their age. A sharp knife and a bit of creativity are all you need for this little trick. It is also handy to use a cardboard or paper cutout as a cutting guide if you're a little shaky with the knife. It just prevents mistakes and helps get it looking just right.

Kids love to help out in the kitchen, so get them into the cake decorating party too. This is especially sweet for a parent's birthday. What Mom or Dad wouldn't be thrilled with a birthday cake that was decorated specially for them by their kids? It doesn't matter what goes on top of the cake. Put out sprinkles, candies and whatever you have on hand in little bowls. Frost the cake and then let the kids have at it. They will have a blast and the result will be a unique and special birthday surprise.

All the Best Cake Decorating Tips

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Cake Decorating Tips Using Fondant Icing

Decorative cakes are highly popular today. It is mostly seen in weddings, debuts, and on birthday parties. Most of the layered cakes you usually saw in weddings are made out of fondant icing.

Fondant icing is widely used by professional bakers around the world. Fondant is a thick and creamy sugar mixture used in designing and decorating cookies and cakes. It is much easier to use for decorating custom made cakes compared to buttercream frosting.

Cake Recipes

If you are a skilled baker or an aspiring one, creating fondant based cakes is very exciting and a fun baking experience. Below are some tips for cake decorating for you to practice.

For beginners, handling fondant may get tough and messy. Don't fret. There are ready made fondant icings that are for grabs on the market. You can choose from getting a rolled fondant or poured fondant.

Rolled fondant is much easier to use for cake decorating. They can be made available in various tastes such as chocolate, custard, mocha, caramel and other exciting flavours. Since they are bought with flavours, they came in with different colours too. You can instantly cover and pattern the fondant icing over you cake in a matter of minutes. Be careful not to tear the rolled fondant whenever you cover your cake.

You can use cookie cutters with different sizes and shapes to create designs on rolled fondant. You can design or create just about anything. If you are skilled in moulding, you can create ruffles, flowers and various stuffs. You can use the rolled fondant to create those. Your creativity can play and ideas are widely open.

Poured fondant is more advanced than rolled fondant. It may require some skill and coordination when decorating your cake or cookie. The first step you will have to do is heat the icing or melt the candy. Check the box or label on pre-heating instructions. Follow the steps to achieve the desired amount and texture of the icing.

Fondant icings are quick to dry and harden. After heating the icing, you may need to set it aside in order to cool. Make sure your work station is clean and dry. When the icing is cooled, place it on a piping bag. You can now have control over the icing and make designs for your cake.

Working with fondant can be hard and fun at the same time. You can create a wide range of designs with it. You can find a large array of resources such as cookbooks and magazines to gain ideas on how to decorate cakes.

Cake Decorating Tips Using Fondant Icing

The author writes about giving tips on cake decorating for moms and aspiring bakers.