Start Off With These Basic Cake Decorating Tips

After you have baked the cake, and it has cooled, the next step is decorating the cake. While this can be a fun and pleasurable task, this is also the step that takes a bit of skill and patience. I hope, these cake decorating tips will allow you to have more fun and a finish that you will be proud of.

Let’s begin with the basics. The cake decorating tips that are essential and things that you need to know before you start. You will need a work place with plenty of space. One that will provide enough room to be able to decorate your cake without being cramped. You also need to be away from disturbances and distractions and not be in the way of others. The first thing you should know about cake decorating, is that the cake must be completely cooled before you make any attempt to decorate. If the cake is still warm, you will run into many problems.

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The next item is to make sure you have gathered all of the tools and ingredients for decorating your cake. Some items you will need are: a syringe or piping bag, the type and size tips you will be using, and the coupler to attach the tips to the piping bag. You will need to plan how you will decorate the cake ahead of time, so you can have all of the tools you need on hand when you begin decorating.

To begin with you need to ice, or frost the cake with royal icing, butter cream icing, or fondant icing. To start with, make sure you place a thin layer of frosting over the top to hold the crumbs together. When that is done, you will frost over that layer. It is important to make sure the icing you use is the right consistency. If the icing is too thin or too thick it will affect the end result of your cake decorating. If you are creating a decorated cake and you think your frosting is too thin, you can add a bit more confectioners sugar. Make sure you add this a little at a time as it can become too stiff if you add too much. If you feel your icing is too stiff, carefully add a bit more liquid.

Icing is used in different consistencies for different cake decorating techniques. When you are making roses, or any flower with upright petals, and will be piping figures on the cake, you will want to use a stiff icing or your petals may droop. To make stars, flowers with flat petals, and shell borders, you will want to use a medium consistency. A thin icing is used for writing on the cake, and thinner, more delicate work such as vines and leaves. If you add about 2 teaspoons of light corn syrup to your icing, you will find the icing will flow easier and make it more flexible.

flowers with flat petals. A thin icing mixture should be used for writing characters, and thinner, pointier shapes and styles such as leaves and vines. Add a couple of teaspoons of light corn syrup to the icing mix to make it more flexible and easier flowing.

Once the cake is iced, it is time to begin decorating. The way you hold the icing bag is important, as the direction and angle you hold the piping bag will influence the way the patterns and shapes you will create, will turn out. Thankfully there are only two positions to hold the piping bag to make certain designs.

The firs position is to hold the piping bag at a 90 degree angle, straight up from the surface of the cake. This is used for the simpler decorations that don’t involve a lot of movement in making the design. The center of rosebuds, adding eyes to a character or making stars and dots. The other position involves the piping bag being held at a 45 degree angle, or holding the bag half-way between straight up and the surface of the cake.

In this position you have more flexibility to create sweeping styles, and create shapes with your piping hand. You can use this angle for flower petals, or writing on the cake. Some of the piping tips, like the tips for basket weave, petal and ruffle, have ends that are irregular. There is a right and wrong way to hold the bag when working with them.

Now that you know the basics here are a few tips to start you on your way to making a decorated cake.

- Basket Weave - Using this technique will give the sides of your cake the look of a basket. You may want to practice on a piece of waxed paper until you feel confident enough to begin on the cake. Using the basket weave tip and an icing that is of medium consistency, take turns applying a vertical stripe, following it with a horizontal stripe across the vertical. Make sure the horizontal stripes are a bit longer so the vertical stripe will fit across it. Soon you will see a basket pattern become apparent.

- Bows - This technique will make your cake look like a wrapped gift. Use a flat tip and medium icing. Hold your bag at a 45 degree angle and sweep your bag left, making half of the bow. Make the same movement to the right, making a figure 8. Hold the bag and sweep downward and out from the center of the bow, once on each side to make 2 streamers.

- Lacework - This technique is great for wedding or baby shower cakes. You should practice this technique to make sure you have good control before you use it in your cake decorating. Using thin white icing, hold the bag at nearly a 90 degree angle and very close to the surface of the cake. You will want to make a border so you will need to decide how far you want to go in from the edge and make an icing border.

Move the tip up down and around to make many similar shapes, do not touch or cross the other designs. Do this until the area is as full as you want it to be. Now you can go over the border on both sides with a thicker icing. You will be amazed at the lacework you have created.

Well there you are, just those few basic cake decorating tips alone will help you in your cake decorating venture. Now I have one more tip that I would like to pass on. If you are really serious about improving your cake decorating techniques, maybe even contemplating starting up your own cake decorating business. My tip is that you get hold of a copy of “Cake Decorating Business Secrets”. Do not buy it there though. I have organized a massive discount through the link further down the page.

I can highly recommend this book. The co author is Cindy Petrie a former student of my cake decorating school. I have read their books (yes you are getting two for the price of one) and in them they are passing on to you everything that Cindy learned from me. In these two books Caroline and Cindy tell you everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) you want to know and need to know about decorating cakes and operating a cake decorating business.

They give you recipes, cake decorating techniques, cake decorating tips and shortcuts, they tell you how to set up a cake decorating business, what you will need for your business, how to run your business, how to market your business, look what Caroline and Cindy don’t tell you is not worth knowing. And the way that everything is set out and explained makes it so easy to understand and follow. “Cake Decoration Business Secrets” and “Frosting Perfection” are the names of the books. Go get them through this link where I have organized a massive 70% discount off the price and you will also pick up a copy of “Cake Decorating For Beginners for free .

Photo credits: I would like to thank Sylvar for the use of her photos.on this page.