Cake Decorating Tips and Tricks for Beginners

Planning a children’s birthday party is a lot of fun, but can involve a lot of decision-making. But maybe there’s one thing that you’ve made up your mind about… the cake! You agreed that this year you want something sweet and from the heart so you decide you want to make a birthday cake for your kids from scratch! Here are some cake decorating tips and tricks to have all your guests enjoy a tasty and beautiful birthday cake.

From the Start

A common mistake many beginner bakers make is decorating pastries before they have completely cooled. If you don’t wait, the frosting will melt into a sticky and runny mess right away. To stop this from happening, try freezing your cake! Go ahead and place the cake in the freezer and don’t remove it until you are ready to decorate. Not only can this method ensure the icing remains on, but it can also even be a real-time saver. You may have some additional time to prepare the cake throughout the week, but by the day of the party, you are concerned about it still being fresh. Hey, don’t be! Cakes can be frozen and still taste new for up to a week. Using this tip, you use spare time efficiently and still have a delicious cake to decorate the day of the party or before.

Baker’s Tools

The secret to a great baker…is great tools. Let’s go through some of the best cake decorating tools for helping beginners look like professionals. To start, a turntable makes it much simpler and smoother to frost the cake. Place the cake on top and gently turn the table to thinly arrange the frosting on both sides of the pastry. We suggest frosting bags for the frosting itself. These can be made for even less than the store-bought types, right at home. What you need are quarter or gallon-sized storage bags, depending on the volume of frosting you want to use. For exact instructions on how to make frosting bags or other cake decorating videos, check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGkbUR61cpc.

Finally, with numerous types and designs, piping tools are handy baking devices that can help you frost your cake. Piping tips have multiple patterns that can be placed in your frosting bag. There would be different ones to pick from at the local grocery shop, or you will also find them in cake decorating kits at craft shops.

Crumble Coat Method

The toughest thing is getting the fondant or icing to look even or lay nicely when you are decorating the cake. To help, try the level and crumble coat approach. The crumble coat serves as a “glue” coating for locking in moisture and creating an even surface. Spread a thin layer over the cake, to begin with, thin enough that you can always see the cake and smooth it over the best you can. Let the thin layer dry up. Don’t begin covering the cake again until the crumb coat dries. The crumble layer keeps any loose crumbs from penetrating the final icing and decorations, making the finished product clean and smooth. As a note- this trick is especially nice for those looking to freeze the birthday cake days before.

All About the Frosting

It can seem like a lot of work to make your own frosting, but it is actually pretty easy! To find which one you think will look and taste better, look at some of your cookbooks or look up some recipes online. Buttercream frosting is the fastest way to go – easy to make and a favorite for most people. Other frosting tips include: starting at the top and working down to the sides and using a palette knife when trying to smooth out the final layer of icing.

Using Piping Techniques

When it comes to methods for cake piping, the more you practice the better you. As a beginner, before adding it to your pastry, you may want to practice on a sheet of wax paper. You should get a feel of how much and how easily the icing comes out of the bag before you spill half of it on the cake unintentionally! This tip allows you to see which designs you like best, as well.

As we mentioned above, there are also plenty of kids’ birthday cake decorating ideas and design methods on YouTube or Pinterest.

More is Less

The star display of your birthday cake is the frosting, so it is best to keep it more simple when it comes to cake toppers and other decorations. Piping tips in the cake can help you make delicate borders or patterns. Using other things to improve the cake with little efforts, such as sprinkles, children’s birthday cake toppers, party candles, etc.

Marshmallow Fondant

Did you plan to use fondant to cover your birthday cake instead of icing? Our last tip is to you! Do not worry if you are out of fondant or can’t manage to make it lie flat on the cake. With only a few simple ingredients, you can make your own pastry fondant—marshmallows, powdered sugar, and water. To make things simpler when laying it down you should add more to the dough you already have or add to the premade fondant if you need more in general.

When baking your own cake, there are plenty of children’s birthday cake decorating ideas to pick from, just make sure to follow the recipe step-by-step and use these tips to make decorating enjoyable and a success. For more suggestions or tricks for birthday celebrations, check out www.bounceu.com.