How To Decorate Cakes – Make Your Icing Even & Smooth

If you want to become a master at cake decorating, you will need training and practice. Once you have mastered cake decorating you could become famous in the cake making industry. If you are a creative person you could go far when it comes to cake decorating.

 

Even a person who is new to cake decorating you want your cake to look beautiful. My mother just made a cake and frosted it, she may have added sprinkles, and she wrote a happy birthday message with icing. Those were our cakes, they may not have been well decorated, but they were tasty. This article will give you ideas and tips to make your cake look much better than Mom used to make.

 

When you make the cake, be sure that the batter is level in the pan before you place it in the oven. Check the cake at 20 minute intervals to make sure the cake is baking evenly, if you find one side of the cake is higher than the other, you should turn the pan around so it will rise evenly. If you find that your cake baked with one side higher, use a knife to even it. You should do this while the cake is warm.

 

The cake should be cooled for at least a day before you even think about starting any cake decorating. The outside of the cake could feel cool, but the middle of the cake may stay warm for hours. Frosting the cake before it is completely cool can ruin your decorating.

 

After the cake has cooled, turn it upside down on a cake board, you will have less crumbs this way. To avoid crumbs all together put a thin layer of icing on the cake. Once you have covered the cake with a thin layer of frosting, you can cover that layer with a normal layer of icing. Make sure the icing is smooth and even. You can dip your metal icing spatula in cold water and go over the icing, this will smooth the icing beautifully.

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Icing is the most important ingredient in cake decorating. The icing should be quite stiff, if it is too stiff to work with you can always thin it out. When you are making the frosting, make a good amount. You will need it for other decorations on the cake. Make sure you have plenty of food coloring, as you will need it to color the icing for different cake decorations.

 

When you are ready to start decorating your cake you will need a few pieces of equipment. You will need more than one pastry bag, and the icing tips you will be using for the decorating you want to do. These items can be bought at craft stores and cake decorating supply store.

 

To start with, choose the tip you will be using first. Hold the pastry bag with the hole down and place the tip inside, as far as possible. You should use about a cup of icing in the bag at a time, and start it out in a bowl, that way you can thin the icing with a little milk if you need to, before you put it in the icing bag. The icing should be thin enough to go through the tip, but thick enough to make the designs you choose. If you are still a novice at cake decorating, you should practice making the decorations on waxed paper before you attempt to put them on the cake.

 

When you are ready to ice the cake, you will need to hold the bag with both hands and apply steady pressure. Applying a steady pressure assures that the icing the icing will come out in an even strip. Unless you are making a long strip of piping, you should place the bag closely over the cake start squeezing and count to three, then stop squeezing and lift the tip up and away from the cake. If this decoration looks the way you want it to, move on to the next one, if it isn’t quite right, keep practicing until you get it. If the cake decoration stays in the shape you intended, then you have the frosting at the right consistency. If it does not hold together, the icing is too thin, and if it was hard to push it through the tip or the cake decoration cracks, the frosting is too thick.

 

You can get a list of the equipment needed for cake decorating before you start. The list can be found in craft store or pastry supply. The basics are Several pastry bags, icing tips, a coupler to hold the tips in the bag. You will find a cake stand would be a big help, as it swivels so you can frost all sides of the cake, and bring the cake up and closer to you. You should also have several sizes of cake pans, a rubber spatula, a short and a long metal cake icing spatula, a sharp knife, and a baking tray. These are the essentials.

 

Although cake decorating can be frustrating at times, it can also be very rewarding when you realize the beautiful cake on that stand is something that you created. With a bit of patience and a can do attitude, you will become and accomplished cake decorator.

looking for a fresh apple cake recipe that you add a caramel icing to and return to the oven to finish baking.?

Question by Cokiejo: looking for a fresh apple cake recipe that you add a caramel icing to and return to the oven to finish baking.?
Last fall I made this cake and it was wonderful. I have lost my recipe and would like to find it again. You make the cake and bake it for several minutes. You make a caramel sauce on the stove top then pour it over the half baked cake and return it to the oven to finish baking. It really is good. If anyone can help me I would greatly appreciate it.

Best answer:

Answer by Nnifer
http://hubpages.com/hub/Recipes-From-Nunny—Apple-Cake

Is this similar?

I’ve never had it, but it sounds delicious and I think I may have to try the recipe. Yum!

What do you think? Answer below!

Moist Apple Dessert Cake With Caramel Icing Recipe

During the fall when apples are in season here on the east coast, I enjoy baking a variety of recipes that use fresh picked apples from our local orchard. This particular recipe was given to me years ago by my grandmother, who was a fabulous baker for many years.

When it comes to making an apple dessert cake, this is my favorite recipe to use. You will want to dice down your peeled apples to about 1 to 1 1/2″ in size, so that the cake bakes evenly.

Ingredients:

2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
3 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups peeled and diced apples
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, cream together the sugar, vegetable oil and eggs until creamy and smooth. Slowly add in the all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt and vanilla extract. Mix until all ingredients are well combined. Fold in the diced apples, coconut and chopped pecans.

Note: This batter will be very stiff, if necessary, stir by hand.

Lightly spray a 9 x 13″ baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Pour the cake batter into the pan. Place pan in a 350 degree oven and bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until the center is done. Remove cake to cool on a wire rack.

Caramel Icing Ingredients:

1 stick of butter, softened
1/4 cup milk
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

In a medium-sized saucepan, combine the butter, milk and brown sugar. Bring mixture to a full boil and boil for 3 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent scorching. Remove from heat and place mixture into a mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat until its creamy and smooth. Spread icing across the top of your cooled cake.

Ang good cake recipes and icing tips?

Question by Jayda Malcolm: Ang good cake recipes and icing tips?
I want to make a cake for thanksgiving. Only chocolate or vanille (or marbel) I perfer. Also, I don’t like nuts or (some) fruits on cake. Do you have any reccomendations? I would also like some icing cake tips. One more thing, how do you make fondant and place it on a cake? Thanks for your help!

Best answer:

Answer by Tiffany
Just a small tip.. when making cake, always add about a tablespoon of extra oil. It makes the cake stay moist, even days later.

Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!

The Icing on the Cake: Complementing Your Wedding with the Right Cake

Kate Middleton is class and elegance personified.  She’s also quite the trendsetter, so will her choice of fruit cake for her wedding cake give this much maligned cake new life?   In England, the fruit cake bears little resemblance to the dried up, hard, fruitcake of the US.  The royal’s cake will be moist, loaded with spices, grated oranges and lemons, currants, raisins, and roasted nuts.  It will also be soaked in brandy and have decadent, creamy frosting.  That sounds a little better than the brick-like object that shows up around Christmas, doesn’t it?  English fruit cake may be traditional across the pond, but it would be a very unusual – and delicious – choice here.  What other unique cake options can you consider to make your special day stand out?

Gingerbread.  This is a great choice for holiday weddings, but why limit the goodness of gingerbread to just one season a year?  A cute idea for favors is to make gingerbread cookies in the shape of a tiered wedding cake and decorate it with royal icing and small embellishments, like candy pearls.  If you do not want to commit to an entire cake of gingerbread, use gingerbread people cake toppers for a fun, fresh touch.

Similarly, spice cakes work beautifully for fall weddings. Why not try pumpkin or orange spice with a creamy buttercream frosting?

Espresso. This is a popular color for weddings, but it can be a great choice for your cake’s flavor as well.  Try a chocolate espresso cake with layers of coffee liqueur and espresso-flavored buttercream.  Other coffee flavors are excellent choices too: try a café au lait cake filled with crème brulee custard and frosted with milky buttercream.  Rich and delicious.

Hazelnut. Slice into a hazelnut-coriander cake with whipped praline ganache, chocolate cake with hazelnut filling, or even Mexican Wedding Cakes (which are shortbread-like, melt-in-your-mouth cookies made with finely ground hazelnut).

You can also forgo the cake completely.  Many couples are opting to go with cupcakes, or fairy cakes, which are a smaller version of the cupcake.  Others are doing dessert buffets with a wide variety of tasty treats, while still others are choosing a candy buffet.

And for the people who cannot decide?  Instead of using the traditional tiered cake, you can place each layer on its own stand (and vary the heights) to make a wonderful presentation.  This allows you to try a variety of different flavors.  You can, if you like, use a common frosting to tie them together, but you are certainly not obligated to.

The big theme in wedding cakes is to have your cake and eat it too; choose tastes you love, think outside ordinary white on white concoctions, and be creative.  Not only are cake decorations getting more vibrant and bold, so too are the flavors.

 

 

Wilton 601-5580 1/2-Ounce Certified-Kosher Icing Colors, Set of 12

Wilton 601-5580 1/2-Ounce Certified-Kosher Icing Colors, Set of 12

• Set of 12 1/2-ounce icing colors for tinting buttercream, Royal Icing, fondant, and more
• Spectrum of primary colors plus Teal, Burgundy, Black, Brown, and Copper
• Icing colors can be mixed to create beautifully customized shades
• Great for beginning and experience cake decorators alike; certified kosher
• Measures approximately 3 by 3 by 3-4/5 inches each

Our most popular collection creates the spectrum of primary colors plus light and dark skin tones, teal and burgundy. 12 Icing Colors Set

List Price: $ 13.99

Price:

Yummy 3d Dark Chocolate Birthday Cake with Icing Charm Necklace with Crystals and Cherry On Top

Yummy 3d Dark Chocolate Birthday Cake with Icing Charm Necklace with Crystals and Cherry On Top

• Yummy Yummy Necklace with a Cherry on Top! Cake is in 3d with Icing Drizzled on top
• It’s accented with Multi-Colored Austrian Crystals & Glitter
• Pendant Measures 3/4″ ~ Snake Necklace Chain Measures 17″
• Silver Overlay ~ Bright Silver Finish ~ Nickel & Lead Free
• Comes in beautiful gift packaging by Ks Charming Designs!

A cute addition to our collection! Check our store out for more cupcakes and celebration jewelry! More at Ks Charming Designs.

List Price: $ 36.99

Price:

Tips For Selecting The Right Chocolate Cake Icing

While most people might, somewhat accurately, feel that any chocolate cake icing is the “right” icing, there is actually much more to it than that. For example, it might sound good to pair a dark chocolate cake with a bittersweet chocolate buttercream because the two flavors are so similar, but in reality this sort of combination could end up being nauseatingly sweet and rich. The way to select the right icing for a chocolate cake is to first determine if the frosting really “works” with the type and flavor of the cake selected.

What does that mean? The type of cake indicates the sort of “crumb” and texture that the cake has, and the flavor simply means the actual variety of cake. Is it to be a yellow cake, vanilla, chocolate? Is it to be a moist cake, a dense cake, a cake made with fruit and nuts? All of these factors have a tremendous impact on the type of frosting or icing used. For instance, is the icing to be fluffy and light? Is it to be more of a glaze? Perhaps a chocolate fondant is the solution? It takes some thought and even a bit of experimentation to select the ideal pairing.

Luckily, the large number of recipes for icings using chocolate as the main flavor can make it somewhat easy to create a winning combination. There is then the need to really gauge the outcome before committing to the recipe, because there is always the issue of the weight of the cake and the icing too. This means that you should consider if the cake can actually “stand up” beneath the weight of the frosting.

Need an example? For this illustration we will say that you are trying to select the right icing for a batch of cupcakes that are to be served at a party. You want to decorate these cupcakes with symbols and designs that match the overall theme of the party. You know that the cupcake batter is based on a golden cake and that it has the sort of texture that is similar to a sponge cake recipe. This means that the cake can easily stand up to heavier icings, and would in fact be more suited to them. This means you can scout out a good ganache, fondant, or chocolate glaze recipe to use on this sturdier type of cake. Had you opted for a lighter batter, such as a cake mix that boasted of its moist and fluffy texture, you would have been better served by a chocolate buttercream or a whipped frosting that didn’t put any sort of weight atop the cake.

We have considered the various factors that you must use when selecting a frosting recipe, and they include the weight of the cake and the icing, the balance of sweetness and flavor, and the ability for the chocolate frosting to really work with the actual cake itself. When you make a habit of considering these factors before selecting a recipe, you can usually anticipate really excellent results.

does anyone know a good buttercream icing and Mousse recipe?

Im making a thanksgiving cake, its layered Red velvet/ Eggnog cake with fondant on top.
the flavor i was thinking about doing for the buttercream was chocolate, Eggnog, or Cream cheese, and for the mousse filling i was thinking about doing a chocolate-caramel with finley chopped Heath bar, or a caramel-coffee mousse.
Does anyone know any other buttercream and mousse that would go great with the cake flavors? or do you think any of my idea are good? i cant decide lol:)
Thanks for your answers.

How do you make icing for a chocolate cake using fresh cream?

I want to ice my birthday cake. I have never iced a cake before and would prefer icing which is not too sweet.

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