We have all seen those beautiful cakes – the one that steals glances of every member at the party. People can’t help but drool at its perfection.
You know the ones with smooth edges and a perfect color scheme. The ones with sprinkles at the right places, making you wonder how precise these calculations are. How do they learn to stack the cakes? What helps them keep the cake so gooey and beautiful?
I’d say enough with this mesmerization. It is your turn to stump people with your creative cake décor. This blog enlists X ways all home bakers can adopt to make their cakes look the best.
Let’s jump in!
1. Simple Buttercream Frosting
The only good thing about buying cakes from high-end bakeries and online cake shops is the FROSTING. The frosting is the favorite thing of cake for kids and adults. The former doesn’t feel any guilt licking it and tossing the rest of the portion aside. The frosting is a delicious component of any treat.
Plus, it also helps to maintain the freshness of a dessert. It envelopes the cake and creates a barrier to limit air exposure. This prevents moisture and extends the quality of a cake or even cookies.
You can choose the original buttercream recipe that is flavored with vanilla extract. You can also add food coloring to personalize the treat. Or you can choose to keep the base with vanilla extract and use the brightest colors for another décor.
Swiss meringue buttercream is one of the most famous buttercream types these days. The only problem is that it takes forever to make. You need to heat the egg whites, whip them, and let them cool in the butter. If you have many cakes in the making, that could consume a lot of time.
There are a couple of the latest recipes to make buttercream in the fastest ways. You can make flawless buttercream in less than ten minutes. These recipes are great for sculpted cakes, stacked cakes, buttercream flowers, and also cupcakes.
2. Make a Cake Goop
Goop is the cake release mix used for pans, so the cake doesn’t stick in it. Perhaps you have heard of the age-old dusted flour technique. You have to apply a thin layer of butter or vegetable shortening and add a thin layer of flour. This could be super messy for the home bakers as you end up with a powder on the cake and significant remains on the countertops.
The cake goop can change the world for bakers.
Goop has three main ingredients. It is super easy to make and will stay good in a sealed container for good two months. You have to mix equal parts of vegetable shortening, vegetable oil, and flour. Mix them well and use a pastry brush to put them on pans evenly. You will notice cakes slide out of the pan swiftly, and you can move ahead with the décor.
3. Add creative toppings
You can decorate a cake without spending a hefty amount on cake decorating tools. Just buy your favorite fruits, nuts, and sprinkles. Arrange these toppers artistically across the cake to create a stunning design in minutes.
Remember, if you get carried away with toppings, they might look messy and too heavy. Ensure that you keep the entire family’s taste in mind and use the right color combination when topping the cake.
Here are some things in your pantry or refrigerator that could work:
- Sliced fruits
- Peanuts or walnuts
- Whole small berries
- Gingersnaps
- Sliced almonds
- Cream-filled chocolate cookies
- Colorful sprinkles
- Shredded coconut
It is vital to keep your health in check when you have diabetes. Using whole nuts and fruits as the décor is best when making cakes for someone with diabetes. There is no harm in celebrating, but one must adhere to health rules to ensure their health is not compromised.
Pro tip: the cakes embellished with fruits or cookies must go to the table within two hours. If waiting for long, the toppings could turn soggy and moist.
4. Go for delicious fillings
You can either choose frosting as the filler between the layers. Or you could consider other fun options for texture and fillings. For example, lemon curd is an excellent filling between the layers. It adds brightness to the cake’s overall aesthetic and adds a tangy element to the sweetness. You can also use jams and jellies in the center of the cake for a sweet, fruity flavor.
In case you are a chocolate lover, you might want to add chocolate ganache. It is rich, scrumptious, and decadent if done the right way. You can use the cooled ganache to fill and decorate the rest of the cake with buttercream frosting.
There is also a possibility to use curds and jams as filling. We recommend you use small piping of frosting at the edges of the cake. This will create a barrier to prevent the filling from dripping down. It keeps the outer appearance of the cake look neat and under control.
5. Use professional cake pans
There is a vast difference between the cakes prepped in the usual home crockery and baked in professional equipment. Those perfect cakes stacked on top of each other are super straight. It isn’t easy to achieve this structure by using your everyday kitchen utensils. They could end curved, crispy on the top, or shrink from the center.
One of the first things a home baker should do is to invest in quality baking pans. It is much easier to stack the cake on these pans and slide them out when it is ready. You cannot go wrong with the professional pans. They help you make much even and stable cakes.
Another option is to purchase a turntable cake decorating. It has all the supplies you need to create professional-level cakes at home.
6. Practice piping
Making rose swirls with piping bags is a task that requires practice. The same goes for writing with the royal icing. It is not a substitute for cake décor, but it can make oodles of difference between a plain cake and the one decorated with detailed piping bag designs.
You can practice the piping bag design on a sheet of wax paper. Or you can also try transferring small flowers from the wax paper to the cake. This will not work with edging or writing notes on the cake. Nonetheless, it is an excellent way to practice once you are a pro at it.
7. Use candy
Decorating cakes with candies opens a whole lot of ideas for us. Following are some types of sweets you can use to make decorative borders and patterns:
- Jelly beans
- Licorice strips
- Small candy-coated chocolate pieces
- Peppermint sticks
- Gumdrops
- Crushed malted milk balls
- Fruit rollers
- Candy corn
Make sure that you spread a generous coat of base frosting across the cake. Also, keep the candies to a minimum as they might discolor the cake, leaving blotches of color across the cream.
8. Chill the cakes
You might have heard people asking beginners not to refrigerate the cakes. They believe that the cakes could sweat and it would ruin the frosting. However, the trick to get your cake to keep its shape and edges is to chill it for an adequate time.
The cake might sweat as it comes out of the fridge, but a little condensation will not ruin the cake. If you live in a place with high humidity, consider using a fan on the cake to get rid of the shine.
Concluding Remarks
Whether you want to keep your cake minimal and straightforward or get all fancy with the décor – it is your choice. The important thing is to have fun while doing it. The joy you feel when the outcome is according to expectations encourages you to take more baking adventures.
We hope these tips gave you some perspective, and you would be creating stunning cakes soon!
