STEP - BY - STEP Cake Decorating -- Ritu Buttar

Decorating and Filling Cakes

Ever since I was little, I loved baking and helping my mom decorate cakes. I would watch "Cake Boss" every night and watch how Buddy would decorate his cakes so nicely, which is why I chose to do cake decorating. In this blog I will be showing my step-by-step processes of filling and decorating a cake.


"CAKE DECORATING has enjoyed a huge surge in interest over the last few years, with enthusiastic beginners creating celebration cakes, exquisite cupcakes, and perfect cake pops in their own homes" (Sullivan 7). Spectacular designs can be created right in your home. Once you learn some of these basic decorating techniques, you won't need a store bought cake to fulfill your needs. This blog only explains how to decorate a cake, so make sure you have baked a cake before hand.


The first step is to prepare the frosting. The first type of frosting we will be preparing is buttercream frosting. It is fluffy and not too sweet, perfect for filling a cake.

Ingredients

• just over 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 cups confectioner's sugar
• 2 tbsp. heavy cream or milk, plus extra for thinning
• coloring paste, optional

(Sullivan 24)

The next type of icing is royal icing, which sets to be a little stiffer than buttercream icing. It is really good for decorating cakes because the icing will stay put, it won't smudge. It also tends to be sweeter than buttercream frosting.

                                                                                                                                        

Ingredients

• 3 large free-range pasteurized egg whites
• 1 tsp lemon juice, plus extra if needed
• 6 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted
• coloring paste, optional

(Sullivan 35)



How to make a piping bag

• Using a piece of parchment paper, fold the lower corner of the parchment paper upward so that it is folded in half diagonally. Run your finger along the fold.
• Fold over the whole of top folded section without creasing it, rolling it over until you have a cone shape.
• Fold the bottom of the folded section around the outside. Using your hand, expand it out, and then secure with a little masking tape.

This tip came in handy because I did not have any piping bags and didn't want to bye them at the store. It is a quick and easy way to make your own piping bad at home!

(Sullivan 73)



Directions for filling the cake (with buttercream frosting):

1. Place the base layer of your cake and a board on a turntable, leveled side up. Fill your piping bag with frosting and pipe around the inside edge.
2. Using a spoon, place a large dollop of frosting in the center and spread to the edges with a palette knife, until smooth.
3. Place the next layer of cake on top of the cake you just filled.
4. If you want more layers just repeat steps 1-3.

(Sullivan 28)

Directions for decorating the cake (with royal icing):

1. Fill the piping bag with royal icing.
2. Hold the bag in your dominate hand between your thumb and first two fingers. Be sure to hold the bag steady with your other hand.
3. When the tip touches the surface of the cake, gently squeeze out the icing.
4. Even pressure is crucial, so make sure that you have control over the icing.
5. When you have finished piping a certain decoration or line, gently pull the tip away form the surface, letting the icing fall

(Sullivan 75)



Labels

Once I finished decorating my cake I put it in the refrigerator to cool, it turned out okay. Overall I think that I just need to work on designing my cake a little better, and being more creative. The frosting surprisingly tasted great and so did my cake. I strongly recommend these recipes and baking tips.

What kind of other cake decorations should I do next time?

Sullivan, Karen. Step-by-step Cake Decorating: Hundreds of Ideas, Techniques, and Projects for Creative Cake Designers. London: DK, 2013. Print.