The simplest kind of decorating

[Winterybella]

I still think I have a way to go before I can decorate a cake. It's still my approach that you perfect your cake baking skills before you venture down the road of decorating. Still I would be happy to know what might be the simplest form of decorating. Where do you start when you know nothing about decorating?

 

[Becky]

I think the first thing I did was covering a cake in fondant - all you need to do is roll it out to about 4-5mm thick, paint the cake with a little jam, and lay the icing over the top. If you roll it out so that it is about 1.5 times the diameter of the cake then you can gently form it over the sides. You can use buttercream instead of jam to stick it on, but jam is easier and quicker. Add a ribbon around the outside and it looks so professional!

 

[Zyni]

Dust it with (heavily sifted) powdered sugar then dot the perimeter with mini-chocolate chips, or nonpareils, or some other type of pretty confection. You can also crumble cookies or other candies to put on top to give it a finished look or drizzle with chocolate or caramel sauce. Easy peasy.

 

[Winterybella]

I was reading Becky's suggestion and was there thinking "oh my god, this sounds like it calls for precision (measurements and all} and I am an all over the place girl when I am rushing," but the ribbon had me smiling and thinking that maybe I could pull it off.

Zyni, I actually had to Google nonpareils, but I have to confess your easy peasy looks doable. One day I am going to go for it. I am so intimidated by the decorations and seeing some fails here recently only left me a little more taken aback.

 

[cupcakechef]

One of the simplest things I used to do when frosting a cake was just to frost it with icing with a knife (easy peasy!) and then decorate the cake with some sort of candy/chocolate as a border. Simple, but looks cute! Circular candy or chocolate like Malteasers work really well for that, I find

 

[Anya]

Um I haven't really tried much, my first attempt was just going for it with icing. I covered the cake with icing and using the star nozzle, made tiny peaks so they look like flowers to make a border around the top and bottom of the cake. That is for my butter and vanilla cakes.

For my first decorated chocolate cake, I just stuck to dribbling a chocolate sauce over it and maybe sprinkling some chocolate sprinkles on top.

 

[CherylTorrie]

Have you tried Chocolate Ganache? It can be made with a pourable, whipped or piped texture. It's just a combination of chocolate, heavy cream and liqueur and it looks like a million dollars. I use it when I want a finished presentable cake and don't have time to freeze the cake prior to icing it. PS. If you do use a butter cream or a fondant or even store bought frosting, freezing the cake prior to icing it is a must for me. It's the only way I can avoid the cake crumbs on the frosting knife.

 

[Winterybella]

No I haven't tried a Chocolate Ganache. I am still very much a newbie to baking. I don't own a single piece of equipment for baking. Once I made a chocolate cake for my son and used some sprinkles I had around for years. It was such a joke to look at. It was a right mess.

 

[Anya]

Have you tried Chocolate Ganache? It can be made with a pourable, whipped or piped texture. It's just a combination of chocolate, heavy cream and liqueur and it looks like a million dollars. I use it when I want a finished presentable cake and don't have time to freeze the cake prior to icing it. PS. If you do use a butter cream or a fondant or even store bought frosting, freezing the cake prior to icing it is a must for me. It's the only way I can avoid the cake crumbs on the frosting knife.

ohhh so thats why i get crumbs stuck onto it. no wonder.

 

[Diane Lane]

Have you tried Chocolate Ganache? It can be made with a pourable, whipped or piped texture. It's just a combination of chocolate, heavy cream and liqueur and it looks like a million dollars. I use it when I want a finished presentable cake and don't have time to freeze the cake prior to icing it. PS. If you do use a butter cream or a fondant or even store bought frosting, freezing the cake prior to icing it is a must for me. It's the only way I can avoid the cake crumbs on the frosting knife.

I'm so envious when people say things like this. My little freezer is chock-full, and there's no way that would work for me. I don't have too much of a problem with regard to crumbs, but I must say, I have stove/freezer/kitchen envy ever time I hear someone say this, or when I see the nice kitchens on cooking shows.

 

[Zyni]

I was reading Becky's suggestion and was there thinking "oh my god, this sounds like it calls for precision (measurements and all} and I am an all over the place girl when I am rushing," but the ribbon had me smiling and thinking that maybe I could pull it off.

Zyni, I actually had to Google nonpareils, but I have to confess your easy peasy looks doable. One day I am going to go for it. I am so intimidated by the decorations and seeing some fails here recently only left me a little more taken aback.

I'm all about the easy peasy. I especially like it when something is super easy, yet it looks like you put a lot of time and effort into it, ha ha. Did you ever see that commercial where the mom makes the Rice Krispies Treats and then throws flour all over herself before she goes out and serves them to her family? Priceless. I want to be her.

I'm the girl that also loves that cheap gift that looks like a million bucks. I think it's my way, because I feel like I've been a day late and a dollar short for about half my life.

 

[ChesterV]

This is probably the best thing for you to start your decoration practice sessions with....

Don't worry about the fancy buttercreams he keeps mentioning, you can use regular buttercream to practice with.

 

[ChesterV]

He went a little bit overboard with the multicolored cake.....he made it more difficult that it should be, by making different colors of frostings, when all he needed to do was put some food coloring on his spatula and then swirl it around the cake while frosting it.

Kind of like what I did here.....but I did it from the bottom up, instead of around the sides.....

 

[Zyni]

Those don't look easy to me. I think I'd have a hot mess on my hands. They are quite pretty, but I'm not feeling very confident about those decorating techniques. Your pumpkin cake is adorable. I'm envious.

 

[Winterybella]

Amazingly simple?!?!!?!?!?! Aint''t that the truth Zyni? Zyni, if you would create a hot mess, I can't even imagine what I would do. I am thinking the first one with the ice cream scoop was the easiest. One day coming soon I am going to be able to do something. I just love to see the skillful work.

 

[ChesterV]

Those don't look easy to me. I think I'd have a hot mess on my hands. They are quite pretty, but I'm not feeling very confident about those decorating techniques. Your pumpkin cake is adorable. I'm envious.

Well, that pumpkin cake IS easy! I wish I had the means to make a video of how to make one, but I don't.

The best thing to do, is make you some mini cakes, or cupcakes, and just practice decorating. If you live in a place that has large crafting stores, sometimes they have seminars on beginning cake decorating. You might check out your local crafting store to see if they have such seminars or classes......if not, maybe they know where you can find such classes.

 

[Zyni]

Amazingly simple?!?!!?!?!?! Aint''t that the truth Zyni? Zyni, if you would create a hot mess, I can't even imagine what I would do. I am thinking the first one with the ice cream scoop was the easiest. One day coming soon I am going to be able to do something. I just love to see the skillful work.

Ha ha, I hear ya. Easy is good!

Well, that pumpkin cake IS easy! I wish I had the means to make a video of how to make one, but I don't.

The best thing to do, is make you some mini cakes, or cupcakes, and just practice decorating. If you live in a place that has large crafting stores, sometimes they have seminars on beginning cake decorating. You might check out your local crafting store to see if they have such seminars or classes......if not, maybe they know where you can find such classes.

Okay then, cool. Thanks for the info. Maybe someday I will brave this.

I don't have any of those stores close enough to me to be worth the trip, but yes, some of those classes are very cool. For now, I guess I'll stick to this site, Pinterest, and youtube.

 

[Diane Lane]

I used to love decorating cakes, but I don't have the patience or kitchen size to do anything very fancy these days. Buttercream is my favorite frosting, and I always make that. To me, it's so much better than the pre-made icing sold in stores, and I'm not really into the whipped cream frosting, although I love whipped cream itself. Those cakes look nice to me, and I don't feel the need to make fancy buttercreams, since I like the standard recipe I usually use. I don't mind adding flavoring such as chocolate or maybe strawberry, depending on the project, but I have pretty basic taste.

 

[Trellum]

The most fancy thing I've ever tried when decorating a cake is using food coloring on the frosting And that's it, that is the fanciest thing I've ever done to a cake I'd love to buy one of those duyas or whatever you call them, so I can make little carrots with cream cheese frosting and place them on top of the cake. Sounds like fun.

 

[ChesterV]

The most fancy thing I've ever tried when decorating a cake is using food coloring on the frosting And that's it, that is the fanciest thing I've ever done to a cake I'd love to buy one of those duyas or whatever you call them, so I can make little carrots with cream cheese frosting and place them on top of the cake. Sounds like fun.

You can make your own "play dough" out of confectioners sugar, water, and cream cheese (flavoring and coloring if you choose).
Make a really thick paste out of it, and then you can mold it into anything you want with your hands or by using cookie cutters or plastic molds.