Tips for beginners decorating?

[fairydust007]

I am great at baking, but I am terrible at decorating. Does anyone have any pointers to help me get better? I find myself getting so frustrated when it comes to decorating. The baking is therapeutic for me until I have to decorate. This is probably why I stick to pies, brownies, cookies, breads, etc.

 

[True2marie]

My recommendation - go easy on yourself. There's a reason why culinary schools exist. Some aspects of cooking and baking are hard. One of them is decorating a beautiful cake. Why? Most people don't have the equipment or goods at their home to decorate a cake like a pro. So, keep your decorating projects simple. I would first start off by focusing on simple designs like putting a border around the base of a cake. You can add a border using fruit, candy or a different color of frosting. After I mastered this, I would graduate to more complicated designs.

 

[veroniquebrown72]

I have to agree that the best play to gain decorating skills is to take classes. I bake very well, but lack tremendously when it comes to decorating. I do not know how to work with fondant or make figures or anything. I plan to take a 3 course class at the local technical college this Spring so that I can increase my areas of expertise.

 

[Bella]

Google different designs and try to duplicate them. Sometimes a class is helpful, too. I tend to just dive in and do it. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it does not. As long as the food tastes good, the appearance can sometimes be overlooked! I recommend staying away from fondant at first, too. That stuff is tricky, but can make some cool looking cakes.

 

[justusforus]

Don't be so hard on yourself. Perhaps you are looking for too much symmetry on your designs. My advice be free about using icing and try and experiment with different tips. Good news is you can always eat the mistakes and it tastes just as good!

 

[Preya_M]

Take your time and have some patience set aside. The first time I actually decorated a cake like a "pro" was for my boyfriend's birthday. It took me about 2 hours to decorate his cheesecake because I wanted it to look perfect. I bought one of those instant icing bottles, you just squeeze the tip and the icing comes out flawlessly. You can also add stuff like chocolate shavings and chocolate drizzles. The fastest and best way that I find to decorate cakes is to use icing or whipped creams, spread it evenly, drizzle some chocolate and add some chocolate shavings! Really easy, looks great, and tastes divine! It's a great start-up decoration for any beginner I believe.

 

[Darshana]

How do we decorate a sponge with chocolate ganache... because everytime I do the icing with chocolate ganache the problem comes is.. the sponge soaks the liquid chocolate and it becomes totally unfinished and very shabby look appears...please help me ..

 

[Winterybella]

Well I am all about perfecting rhe cake even if I can't decorate...which I can't do. I love to see it, wont eat it and would be happy to cheer for you from the sidelines.I think you can find most things on YouTube so that is something to consider outside of taking classes.

 

[Becky]

How do we decorate a sponge with chocolate ganache... because everytime I do the icing with chocolate ganache the problem comes is.. the sponge soaks the liquid chocolate and it becomes totally unfinished and very shabby look appears...please help me ..

Freeze the cake first! It makes it a lot easier. Also, you could try doing a crumb coat which is where you apply a thin layer of ganache first, and once it has set do your thick, final coat on top. It stops the crumbs mixing into the surface layer.

 

[ChesterV]

Freeze the cake first! It makes it a lot easier. Also, you could try doing a crumb coat which is where you apply a thin layer of ganache first, and once it has set do your thick, final coat on top. It stops the crumbs mixing into the surface layer.

You can also "seal" the cake first, but putting on a thin layer of buttercream. This keeps the chocolate from soaking into the cake.

Preferred method:

1. freeze cake
2. put thin layer of buttercream or crumb coat
3. put back in freezer
4. pour ganache over cake

As long as you refreeze the cake every time you put a layer of ganache on it, it will keeps it shape and the thicker the ganache gets, the better looking it will get with every layer.

Once you are done, you can set it out on the table and it should thaw within 20 minutes.