As your confidence as a cake decorator grows, so too does your arsenal of decoration tricks – pretty

soon people are asking you to make cakes for their weddings, anniversaries and birthdays.

A neatly iced sponge with a sugar flower on top is hardly going to cut it for such extravagant
occasions, no sir. To be crowned an advanced cake decorator, you’re going to have to pull out the big
guns. Create the monster truck of decorated cakes. The Super Bowl of sugar-coated perfection.

Luckily for you there are a raft of tips and techniques that you can take on board to create an edible
masterpiece.

How to Raise the Bar

There are certain extra details that turn a nicely decorated cake into an absolute monument. And for
those who have perfected the basics of cake decorating, you will be surprised how little extra effort is
actually required to produce the variety of cake that even a pastry chef would be proud of.

Fondant Flowers

Make unique fondant flowers to match the theme of your cake and you will graduate from icing
amateur to sugar paste ace overnight.

Start out perfecting the basics of:

 Daffodils

 Sunflowers

 Mushrooms and

 Petal Dust

To mold these little marvels make sure your toolbox includes:

 Flower formers

 Petal cutters

 A fondant rolling pin

 Fondant shaping foam

 Several small artist brushes

Cake Tiers

Big really is best when it comes to building a cake that will be the pièce de résistance of a special
occasion. The trick to building a strong tier cake is hinged upon some very basic foundations:

1. Ensure your cake is firm, not airy – this may take some serious baking practice, trial and
error.
 2. Cut the layers evenly – be very precise. The baked top and bottom of the cake should be
trimmed off to remove any bowing that occurred in baking.

3. Don’t overfill – if using filling ensure it is thin and evenly spread. Otherwise you will notice a
Leaning Tower of Pisa effect.

4. Always ice each layer on a flat surface and wait until entirely set before attempting to tier it.

5. Use pillars – when starting out it is often a good idea to use cake pillars to help you stack
tiers.

Crumb Coat

And oldie but a goodie. Frost the first layer of your cake with a thin covering of butter cream icing to
smooth off the crumbs and then refrigerate it for 1-2 hours. This will provide you with a great
foundation for an advanced cake.

Decorating Turntable

When icing your cake, ensure you do so on a turntable, otherwise known as a “Lazy Susan”. This will
allow you to spin your cake while icing and ensure that you do not lift your spatula off the cake and ice
with upward motions.

Practice

Really does make perfect in the world of cake decoration:

 Practice baking a cake that can withstand tiering.

 Practice evening out your layering.

 Practice icing on a turntable.

 Practice using your spatula without lifting it off the cake while icing.

 Practice making fondant flowers until there is little difference between your designs and the
real thing.

Cake Decorating Tips & Techniques Video

Today we’re going to be talking about cake decorating. Our theme is going to be, “How to make
roses.” Now we’re going to make the rose. I have a rose nail in my hand and I want you to watch as I
turn that carefully when I make the rose. One of the thing you want to do when you make the rose in
have a place to build up on your pattern so that the rose stands up.

You do that with a pumping action, going up and down. And what your going to try to do is make you
rose a little bit higher that the other flowers that you have. In order to make the rose it’s real simple.
You pump frosting onto your rose nail. And once you get the icing pumped, then you begin to make
little petals by making a circular motion back and forth.
Watch what I do. You start with the wide tip facing down and push the icing over and come down. Go
back, come over and come down, back over and come down and back over and come down. And
there is your rose.

Now you need to take this rose off, so if you have a spatula, just slide it under the rose very carefully
and put it on the little mound that you made for it. So let’s take a look and do one more.

Remember, we’re going to pump, get the icing built up and then we’re going to go back and forth.
Start back, pull it over and go around. Your spinning the wheel as your turning the rose

Start Your Own Cake Decorating 

or Cupcake Business
Get Paid to Decorate Cakes at Home 
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Imagine having a rewarding, high-paying job that lets you
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decorate cupcakes and cakes
 How to assemble, support and transport
a tiered orstacked cake
 How to put together a professional cake
decorator'skit
 A list of cupcake-specific tools and supplies you'll
need (as well as ones experts say to avoid)
 How to create and decorate cake boards and   
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How to Start a Cake Decorating or Cupcake Business

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cake decorating and cupcake business
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How to Market and Sell Cakes and Cupcakes

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to start your cake decorating or cupcake business,
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o Checklist of pantry supplies 
o Checklist of baker's equipment
o Checklist of cake decorating supplies
o Sample client questionnaire
o Sample contract/order form
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o Checklist for finding the perfect location
o Sample cake shop floor plan
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And if you love to bake more than cakes and cupcakes...  

 
How to open a bakery or start a bakery business.

Learn how to start a cake decorting business. The FabJob Guide to Become a Cake Decorator explains how to
become a professional cake decorator or become a cake designer. The guide offers step-by-step advice on how to
start a cake decorating business, start a cake design business, or start a cupcake business.

Start at the top of the cake when decorating with fondant. Lean it in slightly, and squeeze, then wrap it
around itself and pull down. Make sure to have your tip straight up and down. You want to pull
towards you for each petal. So you want to go one, two and three petals. And there you go. Six and
seven petals and there you have your rose.
Any non pattern paper towel will work, I used the inside of this one. You want to set that on your cake
and you can use your hand to smooth it. Or you can use a tool called a fondant smoother. And
basically what your doing is ironing your cake. SO you just take small circular motions, don’t press too
hard, we don’t want to press the icing around, we just want to make it smooth.

Cake Decorating with Fondant Video

I’m going to make a heart and a star. You want to put down a little powdered sugar and lightly coat the
fondant with the sugar so it won’t be sticking. You can even coat the rolling pin with a little powdered
sugar, and roll that out a bit.

I’m working on a piece of non stick baking paper so that it will be easy for me to lift and it won’t stick to
the surface. I’ll let that dry.

Now I’ll make a yellow star. You do the same thing. Take a bit of the fondant. The fondant that is left
over you can just add back to the same color. If it gets too dry you can just knead it with shortening or
margarine and it will soften up.

You can use all kinds of cookie cutters to decorate cakes with this fondant. It is so easy to work with,
it’s like working with modeling clay

Petal for flowers and bows

 Basket weave for gorgeous outlines

Step 3

On greaseproof paper, or foil, shape the decorations using your pre-prepared icing mixture and the
correct icing bag tip to suit your shape requirements. Patience is a virtue here. The tips really do make
your job easy – choose the tip that corresponds to the shape you’re trying to create. With a bit of
practice you cannot go wrong!

Step 4

Once the sugar icing decorations dry, paint or dot any extra details you need on with small brushes or
toothpicks – this may be simply some toothpick- sized black dots inside flower petals to depict seeds.

Tackle the Cake

While your delicate decorations (all edible and made of sugar!) are drying, apply your overall icing
spread to the cake. You may choose to use any number of coverings including:

 Butter Cream Icing – easily made at home or bought at the store in a tin. Easily wiped onto
the cooled cake with a regular spatula.
 Fondant – also available for purchase in a pre-made form – this is often also referred to as
rolled icing or fondant icing. Fondant is malleable and made of gelatin and glycerine.
 Fondant can be bought or colored to suit your cake decorating theme. The fondant needs to
be rolled out and covered onto the cake like a pie-crust. Trim the excess fondant from the
edges so that the cake looks neatly covered with no lumps or bumps.
The Moment of Truth

Arrange your lovingly designed decorations onto your icing or fondant covered cake.

If the icing is made of butter cream the decorations should stick nicely. If the cake is covered in
fondant you will need to slightly wet the patch of fondant with cold water wherever you want to apply a
decoration. Stick the decoration firmly in place and leave to dry – the ingredients in the fondant can be
re-wet and decorations can be re-stuck if need be.

Voila!

With a little bit of practice and lots of fun, you, your family and your taste buds will enjoy the cake
decorating learning process. Be that enviable party host at your next gathering and go all out with
some cake decorating genius!

Birthday celebrations and holidays are usually matched with a perfect cake. Cake has been one of the
favorite desserts during special occasions and celebrations. But don’t you get used to the same old
taste you buy from your cake shop? In fact, you can just bake your own cake and customize it for your
occasion. There are lots of cooking books that will guide you on how to bake a cake. Once you have
the cake, the next problem you might have is how to put some icing or frost it which may seem easy
but is actually not. There are generally two ways on how you can put that perfect icing for your cake:
using a spatula or using a decorating tip.

So, here are techniques to make icing cakes easier for you:

 When you opt to use the spatula, there are techniques which you can apply to make the
task easier. First you need to do is to position your cake on a serving board on the
turntable. You should add about 3-4 tablespoons of corn syrup in your icing so that you can
have a thin consistency of the icing to makes it easier to spread.

 Once you are all set, you can start putting a scoop of icing on the top of your cake. The
technique in order to prevent crumbs from your icing is by gliding your spatula on the icing.
 It is best if you never allow the spatula to touch the cake. From the middle of the cake, you
can start spreading the icing towards the edges of the cake.

 Smooth the icing on top using the edge of the spatula. Turn your turntable as you remove
excess icing on your cake. If there lines on top of the cake that you want to get rid of, you
can dip your spatula in hot water and wipe the water off. The remaining heat on you spatula
is enough to remove the lines on top of your cake.
 On the sides, you should also start by covering all sides with icing. Hold your spatula upright
with the edge of the spatula against the icing while slowly spinning you turntable. You have
to make sure that your hand is steady and you don’t lift the spatula from the surface of the
icing.

 Remove excess icing and return it to the bowl. Just continue this until all sides of your cake
are smooth.

 You can also lay a Non-Stick Parchment paper on top of the cake and smooth it using the
palm of your hand. Set aside the cake for at least 15 minutes for it to crust over before you
can start decorating.

Another way to ice your cake is by using a decorating tip 789. Just like when using your spatula, you
can start by positioning your cake on a serving board on your turn table.

 Make sure that your icing has a thin consistency by adding 3-4 tablespoons of corn syrup.
Then you should trim a 16in featherweight bag in order to fit your 789 tip.
 Now, half fill your bag with icing. Lightly squeeze a ribbon of icing on top in a spiral motion
by holding the bag at a 45o angle until the top of the cake is covered.
 On the sides, start squeezing the icing from the bag while you spin the turntable slowly.
Repeat this process until all sides are covered. Then smooth all sides of the cake by using
the edge of the spatula as mentioned above.
 Once your cake has perfect icing, you just have to wait for a couple of minutes and you can
start thinking of creative ways to decorate it

Cake decorating techniques

Cake decorating techniques using the piping method have been one of the
most creative ways to decorate a cake. A simple round or square cake can be
turned into a very beautiful and elegant cake by just using the piped cake
decorating patterns. The most commonly used icing for piped designs on cakes
are buttercream icing, butter icing and royal icing. Chocolate ganache can also
be used provided it is of a thick consistency. 

There are many different and creative ways to decorate a cake with piped
designs. An important point to consider in mastering this art of cake decorating
is to practice often, as the saying goes, practice makes perfect. Feel free to use
the cake decorating lessons below to further enhance your cake decorating
skills. 

Basic tools needed:

 Piping bags and icing syringes

 Nozzles

 Couplers

 Icing (butter icing, butter cream or royal icing)

Types of piped designs:

 Reverse shells

 Plains shells

 Flat stars

 Raised stars

 Rossettes

 Rope border

 Zig zag

 Grass

 Pine trees

 Drop flowers

 Ruffles

 Leaves

 Bead border

 Straight lines
 Cornelli lace

 Sotas

 Filigree icing

 Basket weave

Star nozzle 

 

Back to top



 Plain Shells

  

 

Back to top



 Flat stars


 

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