Clever Cakes:: Cake Decorating 101

It's a good thing to start from the beginning with clever cake making. Believe it or not, the world hires cake decorators on a regular basis. It's important to understand that cake decoration is a valuable talent, and once you have the basics in hand, your imagination can fly free. However, if you don't have cake decorating 101, or the simple basics, before you start making decorations you could find a little frustration enters your life.

Remember the fanciest cake isn't clever if it doesn't taste good or is a flop. This means that you need to start with the cake itself. Whether you hand make your cake, make it from a mix, or purchase a premade cake to start with, your cake needs to be tasty and moist. So before you begin decorating any cake, make sure that it's going to taste good.

Once you have your cake, it is clever to make sure it's cool enough before you begin applying any icing at all. Many professionals will bake a cake the day before they begin icing it. This is to ensure that the icing will hold to the cake, otherwise, warm cake makes drippy icing.

One of the clever ways to ensure that your cake tastes good, and that the icing will stick is to turn it upside down on the cake board. Layer it with a thin layer of the icing as this will keep it from crumbling. Now that you have a flat bottom, which is now the top, you can begin a normal icing procedure. Dip your metal icing tool into a cool glass of water and then use it to smooth the icing around the cake in perfect flatness.

Of course, there's nothing clever about running out of frosting or icing for your cake. You'll need to make sure that you have plenty on hand before you even begin. You also might want to start with a plain white icing, and then add food coloring in order to have different colors while you decorate.

Of course, just as with any other talent, clever practice makes perfect cakes. So if you have an important cake that you need to decorate, perhaps practicing on a sheet of wax paper can allow you to perfect your talent. Your icing consistency has a lot to do with how your decorations are going to turn out. If your decorations consistently fall apart, chances are you're icing is too thin, if you wind up with cracks throughout your decorations or it's hard to get the icing to go through the tip of the icing tube, chances are, you're icing to thick.

You're going to make mistakes, you're going to get frustrated, but practice and the ability to start simply is what the basics of 101 clever cake decorating is all about. So remember, all talent takes time to grow - be gentle with yourself and watch your skills develop.

Clever Cakes:: From the Start