Cake decorating is a very popular hobby today. Nowadays, people don’t hesitate to spend a small fortune on cakes for special occasions such as weddings, birthdays, christenings, and more. Therefore, people are turning their hobbies into a lucrative business. In this article, I will describe you how to become a cake decorator.
For people who enjoy baking cakes and other pastries and want to make some extra cash, cake decorating may be the route to choose. On the other hand, people who want to learn it as a hobby or just to keep themselves busy. Which one is your reason behind learning how to decorate a cake?
Table of Contents
What Do Cake Decorators Do?
Anyone can bake a cake when it comes to present it to the other people you need to decorate it. A cake decorator is a person who works in a normal cake and transforms it into a piece of art. They use their skills to beautify the cakes for birthdays, special occasions, and weddings.
They also decorate other pastries. To decorate pastries, they often use a variety of techniques and equipment.
How to Become a Cake Decorator
Most of the cake decorators commonly work in retail shops, providing excellent customer service to clients, whether they are buying a customized design, or buying pre-made items. So, to be a cake decorator you need to know:
- How to bake a cake
- How to make the frosting
- How to apply the frosting on the cake
- How to decorate the cake.
You can learn all these skills through a culinary arts pastry program or by directly participating in job training. You also need to provide good customer service skills and a professional manner.
Cake baking equipment for beginner
A professional cake decorator requires a lot of tools to make his/her work easier and also make their workplace neat and clean. Since you are a beginner, you don’t need all the equipment for decorating a cake.
To become a a cake decorator professional, the basic equipment you need is-
- Mixing Bowls
- Baking trays and tins
- Turntable stand
- Piping bags
- Tip head
- Palette knife or serrated knife
- Whisk
- Measuring Cups and Spoon
- Spatula
You can learn more about the cake baking equipment and their uses from online sources.
How to Bake a Cake as a professional cake decorator
The first thing you need to do is choose a recipe before we can get to the steps to make a cake. The cake you want to bake depends on your choice. The possibilities are almost endless, you can keep it simple or a slightly showier recipe, like chocolate cake. Since you are a beginner, you should avoid angel food, pound cakes, sponge cakes, and chiffon cakes because they require a different method and are quite intimidating. If you don’t have any recipe to work on, follow the given chocolate cake recipe.
- 3/4 cup (170 g) of unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup (64 g) of unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3/4 cup (90 g) of flour
- 1/4 teaspoon (1.4 g) of salt
- 1/2 teaspoon (1.2 g) of baking powder
- 1 cup (225 g) of granulated sugar
- 3 eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon (4.9 ml) of vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) of buttermilk or sour cream
Chocolate Cake| Chocolate sponge cake| Basic cake recipe tutorial for you: Click here
Instructions to bake a cake
Step 1: Collect the ingredients
- Collect all the ingredients required for the cake.
- Keep them at room temperature (butter and eggs) to blend easily with other ingredients
Step 2: Prepare baking pans and preheat the ovens
I believe no one wants their cake to stick to the pan after baking it. So, you should prepare your pan before pouring the batter into it.
You can use a round standard cake pan, a square baking dish, a loaf pan, a bundt cake pan, or whatever you have on hand.
Grease it adequately with butter or margarine. Then, add a thin even layer of flour on the pan bottom.
Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°c) at least for 10 minutes.
Step 3: Mix the wet ingredients
The wet ingredients in a cake recipe are those ingredients that have moisture. So, the wet ingredients for this recipe are butter, eggs, vanilla extract, sugar, and buttermilk.
- Place the softened butter in a large bowl. You can use an electric mixer on medium to high speed, beat the butter for 30 seconds or you can a hand mixture.
- After that add sugar and beat the mixture until it is properly combined with the butter and has a light, fluffy texture.
- This will take 3 to 5 minutes if you mix them with an electric mixer on medium speed or by hand 10-12 minutes though you should visually inspect the mixture for light and fluffy texture.
- Though you don’t want to skip this step because this step will give your cake a dreamy, light, fluffy texture.
- Break each egg into a small bowl first. This way, you can easily remove eggshell fragments from the bowl if they fall.
- After that add the broken eggs from the small bowl, vanilla extract, and buttermilk into the (butter and sugar) mixture and blend the ingredients well.
Step 4: Mix the dry ingredients
The dry ingredients for baking the cake are flour, baking powder and/or baking soda, and salt.
- Put all the dry ingredients in a small bowl. Rather than adding each ingredient one by one in the bowl. So, the dry ingredients are equally distributed.
- Stir them together until you are sure the ingredients are well mixed.
Step 5: Mix dry and wet Ingredients
- Now You should add the dry mixture to the wet mixture slowly.
- Beat the mixture with an electric mixer on low speed or use a hand mixer until the batter comes together and no white bits of flour remain. Don’t over-mix the batter or else you might get elongated, irregular holes in the finished cake.
Step 6: Pour batter into pans
- Pour the batter into the pans you choose and divide the batter evenly between the baking pans.
- You can use a spoon or spatula to scrape the side of the bowl and make sure every bit of the batter poured into the pan.
Step 7: Baking the cake in the oven
- The next step is to put the pan in the oven and bake the cake for 30 minutes. You should put the pan on a baking sheet in case any of the batters spills over.
- Rotate the cake after 15 minutes to make sure it cooks evenly.
- Check the progress often to ensure it doesn’t burn. But you should do this through the oven window instead of opening the oven door every time you check the cake. If you open the door the oven temperature reduces and the bake time can increase.
- The cake is ready when you insert a wooden toothpick into the middle of the cake and it comes out clean.
Step 8: Cool the cake
- Take the cake out of the oven and place it on a cooling rack.
- Let the cake cool for 5-10 minutes on the cooling rack. You should run a knife around the edges of the cake to loosen it from the side.
- Lift the pan carefully and invert it onto a plate.
How to Make Frosting
You can prepare frosting for the cake 1-2 days in advance and keep it fresh by covering tightly and store it in the refrigerator. You should remove it from the refrigerator and bring it to room temperature before frosting the cake. Below are the ingredients for the chocolate frosting for serving 8-10 people.
Ingredients to make the frosting
- 1 cup (230 grams) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3-4 cups (360-480 grams) powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3-4 tablespoons heavy cream
- Pinch of salt to adjust the taste.
Instructions to make the frosting
- Whip butter until it is smooth in a large bowl on medium speed if you are using an electric mixer or use the medium-size bowl you want to beat the butter and cocoa by hand.
- After whipping the butter, add the powdered sugar into the bowl. At first, start the mixer on low speed, then increase to medium speed and continue mixing for another 1-2 minutes until the mixture starts to come together.
- Add in the heavy cream (warm the cream for 30 seconds and start with 2 tablespoons and add a little more if needed), vanilla extract, and salt.
- Scrape the side of the bowl and continue mixing on medium-high speed for another 1-2 minutes until everything is well combined, light, fluffy and smooth.
Note: Add heavy cream if your frosting is too thick if it is too thin add powdered sugar little by little to get the desired consistency.
Frosting the Cake
The first thing you need to do after the cake is removed from the pan is to let it cool for 1 hour and make sure your cake temperature and room temperature are both the same. Instructions to apply the frosting are as follows –
Step-1: Level your cake
- Put the cake on a turntable stand.
- To cut a line in the cake using a serrated knife and carefully hold the blade parallel to the counter and rest it on the edges of the cake and rotate the turntable.
- After making the line, move the seesaw back and forth to completely cut the upper layer and level the cake. You don't want to pull the knife through or you'll create tears.
Step-2: Clean the crumb and place the cake
- Clean all the crumbs after levelling the cake around the table.
- To cut a line in the cake using a serrated knife and carefully hold the blade parallel to the counter and rest it on the edges of the cake and rotate the turntable.
Step-3: Apply frosting on the cake
The next step is applying a crumb coat to frost the cake properly. If you are making a double or triple layer cake, you should follow this:
- After placing the first layer of cake on the roundtable, pulp a good amount of icing on the cake and level it with an angled offset spatula.
- Place another layer of cake on top of the frosted layer and frost this layer. Do it for every layer of cake you want to put.
- Apply a frosting coat on the cake top and side edges and spread it around with your palette knife while you rotate the cake.
- Use a cake smoother or scraper to smooth the edges and top. To use a smoother, hold the smoother edge along the sides of the cake and rotate the cake in the opposite direction.
- Place the cake in the fridge for 15-30 minutes to trap all the cake crumbs.
- Apply a ½ inch thick frosting or what amount of frost you like on the cake and smooth it with the cake scraper. Continue this process until you're happy with the cake top and sides.
- After smoothing the cake, put the cake in the freezer to firm up for about 30 minutes or up to 24 hours.
Diploma in Baking & Cake Decorating
Any happy occasion or celebration is incomplete without a mouthwatering cake. That’s why beautiful and delicious cakes are always high on demand.
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Diploma in Baking & Cake Decorating
Any happy occasion or celebration is incomplete without a mouthwatering cake. That’s why beautiful and delicious cakes are always high on demand.
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How to Decorate Your Cake
If you serve a cake with the smoothed side and sharp edges in front of your guest, they will think that it is bought from the bakery. You can just apply a crumb coat to your cake final layers of frosting so that it looks flawless. If you want to decorate your cake furthermore, you can do it using some tools and ingredients. Below is some example of how to decorate your cake.
Learn five beautiful ways to decorate cake –
1. How to Decorate the Sides of Your Cake
Simple decoration can really make your cake lucrative and beautiful. You can apply this technique when the frosting is still fresh, so the decorations stick to the cake.
Ingredients
You can choose what you want to use to decorate the side of the cake. The common ingredients for decorating the side of the cake are sprinklers, chopped peanuts, pretzels and chocolate shavings.
Tools
Depending on your choice of decorating you may need a vegetable peeler to make chocolate curls, knife for chopping nuts, or you can use sprinklers, Wax paper, and a turntable.
Instruction
- You should line the turntable with 4 four stripes of wax paper, then set the cake on top of the turntable.
- Now you can start decorating. Start pressing the topping into the cake side. Hold the toppings in your fingertips and pressed it into the side of the cake.
- Rotate the turntable after finishing one side of the cake and continue doing it all the way around the cake.
- The decorations look pretty when the toppings are concentrated on the lower third of the cake. However, it’s your cake, so you decide!
- The last step is presenting your cake. For a neat and tidy presentation, you should gently pull the waxed paper strips out from under the cake without disturbing it.
Cake Decorating Tips We Love – Decorated Sides video
2. How to Decorate Your Cake with Drips
Drips are the best way to give an elegant look and extravagant taste. To make sure the drip flows nicely, you should keep the temperature of your topping just right. You should apply the drips just before serving for the gorgeous look of the cake.
Ingredients
You can choose what kinds of drip topping you want to use to decorate the cake. For an 8-inch cake you should take:
- 1/3 cup heavy cream (80 grams)
- 1 cup white chocolate chips (180 grams)
- Gel food colouring.
Tools
A spoon, a liquid measuring cup and a spatula.
Instruction
- Make sure the cake is properly chilled. Keep the cake in the freeze for 30 minutes or in the freezer for 10 minutes.
- Pour the drip into a liquid measuring cup. The spout of the cup will give you more control when you start pouring the drip into the cake.
- Warm the drip until the drip temperature is little more than room temperature so that the drip flows nicely, but you should avoid warming it too much or it will melt your frosting.
- Try a test drip in the cake. Take a bit of topping with a spoon and pour the topping at the edge of the cake. If you like the way it flows, it’s ready to decorate the cake. If not, stir it and try again.
- Pour the topping into the centre of the cake and allow it to spread for a few seconds. Spread this to the edges of the cake using a spatula, where it will drip down the sides at its own pace.
How to drip Ganache on a cake – Tutorial by Minh Cakes
3. How to Decorate a Cake with Piping
Decorating a cake with a piping bag with a tip head is really easy once you learn how to use it. You can easily decorate a cake within a short time once you mastered the art of decorating the cake with piping.
Instruction
You can choose what type of frosting you want to use in the cake.
Tools
A spatula, piping bag and piping tips are essential for the beginner. There are several kinds of piping tips, such as grass (multi-opening), medium or large star, leaf and large round.
Instruction
A spatula, piping bag and piping tips are essential for the beginner. There are several kinds of piping tips, such as grass (multi-opening), medium or large star, leaf and large round.
- Take a piping bag and insert a piping tip into the bag opening. Then turn it right around and put the non-dominant hand with the top of the folded down.
- Use a spoon or spatula to fill the half with the bag and use your thumb to scrape off the extra icing from the spatula. Twist the top to close.
- Use one hand at the end of the bag to hold and pressure and use the other hand to guide the tip.
- Hold the piping bag either a 90-degree angle or 45-degree angles to the cake. When you want to finish a shape, stop applying pressure from the top end.
- Practice a lot on a wax paper before you start to decorate the cake.
Procedures for decorating the cake with the piping bag
Below are the procedures of some shapes you can use to decorate the cake with the piping bag.
To make a rosette
Use a medium or large star tip in front of the bag. Make a small circle starting with the inside and working out. You need to stop applying pressure before you lift the tip. But keep guiding the frosting with the other hand to the tail end of the rosette lay down, rather than stick up. Lift the bag when the shape is complete.
To make a leaf
Use a leaf tip. Apply a short burst of pressure with the top hand, then stop. With the other hand guide the tip in a line to complete the shape.
To make grass
Use a grass tip or multi-opening tip. Apply a little pressure with the top hand to keep the grass from getting too long. Then stop the pressure and then lift to finish a clump. Place clumps close together to make pipe grass.
To make stars or starflowers
Use a medium or large star tip. You need to hold the bag up straight to pipe stars or starflowers. Apply a small amount of pressure, stop and lift to finish each shape.
Related:
1. 10 Best Cake Decorating Ideas For Beginners
2. Baby Birthday Cake Decorations: 7 Tips You Should Follow
To create a dot
Use a large round tip. For making a large dot apply more pressure with your top hand, and less pressure to create a small dot. Stop applying pressure on the piping bag and lift the tip to finish creating a dot.
Diploma in Baking & Cake Decorating
Any happy occasion or celebration is incomplete without a mouthwatering cake. That’s why beautiful and delicious cakes are always high on demand.
Premium
Diploma in Baking & Cake Decorating
Any happy occasion or celebration is incomplete without a mouthwatering cake. That’s why beautiful and delicious cakes are always high on demand.
Premium
Rounding Up
Throughout the blog, I tried to cover the essential cake baking procedures and tips, from making a cake to decorating it and what equipment you need as a beginner. If you want to take your cake decorating skills to a whole new level, you can take online diploma courses on cake decorating. By enrolling in the online course, you’ll learn the secrets to making the perfect wedding cake, celebration cake and birthday cake, with tips on how to ice, frost, letter and border your cakes like a pro and set up your own decorating business.
Further Reading
