This cake decorating tutorial provides 10 hacks for creating amazing cakes that are easy to follow and can be done by professional cake decorators. The tutorial covers every step from baking a basic vanilla cake to trimming, frosting with sharp edges, and decorating. It also covers using frosting, candies, and other creative toppers to create a cake that is extra moist and soft.
Whether you’re baking a cake for a family birthday or cooking along with a favorite baking competition on TV, this guide on How to Decorate a Cake offers tips and tricks for using frosting, candies, and other creative toppers. Making bakery-quality cakes at home can be quite simple, and with just a few easy tips, you can create a tender and flavorful cake that doesn’t require any specialty ingredients.
One of the key tips is to place a dollop of buttercream on the top of the cake and spread it into a thin layer. This method can make the boxed cake taste just like the ones you get at the bakery, with only a few added ingredients. Another option is to create a color-specific cake using all the same colored candies or craft a design or pattern on the sides and top of the cake using your imagination.
The most important two steps in cake decorating are painting and dusting, which can be done using edible food paints to give beautiful designs or finishing touches to your cake.
📹 10 Tips for your First Cake
In this cake decorating tutorial I share 10 hacks for decorating cakes like a pro, used by professional cake decorators to make …
What do bakers use to decorate cakes?
Silicone piping bags, also known as pastry bags, are used for applying icing to cakes as decoration. They are shaped like cones and taper off with a hole at the point. They are made of cloth, paper, nylon, plastic, and silicone. They are reusable, sturdy bags, preferably in different sizes and with various metal tips for different decorating styles. They are also used for making cream puffs, adding swirls to deviled eggs, and constructing savory macarons. Cake boards, made of laminated cardboard, melamine-coated wood, corrugated cardboard, foam, and masonite, are thick materials used to support and facilitate cake transportation.
What are the 7 different cake decorating techniques?
Cake decorating is a crucial art form that allows bakers to showcase their creativity and turn simple cakes into masterpieces. There are seven captivating cake decorating techniques that can inspire you to create stunning confections.
Fondant Decorations: Fondant is a smooth, pliable icing that can be used to cover cakes and create elaborate decorations. This versatile medium allows bakers to sculpt intricate designs, figures, and even replicate objects with precision. To work with fondant, roll it out into a thin, even sheet and drape it over the cake. Smooth out wrinkles or air bubbles, and let your imagination run wild with cut-outs, embossing, and hand-painted details.
Buttercream Piping: Buttercream is a creamy and delicious frosting that can be piped onto cakes to create stunning designs. With various piping tips and techniques, you can achieve a wide range of patterns and textures, such as delicate rosettes, intricate lacework, or playful ruffles. Experiment with different piping nozzles, practice your hand movements, and let your creativity flow to create visually captivating buttercream designs.
How to make a cake like a bakery cake?
To create a rich cake, it is essential to adhere to the instructions provided on the cake mix packaging. This entails incorporating an additional egg, doubling the quantity of melted butter, and utilising whole milk in lieu of water. The mixture should be thoroughly combined and baked in accordance with the instructions on the packaging.
What is the icing used in bakery?
Buttercream frosting, also known as American buttercream or simple buttercream frosting, is a popular type of frosting found in bakeries. It is made by combining a type of fat, typically butter or vegetable shortening, with a sweet base, usually powdered sugar. This type of frosting is very sweet and can be used in various applications, such as sheet cakes and cupcakes. Its texture is thick and creamy, but can become grainy or greasy if improperly mixed.
Its stiffness is soft and pipable, and can melt in warm settings. The recipe for buttercream frosting is easy and requires few tools and ingredients. It pairs well with most cake sponge flavors and is commonly used in sheet cakes and cupcakes.
How to prepare a cake for decorating?
Before decorating your cake, ensure that the layers are flat and stack nicely. Measure for even layers, brush off crumbs, prepare your serving plate, add a crumb coat, and choose your desired look. These 5 easy cake decorating techniques are beginner-friendly and can be used with time and energy. With no experience required, these techniques can create beautiful cakes with impressive looks. Gather your cake decorating tools, follow the 7 steps to take before decorating, and choose your favorite look.
Why are bakery cakes so fluffy?
Chemical leavening in cake recipes involves the reaction of baking soda or baking powder with liquids in the batter, releasing carbon dioxide and creating air bubbles. Baking soda, also known as sodium bicarbonate, only activates when combined with liquid and an acidic ingredient, making it common in quick bread recipes like pancakes or muffins. Baking powder, on the other hand, is a complete leavener that can be used without an acidic ingredient. To measure baking powder, stir it to loosen it and scoop a heaping spoonful. Level it off by dragging it across the metal lip inside the can.
What do bakers squirt on cakes before icing?
A simple syrup, or soak, is a mixture of equal parts granulated sugar and water. It can enhance the moisture content of a cake by adding flavorings like citrus zest, liquor, vanilla extracts, honey, maple syrup, or herbs. These flavors can be combined to create a unique flavor profile. For example, chocolate cake layers can be flavored with brewed coffee and amaretto, lemon cake layers with honey, lemon zest, and dried lavender, yellow cake layers with vanilla extract, orange zest, and bourbon, and strawberry cake layers with lemon juice and fresh basil. The extra touch of flavor will not go unnoticed.
What does a beginner need for cake decorating?
The article highlights the importance of cake decorating tools, including a rotating cake stand, offset spatulas, parchment paper, silicone piping bags, and piping tips. According to Bon Appétit food editor and Cake Queen Shilpa Uskokovic, having excellent baking skills can still be challenging. To maximize your decorating capabilities, it is recommended to use the right tools. The rotating cake stand, an all-metal option from Ateco, allows you to spin the cake as you frost it, smoothing out any imperfections.
This all-metal option is super sturdy and doubles as a display stand when decorating. Uskokovic’s favorite is the all-metal option from Ateco, which has a charming industrial aesthetic that works in various scenarios. The article also mentions that all products are independently selected by editors and may earn an affiliate commission if purchased.
What are the ingredients for decorating a cake?
Cake decorating involves using various ingredients such as cake flour, unsalted butter, white granulated sugar, confectioners’ sugar, eggs, whole milk, and pasteurized egg whites. Sweet E’s Pastries and Sweets in Vancouver offers a variety of tools and ingredients to enhance the quality of your cakes and desserts. They provide cake tins, dessert moulds, electric mixers, bowls, spoons, spatulas, and pastry scrapers. They also offer silicone cooking tins and spring-form tins.
Professional-grade piping bags, high-quality fondants, food colorings, icing sugars, and chocolate range can elevate your cake decorating to a professional level. By Oct 14, 2021, Cake, Sweet is the perfect destination for cake making and decorating needs.
How do bakeries get their cakes so moist?
The author shares seven secrets to make cakes moist: using buttermilk instead of milk, adding vegetable oil, using instant clearjel or instant pudding mix, using the right recipe, not overbaking, baking in sheet pans instead of individual pans, and using a simple syrup or glaze. These secrets have been perfected over a decade and help create dense, soft, and moist cakes. The author emphasizes the importance of using the right recipe, not overbaking, baking in sheet pans instead of individual pans, and using a simple syrup or glaze. The author encourages readers to try these methods and ingredients to achieve a delicious, moist cake every time.
What are the 7 rules for baking perfect cake?
The Bundt pan, invented by H. David Dalquist in 1950, is a trademarked invention designed for making German coffee cakes. Its ridges give the cake an attractive appearance and make it easy to portion and serve. The pan is sometimes labeled as an “angel food cake” and comes in various dimensions, with 9 by 5 by 3 inches being the most commonly used. Angel food, chiffon, and old-fashioned sponge cakes are all made in two-piece tube pans. To ensure proper baking, assemble ingredients and ensure their correct temperatures.
Preheat the oven before making the batter, prepare the pan, and avoid undermixing or overmixing. Don’t open the oven door and test for doneness. The Bundt pan comes in various dimensions, but 9 by 5 by 3 inches is the most commonly used, holding about 8 cups of batter.
📹 Making 500 Cupcakes in 4 Hours | A Typical Opening Shift at a Bakery | Cake and Cupcake Decorating
We’re back at Happycakes! Showing you how a typical opening shift goes at my friend, Rachel’s, amazing bakery. Rachel’s …
Edit to Add for FAQs on this article: 1) Hairnets are not mandatory in our health region nor are they common practice in our local food industry—not even in fast food! 2) Mask wearing when this article was filmed IS mandatory—anytime you are indoors. Rachel’s Instagram: instagram.com/happycakessurrey/ Aliya’s website: youtube.com/channel/UCogzlsGx5mbemCRTP9bXCVA
Can you do a article on transitioning from a home bakery to a storefront bakery? Things like where to buy bulk supplies in this size, larger equipment, hiring people, the logistics of getting started and what needs to be planned out before hand. I’m not sure if this type of article would even be possible but I’d love to hear your thoughts on this!
Going to school for pastry this February, this is such an informative look into how a bakery is run. I am thinking about starting up my own business once I have the knowledge and experience to do so, seeing this type of loving and fun environment makes me yearn for it even more. Thank you for sharing this experience! 🙂
I have to say that as a former home baker, then restaurant owner, and now going back to home baking, I truly enjoy being able to watch Rachel’s bakery in your articles. What’s neat to me is that I had a very similar look with pink and teal, punctuated by black and white check. 🙂 Anyway, I’m sure home baker’s can learn a lot seeing the pro’s in action commercially. Thank you for sharing her talents along with yours. ♡
I had meant to only watch a few minutes to pass the time, but 29 minutes later I’m looking for more articles, and I’ve been slightly disappointed, thinking this (like many YouTube bakery articles) was filmed in America or somewhere outside of Canada…can you imagine how ecstatic I felt when I figured out this place is actually within driving distance!? Great article guys! Love the baking energy, hopefully I’ll get to try these soon!
I love articles like this so much! It’s so inspiring too because I want to open my own bakery one day soon. I love see the whole process come together at the end. It’s so interesting seeing all the work that goes into making full shelves of cupcakes daily. I truly appreciate you working so hard on these articles for us! Your friendship with Rachel is really sweet
Giving me flashbacks to when I worked at/managed a cupcakery/bakery, except we only had 3 hours with 500 cupcakes while also having to put in supply orders for the next few days and cleanup(all just 1 person). I really miss that job though but I’m still a professional baker; just from my home due to being disabled.
This is legitimately my dream job, I started a home business if you can call it that when I was 12 with my friend. Called Caker Bakerz. We just did cupcakes. I want an all cupcake bakery, but then have fresh breads, thin slivers of fancy cakes like opera and fruit cakes, and then maybe some seasonal royal icing cookies. Seasonal cupcakes and cookies, but then have constant flavors all year round. I’d love to visit this place!!
Absolutely LOVE perusal you and Rachel work!! But I have to ask….is that baby’s breathe fake that she put on that beautiful cake?? I’m sure you all know it is Toxic to people. But its just adorable to use with roses on a cake. So I’m wondering if yall have found fake baby’s breathe to use. I found some at a craft store last year, but it just looked fake and it fell apart super easy.
I would encourage everyone to eventually swap to the piping bag for filling moulds for several reasons: its cleaner and so cuts down on cleaning time; faster as the contents stays with you and you don’t have to waste time moving trays around; more efficient as with practice you’ll have more control over your batter quantity than with a scoop; less likely to get RSI as already mentioned in the vid. The only drawbacks are warming up the batter with your hands and the time it takes to fill the bag. But these are a plus as the bag actually encourages speed so the likelihood that the batter will warm up will become less simply with having that knowledge. The sheer quantity of cupcakes also means even though you’re using time to fill the bag, this time is made up by how quickly you’re able to fill those trays in comparison to the scoop. It takes more work to get quick at the scoop than it does to get quick with the piping bag. As an added bonus, you’re piping skills will improve exponentially with very little effort. I’m a musician and I remember just how easy pieces became to learn after mastering my exercises. And the time it took to learn a piece became quicker and more effortless (AND FUN) because of the time I spent learning exercises. Very efficient way of learning. Scoop skills are somewhat obsolete. 😉 (edit) I should mention this is clearly an owner who knows their business. Awesome!
I know this is an older article, but I’m interested in this field of work; do you have to have a degree to work in a place like this or can you work a starting position and then potentially get a pastry degree or something like that? I’m 19 and not sure what I wanna do with my life but I dont want to put myself into massive amount of debt without knowing this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. Thank you for anyone answering this giving me advice or your opinion!
i have a question exactly how many people are coming in one day to buy cupcakes also knowing a lot of bakeries aren’t open that long on a regular day. i am not a baker nor own a shop but i would think making a hundred or less. another thing is how is making cupcakes with nuts on them right next to other kinds of cupcakes without allowed? there’s no way to know which customer might have allergies even if there aren’t nuts on certain ones they’re still next to it and could possibly cross contaminate
I had a baking business back in the states and I can tell you the piping method for filling cupcake pans is WAY easier than using a scoop. A scoop is an excellent method for those who are just starting out or home bakers. But if you’re baking in bulk, the bag method is SO much faster. You can fill a tray in a few seconds. You do it enough, you get a muscle memory so each pan would be filled with tye same amount.
I love your articles! I have heard various baker’s opinions regarding baking with conventional vs convection ovens. I see that you chose to use convection ovens. In your opinion, is there a huge difference in the finished baking product or is it the same as in a conventional oven? What temp do you use for a convection oven?
Hello. nice article. can you please explain why u have to make a hole in each cupcake after it’s baked instead of making lava chocolate cupcake directly. I ddnt like it. it seems unhygienic as any germ could get into z freshly baked cakes. otherwise, I believe it’s a nice business idea for any person wanting to open a business. wish u best of luck. lots of love from Mauritius
Loved your article! Very interesting. I really enjoyed perusal this process and was impressed with the variety of flavours and decorative designs. I see your comment about hairnets – that made me laugh as I was wondering where they were but then thought just must not be required for your country/state. They are in Australia for the most part. I was thinking if you want to be even more efficient, earlier on in the articles I noticed a few different tasks you had to do one at a time. I was wondering if there are tools available on the market where you could move things 2 or more at a time. Just thought that would be one way to get even more speed in. E.g. are there tools that allow you to get say 6 scoops of batter in one go and put them into the patty pans rather then going back and forth with the ice-cream scoop 1 by 1? I think I have seen these before (like a bucket with a handle and a funnel on the bottom) and I think I’ve also seen bread bakers using big paddles that lets them pick up multiple loaves of bread at once to move them from the oven to the cooling racks. Maybe those paddles could work for shifting cake tins too from ovens to cooling racks? Anyway – happy baking. If I’m in your part of the world one day I will look up Happy Cakes and try some of Rachel’s flavours! 🙂
Just a little picky thing: I’d wrap the fresh flowers’ stems with green florist tape, because the foil used here isn’t attached well, and will stay in the cake when the flower is removed. In the later part of the placement of the flowers in the article, you can see that foil separate from the flower when the decorator removes the flower. It would be icky to bite into foil when eating cake.