Posts tagged Cake decorating

I know it might be a little taboo to say that I love something that has been done a hundred times but I can’t help myself.  I LOVE this ombre cake. It would be so cute for a bridal shower or even a birthday cake.

Covering cake with Fondant

When it comes to covering the cake with fondant, is was actually quite easy. 

Hint: Buy premade fondant, don’t try to make it yourself!

ONE: roll out the fondant to about one eighth inch thickness using powdered sugar to keep the fondant from sticking to the rolling pin. 

TWO:  loosely roll the fondant up on the pin to carefully unroll it over the top of your cake.

THREE: very gently smooth the edges of the fondant.  Your hands’ heat will help to relax and smooth the fondant. 

FOUR: cut around the base of our cake with a sharp knife.

Now that you have a fondant covered cake, you’re ready to ombre! 

I used icing dye by Wilton icing coloring in the ‘rose’ color.  I just barely dipped my clean paint brush into the dye and the diluted it in water. You can use the fondant scraps to test the color prior to painting on the cake.  I started with the most diluted color on the top, and then worked my way down with less and less diluted coloring.

If there is any mess- up, you can just stick your brush into the water and lightly even out the dye. It was quite easy!

* Design & Photo Credit: House of Ernest

Ever wonder how some people can make their cupcakes turn out so pretty?  The trick is to pipe the icing onto your cupcakes instead of just frosting it on with a butter knife.

Piped icing makes cupcakes taller, more elegant, and in my opinion more tempting. It’s not overly difficult to learn to work with a piping bag…Yes you do it with a little practice!

One stumbling block in learning to pipe is that it can be messy to get the icing from the bowl into the bag. That is why I am going to show you how to avoid the frustration of getting the icing all over your hands, tools and  counter.

This easy tutorial will start you out with a solid foundation for your icing adventures.  Neat freaks—this lesson is for you!

What You’ll Need

1. A bowl of fresh room temperature icing. In this example, we’re using  vanilla meringue buttercream.

2. A reusable piping bag. I like to use Ateco bags , but what you’re looking for is a sturdy bag that’s fairly large so you don’t have to refill it too many times while you are working. If you only plan to make small batches, then a smaller bag will do just fine.

3. A large piping tip. For this example I’m using an open star tip.

4. A rubber spatula.

5. A plastic bowl scraper that has a straight edge…and your secret weapon.

6. A tall glass or mug. A glass that’s about this shape.

Let’s get started!

Drop your tip down into the piping bag, small side down. Notice I am not using a plastic coupler here - it’s not really necessary unless you’re going to be switching the tip a lot with the same icing in the bag. I just use lots of bags, usually one per flavor.

Take your newly tipped bag and put it into your tall glass or mug. Putting the bag in a mug or glass just makes it easier if you are new to the experience. Fold the top edges of the bag down around the outside of the glass, about halfway down. Congratulations, you are ready to fill your bag with that delicious icing you just made (or bought…I won’t tell)! Once you are more comfortable with the process, you can fold the bag over one hand and fill it with the other.

Above, you can see the no-glass method.

Grab your trusty spatula and start transferring icing into the bag. Don’t worry if you get icing on the edges. You turned it inside out for a reason. You will be filling it about halfway, which will allow you enough control of what you are piping, plus give you something to hold onto at the top.

Once you’ve filled the bag up to the edge of the glass, or maybe just a little higher, lift the bag up by the edges and gently shake everything down toward the tip. Satisfying, right?

Take the flat edge of your bowl scraper and push any remaining icing down.

Grasp the top of the bag and give it a twist or two to make the icing snug and cozy inside.

Holding the bag as pictured, squeeze a little icing back into your bowl to get rid of any air pockets.

You now have a perfectly filled icing bag that is ready to begin decorating delicious cupcakes!

As much as I love American fudge frosting, nothing beats the decadent, indulgent taste and texture of chocolate ganache.  Made of pure chocolate and heavy cream, ganache is a chocolate lovers best friend.  It’s versatility as a glaze, decorative piping, and whipped cream answers the need for icing, frosting, and filling.

Below I have pictured 3 different ways to adorn cupcakes using the same recipe. As a glaze, you can easily pour ganache over cakes for a nice smooth finish.

 If you are looking for a chocolate whipped filling, look no further. Just whip the ganache as you would heavy cream, making sure your mixing bowl and beater are nice and cold.  And whatever you do, not put your ganache in the freezer with the hopes of whipping it. It will not whip and have a curdly like texture. 

 For a thick frosting or decorative piping, allow the ganache to cool for a truffle like texture. 

Anyway you decide to eat it, this ganache will satisfy your sweet tooth and chocolate cravings.

Below are step by step photos to guide you. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 12 ounces chocolate, chopped into small pieces
• 1 cup heavy cream
• optional 3 tablespoons flavored liqueor

Place chocolate pieces in a large bowl. Heat heavy cream on medium high until it comes to a boil. Remove from heat and immediately pour cream over chocolate and stir until completely mixed and glossy. Allow ganache to cool before pouring over cakes as a glaze.

The longer you allow the ganache to cool, the thicker it will set. Typically I stick mine in the refrigerator so it is slightly cold before whipping.

 For piping or frosting, allow the ganache to completely cool and set up. When you are able to spoon the ganache and it can hold its texture, it is ready for piping.

Glazed Chocolate

Whipped Chocolate

Piped Chocolate

Materials Needed:

• A large Offset Spatula 
•  Heavy duty pastry bag with large tip.

Step 1: Bake your cakes using your favorite recipe. (This is my favorite chocolate cake recipe.)

Step 2: After the cakes are baked and have cooled down, put them in saran wrap and put them in the freezer for a few hours. Cooling the cake will make the crumbs way more manageable. (As long as the cakes are wrapped, freezing it will not make a difference in the taste.)

Step 3: Remove the cakes from the freezer and trim off the top with a serrated bread knife (if needed) to create a perfectly flat layer. I prefer tall cakes which means I usually make 3-4 layers and sometimes I cut those in half to create even more layers.

Step 4: Put down the first layer of cake and taking a pastry bag of frosting create a nice even layer of frosting. Take an offset  spatula and spread out the frosting about 1″ before the edge. Repeat until all the layers are in place.

Step 5: Create a crumb layer. This layer will seal in all the crumbs before you are ready to decorate your cake. Using the large offset spatula starting at the top of the cake and then working down the sides, create a thin and smooth layer of frosting over the entire cake. Put it in the refrigerator until the frosting sets. (About 30-60 minutes.)

Step 6: Now it’s time to frost! For best results it’s important to work with cold cake and room temperature frosting. To create that perfectly messy frosting look pile on a very very thick layer of frosting with your offset spatula. The secret to get it right is there must be a deep layer of frosting to create the texture and swirls that make it look so good. Once your thick layer of frosting is on, take the back of a spoon and begin making swirls and crests in the thick layer of frosting. Continue until the whole cake looks swoop-y and delicious.

“Make your own wedding cake!’ You’ve probably heard that from someone, and it is a great way to shave big bucks off the wedding bill; but what if it’s a disaster? Or worse, what if it’s just plain mediocre?

You have dreams of making this cake

But end up with this cake

Eeek!

Whether you’re trying to stick to a budget, or trying to express that spark of creative individuality, the prospect of making your own wedding cake can be daunting.

Where do you start? Visions of fondant icing or buttercream frosting wedding cake decorations seem the stuff of renaissance painters, but you don’t have to be a Michelangelo or a Leonardo to make a wedding cake.

A friend recently introduced me to a great website called YummyArts. This site is almost like a cake and cookies decorating class online.

YummyArts is a membership-based website, featuring step-by-step instructions for cake and cookie decoration. It offers 24/7 access to over 100 ‘How to’ videos, countless cake, cookie and candy articles, answers to members’ questions, and more. Each month, they add new videos and other resources to their database, so you are always kept up to date with the latest trends in cookie and cake decoration.

With professional decorators on-staff, YummyArts is the right place to go with any question you might have about cake, cookie and candy decoration. They also offer a photo gallery where you can get great decoration ideas or store photos online of your own decoration achievements. They also have fun forums, where you can share experiences and ideas with other cake and candy decoration enthusiasts.

For more information on the YummyArt online course please click here.  

Materials Needed: All you really need to frost this cake is:

• Large Offset Spatula for the first layer of frosting
• Heavy duty pastry bag with large tip
• knife.

Step 1: Follow steps 1-4 over here until the cake has it’s basic layer of crumb coat and has chilled. The cake should be cold and the frosting should be room temperature.

Step 2: Fill a large pastry bag with icing and create a row of straight dots going from top to bottom.

Step 3: Gently spread each dot with a knife, cleaning the knife on a rag as necessary to make sure the scallops are even.

Step 4: Create another row of dots where the frosting ends and spread each dot with a knife. Repeat over and over until the whole cake is finished. (Pro tip: It’s easy to remove a mistake with a knife and begin a row again.)

Step 5: When the scallops end add a final row of dots to “seal” the seam for a finished look.

* Photo Credits: Oh Happy Day

(Source: zazzle.com)

While there are many aspects of the wedding I love, I  have to say one of my favorites is a pretty wedding cake. The more pizazz the better. 

With a little time and patience, you can make these incredibly eye-catching tiny roses. Ideal for cupcake toppers or a wedding cake. It is actually quite easy to do, you will only need a few things to get the process rolling.

Here are the Supplies You Will Need:

1.  Pre made fondant (skip the urge to make the more cost effective marshmallow fondant, unless you are really an achiever, as this can cause mental trauma)
2.  Non-stick silicone mat or powdered sugar
3.  Pizza cutter
4.  Rolling pin
5.  Small Pastry Brush
6.  Gin or Vodka – Alcohol is preferred for fondant as it evaporates more quickly then water. It provides the moisture you need to “glue” the fondant together without making everything wet. But remember, fondant is sugar. And sugar + water = big sloppy mess so if you do use water, be very stingy with it.

Step 1:    Knead your fondant to soften, then roll out onto a sugar covered surface or onto a silicone mat. You want to roll it as thin as possible, while still being able to handle it without it tearing, so anywhere between a 1/4” – 1/8”.

Cut off the wobbly edges so you have a nice rectangle/square/uniform-shape-of-some-type, and cut into 1” strips. Cover these with plastic wrap so they stay soft, removing one at a time to work with.

Step 2: 

Brush a thin line of alcohol along the bottom-inside of the strip, and begin tightly rolling from one end, loosening as you go. Pinch and gather at times during the roll to create creases and give the rose a non-uniform look. Gently roll the bottom of the the rose back and forth between your fingers to get rid of the excess fondant you will have there.  Let the flowers air dry for a bit and use them as cupcake toppers or attach them to a cake (with more alcohol) while still soft and flexible.

Notes on fondant for first timers:

• Its just like play dough! And just as edible!

• You can throw your fondant in the microwave for 10-15 seconds to soften it more easily. Still knead it afterwards, but this gets it moving much more quickly!

• The fondant will begin to dry and stiffen immediately if left uncovered and give your roses crackly edges, this is why it is important to keep it covered and only remove one strip at a time to work with.

• You can save the excess fondant you pinch off! Just cover it every time you pinch it off until you have enough to roll out and make more strips. Give it a good kneading before you do!

Photo Credits: Weddingchicks.com

(Source: zazzle.com)