Cake Decorating For Beginners: How To Decorate Your First Cake

How to Decorate Your First Cake

Are you a beginner to cake decorating? We all are a beginner at one point, and decorating your first cake is easier than you think. This article will overview basic cake decorating techniques, and can be useful to even the most experienced decorators. Easy cake decorating requires a few basic tools, some patience, and a dash of creativity.

Basic Cake Decorating tools:

• Platter or plate (you could invest in a rotating cake decorating stand if you wish)
• Spatula with a flat edge
• Pastry or frosting bags
• Set of frosting tips (border, writing, roses, leaves)

Get Started:
Bake your favorite cake and once cooled, remove from the pan and freeze overnight. A frozen cake is much easier to work with. A cake right out of the oven will fall apart when you try to ice it.

Base Ice:
Base ice your cake. This means you spread frosting all over the top and sides. Try to spread about a quarter-inch thickness of frosting all around. Don’t worry about getting your cake to look completely smooth. Have an idea of where you want to put flowers, leaves and any writing.

Borders:
Fill your frosting bag with frosting and put the border tip on. Go along the bottom of the cake giving a little squeeze with each pull of the bag. This takes practice! Experiment with how this feels and try to get a rhythm going. Try a different pattern around the top. For an easy alternative, just drop dots of frosting around the top of the cake.

Flowers:
Try making rose buds with the rose tip. The end of the rose tip usually looks like a tear drop. Hold the bag so the tip of the tear drop is pointing up, and then squeeze the bag while making a motion in the shape of a heart. Imagine that you’re holding a crayon like a 3-year-old and draw small hearts on paper. See what kinds of shapes you like.

Leaves:
The tip used for making leaves is shaped like a pointed beak. Practice a couple of leaves by filling a clean frosting bag with green frosting and securing the leaf tip. Hold the bag so the pointed beak is right side up and squeeze a drop of frosting out and slightly pull the tip away while you release your squeeze. After a few practice leaves, you should begin to see some leaf shapes and play with different sizes and shapes.

Write your message:
This may be one of the more difficult steps in finishing your cake. If you left room for a message try to imagine what message length will fit in that space. Practice writing your message on a piece of parchment or wax paper first. Prepare your frosting bag with a writing tip. The tip looks like a small circle, and I suggest using a size large enough that you can fit a toothpick through. Try choking up on the bag so that you get more control of the tip. Practice your message a few times, and give it a go on the cake. Don’t worry if it’s not perfect; it takes time to develop your cake decorating handwriting.

Now that you’ve finished your cake, you should feel excited to present it to your friends and family. Be sure to display your work before you devour your delicious dessert!

~Mia