ISO cake decorating tips

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B'sgirl

Sous Chef
Joined
Mar 10, 2008
Messages
863
Location
Utah
I got a cake decorating set for my birthday this year and now I need to figure out how to use it. Any tips on making my cake look spectacular? (Or at least to prevent me from screwing it up)?
 
take a class at a local wilton supplier (joan fabrics here as well as a michaels give lessons)

i bought all the supplies, and found no talent for it what so ever. gave it away. i did do classes but it moved to fast for me. so guess it is me, the cake, and sprinkles. lol
 
I got a cake decorating set for my birthday this year and now I need to figure out how to use it. Any tips on making my cake look spectacular? (Or at least to prevent me from screwing it up)?

If you were closer, I'd give you lessons!

What all came with your set? Tips? Pastry bags? Parchment? Food colors? Any type of booklet or pamphlet to show you how to use whatever came with your set?

Is there a recipe in there for "practice icing"??? It's edible, but the difference is you can practice with it, pipe all sorts of borders, flowers, etc., and then scrape it up and use it and reuse it for a long time.

As already posted, if there is a Joanne's or Michael's near you, they usually offer Wilton's cake decorating classes. For that matter, you can also go to Wilton's website where they sell videos on their cake decorating method. You may also want to check the yellow pages for your area and look under cake decorating supply stores or cake decorating supplies and phone those places as they are usually owned by people in the cake and candy profession and often offer classes as well. Those are more personal than Joanne's or Michael's because you can get more one on one attention. The instructor's at J's and M's are on a tight schedule and do not have the time for individual attention as you would find in a private store.

The key, however, is practice, practice, practice. Just have fun with it and don't beat yourself up. I've been doing this for over 35 years and STILL get nervous when making a wedding cake!
 
If you're like me, you need visual aides, so check out youtube...

Brilliant! I hadn't even thought of that!

Guinevere, it is just a basic kit. I think it has five tips. leaf tip, big star, little star, small plain round (I'm just making these names up), and large plain round. It does have a booklet, but I figured if I could get some specifics here it would be helpful. The books can be so general! I'd totally take lessons from you if I could too!
 
I think it has five tips. leaf tip, big star, little star, small plain round (I'm just making these names up).....

Well, B'sgirl, for making those names up, you are spot on!! That is exactly what we call them in the industry (tho we can get more technical and place a number along with it, i.e., a #2 round). The kit you received is pretty much what I thought it would be, and the tips are quite the ones frequently used in cake decorating! You'd be surprised at what you can do with just those few!


Check that booklet that came with your set and see if there is a recipe in there for the "practice icing" I mentioned to you. If not, I will get that off to you. As I said, while it is perfectly edible, it holds up to being used, scraped up and reused for what seems to be forever!

Also, when you pipe your designs, hold the bag at a 45 degree angle. When you "write" on your goodies, use a thinner icing in order that your penmanship freely flows from the bag. You can thin the same icing you used to frost the cake, or, you can use other types of icing, gels, etc.

You can also use those tips, along with a firmer icing, and decorate cookies for the holidays! If you would like a recipe for that type of icing, let me know.

You may also want to invest a few dollars and purchase a lazy susan, which will turn the cake for you rather than you stopping the flow of your design, turn the cake, start piping, stop.you get the idea! You do not need to get anything fancy here. At WallyWorld you can pick up a plastic one for under $5. That's all you'll need for now and should you pursue this you can always go bigger and better.

If you need any other help or ideas or have questions or run into problems you can PM me, as i would be glad to help you out as much as I can via this route!
 
Thanks! That is really helpful! I would love your practice icing recipe. The only recipe in my manual is for "buttercream icing". I'm not sure if that's what I've used in the past or not.
 
At WallyWorld you can pick up a plastic one for under $5.

Just wanted to add as I recently posted something along these lines...In wallyworld, do not go to the kitchen section, go to the wedding section which was in the crafts sections. They had all sorts of cake stuff cheap :)
 
Take a class at Michael's or anywhere you see one. It helps to watch others and to practice practice practice
 
I got a cake decorating set for my birthday this year and now I need to figure out how to use it. Any tips on making my cake look spectacular? (Or at least to prevent me from screwing it up)?

Know your limitations and stick within them. Most times, screwing up happens when people try to get too ambitious. And try to create your own designs, don't just copy from books, magazines, and cards. Those are good sources of ideas, but a lot of the fun of cake decorating is the ability to get creative. But remember about sticking within your limitations...;)
 
First and foremost I learned how to make icing:
beat together-
1/2 cup softened butter
1/2 cup crisco
1 tsp. vanilla
gradually add-
4 cups powdered sugar
then add 1 tbsp milk more or less if needed.
To be honest I personally don't like the flavor of this, it just works really well for decorating.

Who knew there is even a special technique for frosting a cake (Basically avoiding crumbs to show on the surface)? I would then, if you don't already have them, get some disposable piping bags at least 12", they come in like packs of 50 or so. These come in handy when you want to lets say... make red roses, green leaves, and purple writing all in one cake, then you don't have to keep cleaning one bag. After I make frosting I decide how many color I want, then separate various amounts of icing into smaller bowls. When I add color I use a toothpick to transfer the dye, then I'll mix it to see the resulting color, if it is not strong enough I use another toothpick and add more, never reuse the same one if it has touched the icing already.

I first started practicing with the star tip doing drop stars, and different borders, just play around with applying different amounts of pressure. Then I did some very simple lattice work, and practiced writing which for me is difficult. These two tips I use the most so I would start just practicing with those.
 
First and foremost I learned how to make icing:
beat together-
1/2 cup softened butter
1/2 cup crisco
1 tsp. vanilla
gradually add-
4 cups powdered sugar
then add 1 tbsp milk more or less if needed.
To be honest I personally don't like the flavor of this, it just works really well for decorating.

LOL! This is basically my buttercream recipe and I just had a young couple tell me tonight how great it tastes! I use "clear vanilla" (it is imitation) and so can add a little more and it perks it up a bit. You can get it at Michael's or anywhere that sells Wilton products.
 
haha I think I have just eaten too much of it. I used to make and decorate cakes weekly for practice so my whole family got sick of cake and frosting.
 
haha I think I have just eaten too much of it. I used to make and decorate cakes weekly for practice so my whole family got sick of cake and frosting.

I know what you mean. Wedding cake season is starting for me and I am making sample cakes, tweaking recipes, etc. and my friends, family and neighbours get cake coming out of their ears! Today is Coconut Cream Pound Cake. I found a recipe but because I sell my cakes I make sure that if I use someone else's recipe I have changed it enough to be mine!
 
There's nothing like spending time working in a bakery to cure you of any sweet tooth you might have. It's the only time in my life when I was actually craving meat.
 
There's nothing like spending time working in a bakery to cure you of any sweet tooth you might have. It's the only time in my life when I was actually craving meat.

I can't have chocolate because it gives me migranes. Everyone says "how can you go without chocolate and work with it all day". I said "That's how!"
 
another quick icing recipe is 1lb. crisco, 2lb powdered sugar
(2lb crisco 4lb powdered sugar)
mix crisco first until it has a shiny sheen appearance. STOP, add in some sugar, as you mix and add water as you need it, also flavoring of your choice. mixing the crisco seems to make the icing smoother and fluffy like.. can add cream cheese or butter in place of crisco if you like ..
 
Hello,

Why so worried, use it in your wedding buddy, finding nice cake serving set for the wedding is quite difficult, by the way how old are you?


Regards,
sarah_9

Beachthemeweddingshop
 
One of the nice things about wax paper is you can roll it and make a practice bag. Another thing you can do with waxed paper is use it to practice making your basic designs. Cut the tip with scissors. Get familiar with the practice equipment before you graduate to the bag and tips. Decorating a pretty cake is a real art.

You can also make a practice frosting from solid crisco and powdered sugar.
 

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