New to cake decorating? Learn how to decorate a cake like a pro with these 6 simple tips (great for beginners!). Your cakes will look better than ever!
Recipe: https://sugarspunrun.com/how-to-decorate-cake-beginners/
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00:00 Introduction
00:21 Tip 1 - 3 layers looks better than 2. Not mandatory and all tips here apply to a 2 layer cake as well, but taller cakes just look nicer. For a nice looking cake, choose a 3 layer recipe or increase the recipe by 50%. If you’re not comfortable doing this, that’s fine! These tips will still vastly improve the look of your 2 layer cake.
00:54 Tip 2 - Level your cakes! You can absolutely use a sharp serrated knife instead but I’m not good at cutting levelly so I opt for a cake layer. It’s under ten bucks on Amazon and has served me well for perfectly level cakes.
02:32 Tip 3 - Choose your frosting wisely. For pretty decorating, use an icing that you can manipulate easily. Buttercreams, my cream cheese frosting, Swiss meringue buttercream, these are all great choices for a beginner. It’s sturdy and smooth and not too thick or thin and pipe well.
02:57 Tip 4 - Extra icing. Give yourself wiggle room, I find I typically need 5 cups of frosting for a 2-layer cake or 6-7 for a 3 layer. YES you can absolutely decorate a cake with a standard batch of icing (which is typically 4 cups) and I do it all the time without issue, but when I was a beginner it was so much easier to have extra for any mess-ups AND it gives me extra for piping pretty icing on top. Make 50% more icing so you have wiggle room.
04:29 Tip 5 - do a crumb coating. This holds in the crumbs so you can have a smooth crumb-free outer layer of frosting.
06:30 Bonus tip: This is intermediate level, but do a ganache drip: https://youtu.be/ufK37mGpsls
06:49 Tip 6 - Decorative piping on top takes your cake to new heights. A large closed star tip is perfect for this and even an amateur can deftly do this with the right tip (practice on a paper plate first, then scrape your practice swirls back into the bag to put on top of your cake). I recommend the Ateco 846 (slightly smaller) or Ateco 848 (slightly larger and my classic go-to for piping frosting on cakes and cupcakes alike).
08:25 Bonus tip: well-placed sprinkles on top are a great addition!
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