Trends in Cake Decorating

Baking a cake is one of the best ways to make any occasion extra special. Here you will find some of the most popular trends in use now for both cakes and cupcakes.

Cake Decorating: The Tools You Will Need

Cake decorating can be a very fun hobby and it does not take a lot to get started. Obviously you will need the basic equipment that you need to make a cake like pans and a mixer. In addition you will need a few basic decorating tools. A basic decorating kit can be purchased for less than twenty dollars.

Cake Decorating Made Easy

You too can make beautiful cakes with simple cake decorating ideas. Apart from the celebrant, the cake is the main star in every celebration or occasion. It is not enough that you learn how to bake. You must also know how to make your cakes a stand out, and look great.

Cake Decorating Expert

For some, cake decorating is a hobby, and for others, it is a career. The amateurs are those who find it fun and gratifying to bake the cakes and then decorate them for their family and friends, saving money by doing it themselves. With expert training along with good decorating tips and ideas, anyone can master this art. With this art form you will be able to stretch your imagination. If you continue building your skills, you will experience the joy of making others happy with your expertise.

Cake Decorating for the Beginner

Cake decorating can be a great hobby and a great way to make a party special. It is not however an easy skill to learn. It takes a lot of practice to get good at it and it will take years before you can do the elaborate designs that you see in the magazines. Beginners are going to want to keep things simple and work on learning the basic skills. There are a few things that will really help you to get the best results when you are first starting out.

The Art Of Decorating A Cake With Rolled Fondant

Sugarcraft is most likely the most misunderstood cake decorating term in existence. Go out and ask people what they think it is and you'll get answers like "It's a type of vehicle" or "It's a Norwegian punk rock band" or "Is that a type of Witchcraft?"

Fondant Cake Decorations - 7 Tips For That Perfect Wedding Cake

Whether you make it yourself or buy it from your local supermarket, rolled fondant icing is the icing of choice choice for wedding cakes and for other "special occasion" cakes. Drying to a smooth matt porcelain finish, it is suitable for cakes of all shapes and provides the ideal base for the most intricate or simplest of decoration.

4 Things to Consider With Wedding Cake Icing

Wedding cake icing seems like a small and relatively unimportant part of the overall wedding planning process. Most want their cake to look good, but are more worried about the cost of the cake, the amount of cake available, and the flavor of the cake. The frosting will actually affect most of these aspects of the cake.

Decorating Designer Cookies

When it comes to decorating designer cookies, there are three techniques that used; decorating the cookie with royal icing, color flow, and fondant. Using these three techniques will produce the professional designer cookie look that you are after.

Cake Decorating Icing - The Three Most Popular Recipes

When it comes to cake decorating, icing is your secret weapon. Not only can you cover up many baking boo...boos, but you just can't decorate a cake without icing. It's the glue that holds everything together and the sweet stuff that makes it all taste so good. Three of the most commonly used types of icing are butter cream, royal icing, and fondant. Here is a quick look at the three different kinds of cake decorating icing and their uses.

Ideas for Decorating a Cake

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There are plenty of ideas for decorating a cake in cook books and also on the internet, so here's only a short list of tips to consider when trying to bake a tasty and great looking cake:

Cake Decorating Ideas And Tips To Help You Make A Fabulicious Creation!

Cake decorating ideas are easy to come by thanks to the Internet. However, too much of a good thing can quickly put you on overload. The best thing to do is simplify and go with easy cake decorating options. Here's a few ideas to consider:

Wedding Cake Decorating Ideas for a Memorable Event

Decorating wedding cakes can be quite challenging. Whether you are planning a casual celebration or an elaborate formal reception, there are creative cake decorating ideas that can save you money and surprise your guests. You can design your cake as a garden growing to new heights, add fancy fondant flowers and red hearts, or create exquisite floral designs with decadent chocolate tiers.

Modern Wedding Cakes

A modern bride and groom certainly deserve a modern wedding cake. In my opinion, if the reception, dress, tuxes and decor will be sleek and stylish, the cake should match. The modern design, however, may seem elusive to those not in the know about desert styles, so let's take a look at what exactly a modern wedding cake is.

Cupcake Frosting

One of the best parts about decorating cupcakes is that it's all about creativity, not following rules! I love to make cupcakes for my family, but get tired of doing the same thing every time, so I try to find recipes for frosting that are both easy and fabulous.

Fondant Tools

Baking is a wonderful pastime for most people who are good at cooking. Whether one is an expert chef or not, he or she can learn how to bake a cake. The procedure can differ, depending on the recipe one wants to use. Even so, some baking tips remain the same, such as the use of fondant tools.

How To Make Fondant Icing Roses For Cakes

*If you are not accustomed to working with fondant icing or have not made roses before then make sure you buy enough fondant for several attempts- practice makes perfect.*

Cake Ribbon

Decorating a cake can be difficult and messy, especially when it comes to covering the seams where two layers meet. Frosting in between layers is sometimes troublesome even for experienced cake decorators. Luckily, there is an easy solution to this problem.... cake ribbon!

Fondant vs Gum Paste

Fondant and gum paste can sometimes be used interchangeably to create some designs, but there are times when one should be used over the other. Fondant, not gum paste, is used to cover cakes. There are a variety of different recipes, but most rolled fondant consists of powdered sugar, unflavored gelatin, water, glycerine, and liquid glucose. Once the cake is covered in fondant, the cake should not be placed in the refrigerator, as it will become sticky.

The fondant will help to keep the cake fresh, but if you fill the cake with a filling that requires refrigeration, fondant is not a suitable way to finish the cake. Fondant looks very pretty and really is versatile, but the taste leaves much to be desired. It is very sweet and chewy. In fact, many people peel the fondant off when eating the cake. Marshmallow fondant has a much better taste. Even though it's made with marshmallows, it tastes more like cotton candy. The chocolate version tastes like tootsie rolls. It's less expensive to make marshmallow fondant at home than to buy pre-made fondant. Both fondant and gum paste can be colored in any shade using paste food colorings. You can use luster dusts to add color to anything you make. There are methods for applying it both wet and dry to achieve different effects.

You can purchase all kinds of cutters and tools that will give you endless creativity. Fondant can be cut with fondant or cookie cutters to create all type of shapes. It can be folded over skewers to create a drape on a cake. It can be colored with food coloring or sprayed with a cake decorating airbrush. It can be pressed into molds to create all kinds of intricate, decorative appliqués for the cake.

Besides covering a cake in fondant, fondant can be used to cover the cake board and make some decorations that don't require too much flexibility, such as bows. Gum paste is softer and more pliable. It is easier to mold into all kinds of shapes. Gum paste is usually used to make figurines, many having tiny little details. While you can try doing this with fondant, it doesn't quite shape as smoothly and it's a bit more difficult to work with. While gum paste is considered edible, it will dry very hard. You can save gum paste figures and flowers as keepsakes and they will last a very long time.

Gum paste is similar in ingredients to fondant but contains gum tagananth, which gives it its characteristic gummy texture. You can make gum paste at home or purchase it in most craft stores. When you make it, you wrap it in plastic wrap and store it in an airtight container. It will last up to two weeks.

When you begin working with either one, you will roll them out on a clean work surface dusted with cornflower. Dust your rolling pin with cornflower as well. Different projects will require different thicknesses. For creating designs to add apply to a fondant finished cake, you can purchase a small rolling pin that comes with rings. The rings help you roll out the gum paste to different thicknesses so you don't have to guess. There are so many fun things to do with gum paste and fondant. With a little practice, you can create a masterpiece.

Theresa Happe is a baker, cake decorator, and author of http://www.cake-decorating-corner.com, a website featuring cake photos with detailed instructions for all occasions, and cake and icing recipes and http://www.cakeswebake.com, a social network just for cake decorators.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Theresa_Happe

Fondant vs Buttercream Icing

Fondant cake decorating or buttercream - which is the best? In truth, both these options for decorating your cake have their upsides and downsides. The one best suited to your needs will depend on the cake, the occasion, and the effect you are trying to create.

Pros and Cons of Fondant

Fondant has a few properties that make it extremely useful for decorating certain kinds of cakes. First of all, because of the nature of the substance, fondant can help you create an incredibly smooth finished look to your cake that you simply can't get with icing or buttercream.

If you're not familiar with fondant, think about the last time you went to a wedding. Chances are, the wedding cake had fondant on at least some part of it, if not the entire icing. Professional cake bakers like fondant because of the smooth and "polished" look it gives a cake.

The consistency of fondant also means it can be shaped and moulded in ways that other types of icing can't. Of course, you can have liquid fondant or fondant that has a consistency like play dough. This more solid form of fondant can simply be rolled out and used to cover the cake like a sheet. This is how you can avoid having gaps, bubbles or divots in the icing.

One of the big drawbacks of fondant is how hard it is to make - again, one of the reasons it is most often seen on professionally made cakes. Of course, you can simply buy a pre-made fondant mix.

Another drawback of fondant is that some people don't like the marshmallow-like taste of it. Also, the consistency of fondant makes it a little "chewy" - not a pleasant texture for many cake lovers.

Pros and Cons of Buttercream

Some of the drawbacks of buttercream can already be seen by what we've said about fondant: buttercream can't give you that same smooth, finished look, so if appearances are important for your cake then you will probably prefer fondant. However, buttercream has a few advantages of its own.

Many people prefer the taste of buttercream over fondant. Also, the texture of buttercream is a lot more in line with how most people think icing "ought to" feel. However, this texture also means decorating with buttercream can be a more delicate process.

If you really can't decide on which substance to use for your cake, there's an easy solution: use both. You can have the best of both worlds by adding a layer of buttercream to the cake and covering this up with fondant. This way, your cake will look smooth and spectacular, and due to the consistency of fondant anyone who doesn't like it can just peel it off and enjoy the buttercream underneath.

As a general rule of thumb: if the look of your cake is more important than the taste, use fondant. If you want a better chance of pleasing the majority of tastebuds, use buttercream.

For help in learning cake decorating, visit www.learn-cake-decorating.com

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