Showing posts with label Decorating. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Decorating. Show all posts

Friday, December 17, 2010

Decorating for Cake And Cookie

Cake and cookies for the birthday, wedding, baby shower and other personal events, I believe that they should have a personal touch. Most of the bakeries decorate cakes the same way.

I started to search Internet for help and I struggled, because I did not get exactly what I was looking for. Unfortunately I bought the cake for my baby's birthday from a store and that left me unhappy. After that I made it my mission to look for websites that will help me decorate my cakes they way I want them to look. I found YummyArts.Com. I did not hesitate to have membership with them. There are many things that really excite me about this website.

1. Before you get frustrated of asking yourself where are you going to buy your supplies, they tell you the stores where you can buy your supplies.
2. They give you introductions on how to make different types of icing.
3. You also get detailed instructional videos that you can watch online
4. While busy baking maybe you get stuck on something, you get full-time staff of professional cake decorators ready to answer questions by email.
5. YUMMY Arts produces and creates step-by step, instructional videos month after month, meaning every month you get to learn something new.

One of the thing that I personally found helpful is that you get to watch the videos and if you do not understand you get support very fast. I really enjoy my membership with them, it is the answer to my frustration. The most exciting thing is I get to decorate cakes the way I want to. I did decorate a cake for my grandmother's 70th birthday. It was very beautiful. I took her photos which she took while growing and enlarged them. I made steps with the photos showing all her journey until she turned 70. It was amazing. People who were there wanted me to decorate for them. I do like to decorate cakes but I cannot do it full time. So imagine someone who has time, they can turn this into a very big business. You decorate your cake or cookies looking at a client's personality, their favourite colour and other details that bakeries ignore.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Bakery and Cake Decorating

Nothing is better than looking down at your beautiful cake creation and knowing that it was your hard work that made it happen, right? But let's get real, this is not a perfect world and if you're like most beginners, the decorating is the most frustrating part. But fret not, there are a few things you can do that will quickly and cheaply get you into the cake decorating game.

Create A Mental Picture- As with any artistic or inspired endeavor, you must bring a non-existent thing into being. I know this might sound a bit lofty, just stick with me. Try to think about the cake you want to make. Get as detailed as you can. Think about why you're making the cake, who you're making it for, and what could be incorporated into the theme. What colors do you want to use? What techniques or tools will you use? Become familiar with what your cake looks like before you ever begin.

Pictures Come Into Focus- Look at pictures online or in baking magazines or books for some last-minute ideas and begin to sketch out your cake. This is just another step in the creative process. It doesn't have to be a great drawing you just want to get your brain used to the idea of creating this cake. It may sound funny, but trust me, this will definitely help.

Ready, Set, Practice- Break out your favorite tips and frosting bags and practice your frosting techniques. Bring together your colors and style in the ways you envisioned on a dinner plate, it's that easy. For a more advanced practice you could even lay down some icing on a shoe box.

Finally, bring your cake to life. At this point you'll be so familiar with your cake, it should come fairly easy. These simple steps will greatly reduce the stress and frustration of cake decorating as the creative process gradually unfolds. It may not always be the most practical method, but give it a try at least once, and keep practicing.

Monday, November 29, 2010

Seasonal Cupcake Decorating

Cupcakes are so much fun. Here are some ideas for Cupcake decorating:


Seasonal Cupcake decorating ideas


Santa cupcake
Frost cupcake with white frosting. Sprinkle top with red sprinkles or red sugar. Give two M&M eyes or other candy. Make a beard out of mini marshmallows or shredded coconut. This is a fun and easy Santa dessert kids can put together.


Reindeer Cupcake
Frost cupcake with chocolate frosting. Add pretzels for antlers and M&M candies for eyes and nose.


Turkey Cupcake
Use candies, cut fruit leather or sliced cookies and stand them up for feathers. Add eyes and beak.


Cupcake Creations
Just by decorating in different colors and laying cupcakes out a special way you can create masterpieces.


Frost cupcakes in same color. Some examples of these could be placing 4-5 cupcakes in a squiggly line to form a caterpillar. Give the first cupcake eyes and antennas.


Or form cupcakes into a tree shape. Start with one on top and two on the next row, three in next row, etc. (just like you were making a pyramid shape) Frost the top cupcakes green and the bottoms brown for the trunk.


More cupcakes designs could be shaping cupcakes together to form a butterfly, flower, flag, ball. Using the color frosting to match the design. Another popular idea now is to place your cupcakes in a design and frost them all together like they are one big cake. This is often called a pull apart cupcake cake.


Always start with a great cake recipe before the decorating starts. Here is one of our favorites.


Chocolate Zucchini Cupcake recipe
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/4 cup milk
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/3 cups flour
1 cup shredded zucchini
1 cup milk chocolate chips, optional


Prepare muffin cups and preheat oven to 400 degrees. In mixing bowl blend sugar, sour cream, oil, eggs, cocoa, and milk together. Add in cinnamon, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Blend together. Add in flour, zucchini and chocolate chips until well blended. Pour into muffin cups and bake 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in middle of cupcake comes out clean.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Fondant Cake Decorating

The most enjoyable step of baking a cake is creating decorations. All you require are fondants. This elastic stiff icing is easy to shape the way you want. It is also sugary and may not have any flavor. If you are a creative person, then you can do fondant cake decorating task quite conveniently. A fondant is colorful, making it easy for you to create a beautiful item. Do you have a party coming, such as a wedding, a graduation, a birthday or any other occasion? If yes, you must be thinking of baking a cake for your guests and family.

This type of cake should not only be delicious. It should capture the attention of every eye. This work requires expert application of decorating skills, which not everyone has. A professional baker can easily create his or her own cake fondant recipes. On the other hand, a beginner can try ready-made styles. Now Christmas is around the corner and cakes will be part of the celebrations. This is your chance to bake your own cake and decorate it well. All you need is this special paste, made of gelatin and confectioner's sugar. You can emboss, mold, knead or roll this paste in many ways. Then, use your molds to cover the top of your cakes.

This cover keeps your feast fresh and it provides a platform for adding decorations. Rolled fondant cake is the most common style and preparation involves usage of special tools. They come in a complete package featuring ready-made items. If you decide to do this art personally, try buying readily available mix for making the paste. In case, this is your top option, it is best to make yourself familiar with the most crucial steps. Take special classes if you have zero experience with dough rolling or even baking. You will learn icing tips in the process. Doing fondant cake decorating is not big deal as long as you know what you are doing.

You may require a few tips to help you get started. For instance, you must knead and roll properly. Your fondants should not stick or split and it must not have any bubbles. In addition, the shape of the dough must exactly match that of your cake including its size. If you find shaping difficult, then you can buy a poured paste, which is usually shiny and soft. Another detail you must know about is how to do flavoring and coloring.

Again, you have two main options. First, you can buy ready made products online. These colored fondants are available in many packs. If not, you can make your own styles using different colorations. You have to incorporate this step in the rolling and kneading process. Be sure to use your creativity too. Perhaps you want to become an expert in fondant cake decorating. To achieve it, you need to find magazines, ebooks, articles and other Internet resources. Then, read all of them and put your knowledge into practice.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Wedding Cake Decorating Kits

There is no doubt that wedding is a dream for every girl and of course we all want it to be perfect. And of course, a wedding cake is not an exception. We all want this cake to be unique and memorable for many years to come. But, how is it possible to make a cake memorable? Of course, with the help of different decorating kits.

If you are planning your wedding day in summer, then your wedding cake could be decorated with different fruits like strawberry, raspberries and any other berries you like. The main thought here is the more fruits are on the cake, the better it is. Do not forget that it is summer and why not to take advantage of this season?

The other decorating idea for your cake is flowers. Again, it is better to choose decorating flowers depending on the season. However, the most preferred flowers for the wedding cake are roses because now it is considered to be a symbol of the wedding itself. The flowers for your wedding cake could be done from chocolate, marzipans, cream and so on. Options available for you are almost countless. As well you have to think about the colors of flowers for your cake. For example, if your wedding day is in summer, then it is better to choose softer colors like pink or blue, but plain and not bright ones. And if your wedding day is in fall or winter it is better to choose brighter colors for your decorating flowers for wedding cake.

And of course, while decorating your wedding cake, do not forget about hearts of different sizes. These hearts as well as flowers could be made from sugar, chocolate, cream and so on.

In fact, you can decorate your wedding cake with absolutely different kits and in this cake you can make all your dreams come true.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Wilton Cake Decorating Class

Wilton offers cake decorating courses for those who want to pick up baking quickly. Don't expect overnight success. Be patient and learn the fundamentals well and you are on your way to becoming a master baker. The Wilton course is well structured, and starting from Course 1 is highly recommended.

Course 1: In the very first course, students learn about all the basics of cake baking. So you will be required to learn how to bake your own cake and prepare all the necessary ingredients for decorating (e.g. icing). The course will also let you get a taste of how to do some basic decorations. This is the easy part, and all beginner bakers should start with this course. Experienced bakers may still want to attend this course to find out if the techniques are any different.

Course 2: Any cake decorating class wouldn't be complete without touching on flowers and borders. You will find yourself coming back to these items frequently because you will soon realize that many clients will ask for them! In this course, you learn about basic design principles and color harmony. Then you learn how to create flowers with precision. Once you pick up the basic techniques, you can improvise and create your own flower designs.

Course 3: Fondant and tiered cakes. This is a time consuming course - working with fondant is always time consuming. So it's important that you learn how to get things right the first time. You learn how to cover the cake with fondant - that's the easy part. The hard part starts when it comes to creating fondant figurines. It takes practice and patience to create the figures you want.

Course 4: Fondant and gum paste. This course teaches more advanced techniques. Course 3 will arm you with the basic skills for cake decorating. However, if you want to take you design skills to the next level, then this course is for you.

Saturday, November 6, 2010

What Are The Lessons Learned From Cake Decorating Classes?

Cake decorating classes are becoming more popular every day. They teach you a variety of decorating skills and they also can save you a lot of money, especially if you progress up to a wedding cake. Once you learn the basic skills you can create your own personalized custom designs for each special occasion, and you won't need to pay those very high rates for customized naming. You might even supply cakes for the local bakery and make some money instead of spending.

Design classes are being offered in many places. Your local community college is one of the favorite places to look for offerings, but most people take them at the local adult community centers or adult education centers that are right in your neighborhood. These local classes are usually very affordable, and won't break your budget. Often they have them once or twice a week during the semester.

You may also find some excellent books and videos on the Internet. Many people are not aware that people have a number of programs which include books and detailed how to design documents that are targeted for the learn at home crowd. The nice part about this is that you can work at your own pace, and need not rush home from work each night so that you don't miss the class. You can learn in the comfort of your own home and no one need see any of your mistakes. You can just gobble them up. It's often nice to be able to learn and bake on your own schedule when you have the time.

Before signing up for a class, be sure to check the skill level that is being offered. You want to take the right level for you and very often this means that you want to start at the beginning so that you are sure to have the fundamentals fully covered. There may be several different levels offered. Some instructors though only offer one level per semester, so if you don't start at the beginning, you need to wait a full year for the starter class to be offered again. In this case you might want to contact the instructor to see if its okay that you start in an intermediate class, and catch up along the way. It's always better to do some now, rather than procrastinate.

Also beware that if you are really somewhat familiar with cake decorating that if you take a beginner class you might find much of it boring and covering things you already know.

One final area to watch for this the trends or styles that are being taught. There are now many different trends and styles to choose from so watch for this type of information in the ads. It's usually great fun to try something new and trendy and different, and it will certainly impress your guests when they see it.

Once you get the fundamentals down, you should be able to add your own unique style and personality, so get started on this great hobby or career.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Cake Decorating Technique

Whether you're looking to hone your already established cake decorating skills, or completely learn from ground zero, you'll find there are simple steps you can take to advance your decorating technique.

Practice, Practice, Practice- As with any hobby or skilled pursuit, you must practice. Once you have the basic tools and equipment, using them must become second nature. There are many different tips and frosting techniques, so try to start simply. Load up your favorite icing bag, and get out a plate or milk glass and begin practicing. Once finished simply scrape off the icing and reload it back into your frosting bags and start again. Practice is the single most important factor and it is not practical to bake cake after cake to gain the necessary experience. Another option is to bake a single cake that you don't intend to eat, and just keep decorating it over and over again.

Use Vibrant Colors- A large part of how a cake appears is due to the colors used. Be sure to use coloring gels as they produce a much more vibrant and vivid color. Look at pictures in magazines or online to get ideas about color schemes and practice making your perfect colors as it will take some skill to obtain the color you desire.

Imagine Your Finished Product- Once you are well-practiced, both with the actual laying down of icing and with coloring, you must begin to imagine how your cake will look. How many layers will it have? What is the overall theme? How do you want people to feel as they look at your cake?

Implementing these simple guidelines will serve to greatly increase your cake decorating skills.

Cake Decorating Tips Using Fondant Icing

Decorative cakes are highly popular today. It is mostly seen in weddings, debuts, and on birthday parties. Most of the layered cakes you usually saw in weddings are made out of fondant icing.

Fondant icing is widely used by professional bakers around the world. Fondant is a thick and creamy sugar mixture used in designing and decorating cookies and cakes. It is much easier to use for decorating custom made cakes compared to buttercream frosting.

If you are a skilled baker or an aspiring one, creating fondant based cakes is very exciting and a fun baking experience. Below are some tips for cake decorating for you to practice.

For beginners, handling fondant may get tough and messy. Don't fret. There are ready made fondant icings that are for grabs on the market. You can choose from getting a rolled fondant or poured fondant.

Rolled fondant is much easier to use for cake decorating. They can be made available in various tastes such as chocolate, custard, mocha, caramel and other exciting flavours. Since they are bought with flavours, they came in with different colours too. You can instantly cover and pattern the fondant icing over you cake in a matter of minutes. Be careful not to tear the rolled fondant whenever you cover your cake.

You can use cookie cutters with different sizes and shapes to create designs on rolled fondant. You can design or create just about anything. If you are skilled in moulding, you can create ruffles, flowers and various stuffs. You can use the rolled fondant to create those. Your creativity can play and ideas are widely open.

Poured fondant is more advanced than rolled fondant. It may require some skill and coordination when decorating your cake or cookie. The first step you will have to do is heat the icing or melt the candy. Check the box or label on pre-heating instructions. Follow the steps to achieve the desired amount and texture of the icing.

Fondant icings are quick to dry and harden. After heating the icing, you may need to set it aside in order to cool. Make sure your work station is clean and dry. When the icing is cooled, place it on a piping bag. You can now have control over the icing and make designs for your cake.

Working with fondant can be hard and fun at the same time. You can create a wide range of designs with it. You can find a large array of resources such as cookbooks and magazines to gain ideas on how to decorate cakes.