Cake Decorating
Cake Decorating - a three-dimensional art form that utilizes icing and other decorative elements - is practiced by a wide range of sugar artists, from mothers lovingly piping "Happy Birthday" messages on children's birthday cakes to celebrity cake decorators creating towering, sculptured cakes with moving parts and singing fountains.
Because decorated cakes often play a featured role in celebrations, cake decorating is a highly sought after skill. However, cake decorators may or not be highly skilled in creating cake designs. The cake decorator who is a whiz with a decorating bag and spatula but short on cake decorating ideas need not fear.
Cake designs are found in cake decorating books, magazines, and videos and on cake decorating forums. And what about those decorated cakes that are made to perfectly duplicate the look of a hard to make item, such as a high-heeled shoe? Cake patterns to the rescue!
Cake decorating can also be made easier with good cake decorating tips from skilled decorators. On the other hand, bad cake decorating tips from not so skilled decorators can leave the beginner regretting the purchase of a whole cupboard full of cake decorating supplies.
Some specialty cakes can easily be made by a baker who has zip cake decorating skills. For example, a Bundt cake can be dressed up with nothing more than a thin glaze. However most decorated cakes, and especially celebration cakes, require some degree of cake decorating skill.
Among the most popular of the celebration cakes are: kids birthday cakes, wedding cakes and baby shower cakes. Some of the most creative cakes we've seen are birthday and wedding cakes.
Take these two birthday cakes for example:
Erupting Volcano: This easily decorated cake smokes and erupts "lava" when hot water is poured into its well. More fun than a box of trick candles!
Castle Cake: Cake decorating incorporates the skill of cake sculpting here with a fairy tale castle aglow with tiny lights tucked inside windows. Turrets tower over a moat where the "watch dog" dragon floats on his back in the blue icing gel water, and it's all edible (except the lights of course).
Wouldn't it be fun to create great kids birthday cakes like those? And just as much fun to see the delight on the faces of the birthday boys and girls and party guests :-)
Wedding cake designs can be just as fun too. A classic Cinderella cake could also include a cute dragon or be turned into a sand castle wedding cake. Humorous bride and groom cake toppers add to the merriment.
Wedding cake designs may instead be quite elegant, romantic, or sophisticated and stylish. Icing roses or real orchids are just a couple of the many garnishments found in popular wedding cake designs.
Baby shower cakes are heaven for those who like their cake's cute. Cakes shaped like yellow duckys or adorned with playful teddy bears, petit four "baby blocks," and cake spray painted cows jumping over moons populate baby shower cake portfolios.
Whether a cake is to be featured at a birthday, wedding, baby shower or other celebration, cake decorating skills to be called upon will likely include smoothing buttercream or applying fondant, creating flowers or figures and/or borders with a decorating bag and tips, or modeling marzipan, fondant or gumpaste.
One more cake decorating skill that will be needed – the willingness to have fun, make mistakes and get messy, and keep on learning!