Before you bake and decorate a cake, make sure you have the right cake decorating ingredients and supplies readily available. Take your time and follow easy decorating steps when you frost your cake. If you’re in a time crunch, use some quick decorating ideas for your cake. Before you present your cake, go through a pre-showtime checklist so your cake looks great.
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Cake Decorating Supplies Checklist
Certain tools and equipment (some common, some specialized) are required for cake decorating. Be prepared ahead of time by organizing your cake decorating equipment into a kit. These things are what you’ll need for your cake decorating adventures:
Icing tips, such as #1–#10 for dots, lines, and scripting; #16, #18, #21, and #32 for forming stars; #48 for basketweaving; #67 for forming leaves; #104 for creating flowers; and a flower nail such as a #7
Disposable pastry bags
Couplers for the pastry bags
Icing offset spatulas, 4-inch and 9-inch
Ruler
Various sizes of baking pans, such as 9-inch rounds, 10-inch square, 9-x-13-inch rectangle, 12-x-18-inch rectangle, and Bundt
Cardboard rounds to support the cake
Cooling racks
Cookie, fondant, and gum paste cutters
Cake tester
Bench scraper
Pastry brush
Decorating comb
Turntable
Layer leveler
Candy and oven thermometers
Parchment paper
Toothpicks and bamboo skewers for sketching
Modeling tools
A color wheel
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Cake Decorating Ingredients You Need
Having a variety of fresh high-quality products will help you to bake and decorate great cakes. Common ingredients you should have stocked in your kitchen are:
Cake flour
Unsalted butter for baking and mixing frostings
White granulated sugar
Confectioners’ sugar for frostings and icings
Eggs, at room temperature
Whole milk
Pasteurized egg whites for royal icing
Coloring gels, in a variety of colors, to shade frostings
Baking powder
Baking soda
Flavorings and extracts
Edible embellishments such as hard candies, chocolates, nuts, fruits, sprinkles, sanding sugars, and nonpareils, as well as marzipan for modeling
Nonedible embellishments such as candles and fresh flowers
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How to Frost Your Cake
When frosting your cake, make sure you have the right tools, time, and attention to detail. Follow these easy steps for frosting your cake. (The directions are for a double-layer, 9 inch cake but can be easily adapted to other sizes.)
Gather your tools, including wax paper, offset spatulas, and a silicone brush.
Have your bottom cake layer on a cardboard round (or the board it will sit on), and place strips of wax paper underneath it around its borders.
Use the silicone brush to gently sweep off excess crumbs, and then use a wide-angled spatula to spread an even layer of frosting on top of the bottom layer. Put the second layer on top and again sweep off excess crumbs.
Spread another layer of frosting on top of the cake and all around the sides. You’ve now formed your crumb coat. Refrigerate the cake for the frosting to crust over.
Remove the cake from the refrigerator and use an offset spatula to spread frosting cleanly and evenly, beginning first on top and then frosting the sides. Use the spatula to achieve a flat, smooth look, adding and removing frosting for a finished, polished presentation.
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Quick Cake Decorating Ideas
If you’re running short on time, you can still create a cake that will draw oohs and ahs of admiration. Try these last-minute cake decorating toppings and methods:
Top your cake with chocolate shavings or curls.
Group nonpoisonous fresh flowers, such as roses or daisies wrapped with a grosgrain or organza ribbon, atop your confection.
Use a stencil and sift confectioners’ sugar or cocoa over your creation.
Decorate cake plates with sauces — such as hot fudge or raspberry purée — that complement a cake slice.
Place evenly spaced milk chocolate, butterscotch, cinnamon, white chocolate, or mint chips all over your cake for a Swiss dot effect.
Use hard candies, sours, or jelly beans to create festive swirls, spell out a name, create a flower, or form a geometric pattern.
Create a tableau with small fruits, or if it complements the cake’s flavor, thinly slice and place citrus fruits in a decorative pattern.
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A Pre-Showtime Check of Your Cake
Before you unveil your masterpiece, go through this checklist to make sure your cake looks its best and is securely stored for safe travel, if needed:
Examine the cake’s silhouette: Is it even? Does frosting completely cover the cake? Are the borders clean?
Are there too many decorations? If so, can a piece easily be edited out?
Did you double-check the spelling and appearance of any writing?
Is the cake board clean?
Is the cake board sturdy enough to transport the cake safely?
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dummies
Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/cake-decorating-for-dummies-cheat-sheet.html
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