Discover 7 must-know cake decorating techniques to help elevate your pastry arts skills. Learn tips and tricks to create stunning cakes!
Have you ever watched a cake decorating show and been in awe of the chefs’ ability to make the cakes come to life?
From simple piped flowers to elaborate fondant work, each piece is carefully crafted for the theme, event, or occasion. You know that cake decorating is more than simply spreading icing on a cake—it’s your chance to add an artistic touch to a delicious dessert.
So, whether you create seven-tier cake masterpieces or just want to make cupcakes for your kiddos, these seven basic cake decorating techniques will help you make your cake designs come to life.
Before You Start: The Tools and Equipment Needed to Decorate a Cake
Before you can try the different cake decorating techniques, you’ll need the right tools and equipment at your disposal.
Using the right tools can help make the decorating process smoother and more enjoyable, as well as more efficient when working as a pastry chef in a fast-paced professional kitchen. Having a well-stocked toolbox is an important part of the foundation of creating a visually appealing cake.
To ensure that your tools remain in top condition and last for years, regular maintenance is crucial. Be mindful to wash your tools after use, especially when working with sugar or fondant, which can be more difficult to remove when hardened.
Regularly inspect your decorating tools for wear and tear. Replace any parts that are damaged or worn. Sharpen edges as needed and ensure any moving parts in airbrush machines are properly functioning. You don’t want to find out that one of your tools won’t work properly when you’re in the middle of decorating a cake.
With these essential tools at your disposal, you’re now ready to dive into the techniques that can help you elevate your cake decorating skills.
1. Spatula Icing
Just like a room requires a good coat of paint before its decor can shine, the first step to a beautiful cake is a flawless coat of icing.
While the pros make icing a cake look easy, you’ll need the proper tools and some practice to develop this technique. A pastry spatula is the easiest way to apply icing, no matter if you’re aiming for a smooth coating or textured finish.
Some designs to practice include smooth coatings, vertical lines, and the spatula painting technique shown below.
2. Piping
If you work in cake decorating, you won’t be able to escape piping. Everything from elegant tiered wedding cakes to playful birthday sheet cakes rely on this classic technique.
Before you begin piping, you’ll need to fill a pastry bag with icing and choose the proper tip. Since piping tips come in a variety of shapes and sizes, make sure you pick the one that will allow you to complete your desired design.
While some cake decorators use their pastry bag like a paintbrush and let their creativity shine, there are some fundamental piping techniques most pastry chefs should have in their repertoire.
- Stars are made using a star tip and a single squeeze of the pastry bag. Use multi-colored stars as stand-alone decorations or combine them to create textured tops or borders.
- Dots are created much like stars but with a round rather than a star tip.
- Rosettes add a floral-inspired element with a limited amount of work.
- Shells are the foundation of one of the most popular cake borders, but they can also be used to cover a cake with a subtle texture.
- Zig-Zags are just like what they sound like. You can use them to create borders, cover sides, or fill in shapes.
3. Fondant Work
Fondant, a rollable icing, is another tool that should be in any cake decorator’s toolbox. Once you get the hang of working with this flexible yet stable material, you’ll be able to add new styles to your cake decorating skills.
Pastry arts professionals at the very least should practice covering a cake in fondant to create a smooth and elegant appearance. Once you’ve perfected covering a cake, you can then explore adding designs and texture to the fondant.
Along with fully coating cakes, you should eventually be able to use fondant to create shapes and structures. These include everything from simple polka dots to intricate flowers. If you’re looking to create extravagant cakes such as those found on shows like Ace of Cakes and Cake Boss, continue to sharpen your fondant skills.
4. Hand Painting
Once you’re comfortable with fondant, it’s time to add some flair to your cakes with hand painting. As the term suggests, hand painting involves using edible pigments to paint designs on a fondant canvas. Decorators can use this technique to create simple shapes like dots and lines or complete scenes that rival the works of Vincent van Gogh.
This technique may involve freehanding a design or using a template or stencils to help guide your work.
5. Sugar Work
While sugar work is a more advanced technique, it helps cake decorators stand out from the crowd.
Much like artists using molten glass to create bowls and sculptures, sugar work involves crafting melted sugar into exquisite shapes and forms. Once you become comfortable with this technique, you’ll be able to adorn cakes with sugary swirls and sweet sculptures.
6. Airbrushing
Airbrushing uses an air gun similar to that used by car detailers and graffiti artists. But rather than working on rims and underpasses, pastry artists work on cakes.
This technique is similar to hand painting in that it allows you to add color to a cake after you’ve finished with your icing or fondant. However, airbrushing allows for quicker coverage as well as seamless blending of colors.
If you’re aiming for an ombre effect, airbrushing is the technique to use.
7. Mirror Glaze
If fondant and buttercream icing are the equivalent of matte paint, then a mirror glaze is akin to a high-gloss finish. This technique involves combining gelatin, sugar, and other ingredients until they reach the perfect temperature. At this point, the satiny mixture is poured over a chilled cake.