Cake Decoration 101: Perfect Frosting

"Cake Decoration by _Uwe_, on Flickr">

Author Resource: Katrina Wagner. Cake Decoration is a great way to show off your creative side, and also to keep your loved ones happy with treats of all kinds! Frosting is an important part of this, so it’s important to make sure that you apply it in the right way. These hints and tips should help you. Article provided by - Published-Articles.com



There can’t be many things in life that are quite as wonderful as creating the perfect cake and enjoying it with your whole family, and a big part of great cake decoration is creating the perfect frosting. After all, that’s where all the flavor is! Wonderful as frosting is, however, there are a few mistakes that can be made when you’re making it, and that’s why we’ve come up with these tips on creating the perfect frosting every time:

Ensure you prepare the cake. One of the biggest mistakes that many people make when frosting a cake is to simply slap it straight on. This is a bad idea! Not only should you take the time to ensure that the cake is leveled off (cakes will usually ‘dome’ when cooked), you should ensure that it has completed cooled down by the time you apply the frosting. If not, you will likely end up with some very runny frosting sliding off the cake and onto your kitchen surfaces!

Don’t overdo the frosting. With frosting being as insanely tasty as it is (especially if it’s chocolate based!), it can be tempting to slather tons of it all over the top of the cake and then all through the middle. However, try and resist this urge (however hard it may be), as overdoing the frosting will usually lead to the cake ending up as a bit of a mess, and will also make the flavor far too overwhelming. As with any form of food creation, the key to the whole thing is finding the right balance. Get it right, and you’ll be enjoying some great cake!

Do the filling first. This might seem obvious, but you’d be surprised at the mistakes that some people make in terms of frosting in the right order! Applying the filling first is important – it should be at room temperature unless it involves cream – and ensure that you spread it evenly across the lower half of the cake. Needless to say you should stick to the above rule of not applying too much, otherwise you’ll end up with the over-full sandwich effect!

Don’t forget the crumb coat. The last thing you want to do when you’ve spent ages creating the perfect frosting is to end up with some rather unsightly crumbs ruining the effect! That’s why you should apply what’s known as a ‘crumb coat’ first. This is a very thin layer of frosting applied before the rest to help remove all of the crumbs that would otherwise come off, and to then provide a smoother layer for you to conduct the rest of the cake decoration.

Use the right consistency. Consistency is a big deal when it comes to most areas of cake decoration, and this is certainly the case when it comes to frosting. Whilst frosting is incredibly versatile, making sure it’s of the right viscosity is a great idea. Stiffer frosting is great for more elaborate shape creation, where as writing or printing is best performed by the thinner variety.