A Cake Decorators Foundation to Cake Decorating!
Hi, Welcome back to “The Bakes of Grace Blog”, today I am going to share with you my go-to products to use for cake decorating! I will try to keep it simple and sweet because cake decorating can be very overwhelming.
Foundation
First things first, you need a solid foundation for a well looking decorated cake. Meaning: stable cake layers and smooth frosting. Of course tools are important but the cake layers and frosting can make or literally break a cake. You want to avoid slipping (slippery cake layers can happen typically when wet fillings are used with uneven cake layers) and cake breakage.
To insure you have stable cake layers you will want to work with chilled cakes. After your cake layers are done baking wrap them in plastic wrap and let them cool in the fridge or freezer. Whether you freeze them or not is up to you, it’s not completely necessary especially if you plan on eating the cake the same day. You just need the layers chilled enough to be able to set your frosting as you are stacking the cake. Most cake decorators work with butter based frostings (buttercream) which set up very quickly while cake stacking.
As for frosting you want a smooth buttercream that is not too stiff or too thin. If your frosting is too thin, it can be very slippery and difficult to decorate with. If your frosting is too thick then it can also be difficult to decorate with as with piping and smoothing the frosting around the cake. I enjoy a happy medium as far as consistency.
I think I may have said a lot but I think the foundation of the cake plays a big role in cake decorating. If you are feeling overwhelmed my advice is to be patient with yourself and experiment with a variety of recipes! I have a post about which cake books are my absolute favorite with great cake and frosting recipes! “My Most Used Cake Recipe Books”
My Go-To Cake Supplies
To start your journey with cake decorating you won’t be an expert. Just like with everything else practice will help you develop techniques to perfect your work. In the beginning proper cake tools can help tremendously! I specialize in frosting designs so the tools that I use are for smoothing frosting and piping with a variety of piping tips.
List of tools you will want:
- Cake Turn Table
- Sharp Bench Scraper
- Offset Spatula
- Piping Bags
- A Piping Tip Set
- Piping Tip Couplers and Rubber Bands
Here is the link to my Amazon List: Cake Decorating Tools
If you can I would advise getting good quality tools but if you need to by more inexpensive tools then that is totally ok! I started out with really cheap cake tools and it helped me develop a lot of technique.
My Go-To Shops
I like to get cake supplies from a variety of stores:
- Walmart: They have a lot of cake tools in store which is why I love going there. They have a lot of Wilton brand stuff so you can rely on quality material. I also get most of my ingredients from Walmart as well.
- Hobby Lobby: Hobby lobby is another store that you can go to in person if you have one in your area. I really love getting props for my cake photography, such as cake stands and decor. Everything is so affordable as well!
- Amazon: Amazon can be a great place to get things in bulk. Some things that I get from Amazon consist of cake & cupcake boxes, food dyes, piping bags and most things that I typically can’t find in store.
Those are my go-to shops for cake supplies and ingredients!
I hope this post has been helpful, let me know if you have any questions and subscribe to the email list to be notified for new posts! – Nekko 🙂
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