CAKE DECORATING FAQ
Here I answer FAQ for Cake Decorating and list my favorite products for decorating cakes.
Q: What frosting recipe do you use for decorating cakes?
A: I almost exclusively use the Easy Vanilla Buttercream recipe. You will notice I refer back to it A LOT. As the name suggests, it’s super easy and quick to whip up, and it tastes AMAZING. My “foodie” brother-in-law has decided it’s his favorite frosting – this is a huge compliment. Occasionally I will make a Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream, but the process is more time consuming, and when I’m decorating a cake for a birthday, I need all the time I can get!
You may be wondering if you can decorate a cheesecake. Yes, you can! My girls each requested a mocha cheesecake for their birthday cake, so I tested this out. For The Nutcracker Ballet cake, I left the top plain and added a plastic tree on top which I covered in Easy Vanilla Buttercream and a gold star Iced Vanilla Shortbread Cookie. For The Wizard of Oz cake, I covered the entire cake with piped Easy Vanilla Buttercream to create the yellow brick road and field of poppies. Lastly, for a Starbucks party, I simply drizzled store-bought caramel sauce over the top of the mocha cheesecake.
For Homemade Ice Cream Cakes, I like to decorate the Cool Whip top. You could use whipped cream instead of Cool Whip but it may not hold up as well unless it’s stabilized whipped cream. I like using a plain white canvas for my decorations for the ice cream cakes, such as the My Little Pony Rainbow Unicorn Ice Cream Cake. I have also added color to the Cool Whip like for my Mermaid Ice Cream Birthday Cake.
Q: What piping bags do you use for decorating cakes?
A: I use Wilton Piping Bags for buttercream. Other bags sometimes have a seam that gets in the way when decorating and can interfere with the design. My only complaint about these bags is that they are a little small when decorating a large cake and you have to refill them, but they are very sturdy and hold up to refilling many times. When I’ve run out of bags in the middle of a project, I’ve tried using plastic gallon-sized storage or freezer bags and am always disappointed. Inevitably I squeeze too hard and bust a hole in the bag. The real deal bags are so worth it!
Q: What tips do you use for decorating cakes?
A: It depends on what I’m decorating. For large rosettes like on the side of this Frozen Cake, I use a large Wilton tip like a 2D.
If I’m piping details like on this Daniel Tiger Cake, I use a smaller tip similar to the ones for Royal Icing such as a Wilton #2.
For making fur or grass, I use a grass tip, like on this Cookie Monster Cake. This is why I like having a set of tips to give me many options.
Q: What type of food coloring do you use for buttercream?
A: Most of the time I use Wilton food coloring gels or Americolor gels. I have used these McCormick Neon colors as well. While they are not a gel so you will need to use more product to achieve a color, they are really pretty and work well when I’m not needing a super vibrant or dark color.
Q: Do you have a special way to mix in the food gel?
A: One of my most beloved kitchen tools is a small silicone spatula. I literally have 10+ of these. My mom has found them for me at outlet kitchen stores. I use them just about every day for recipes, but when I’m decorating a cake, I use a LOT. I like to have one to mix up each of my colors of frosting, and I don’t want to have to stop to wash it in between colors. When I make Ice Cream Cakes, I need to mix the colors at the same time otherwise the ice cream melts too much, so having many of these is super helpful.
Q: What kind of fondant do you use for fondant cakes?
A: I do not like the taste of fondant, so if it’s on a piece of cake I’m eating, I remove it. I think many people feel this way. It’s beautiful for decorating, but to me, it’s like taking off the candles from a birthday cake before you eat it. I’ve made Homemade Marshmallow Fondant a few times, and it was tastier than store bought, but it can be a pain when working in large quantities, like to cover this very large Bridal Shower cake.
As I’ve mentioned before, when I’m decorating cakes I’m typically getting ready for a party and pressed for time, so I’ll take shortcuts when I can. I buy Wilton Decorator Fondant. I typically just buy the white and use the Wilton gel food coloring to tint it, like I did for this Cinderella Cake. Occasionally I buy colored fondant, particularly if I need black or a dark color that would require a lot of food gel to achieve the proper color intensity.
For this Unicorn Cake, I used store bought white fondant to cover the cake and make the larger white portion of the ears. I colored the fondant pink for the inside of the ears. For the horn, I colored the fondant with gold food coloring gel, then painted it with a gold luster dust suspension.
I drew on the eyes using a black food coloring marker.
Q: How do you roll out the fondant?
A: I use special fondant rolling pins to roll out fondant. I have this large rolling pin for rolling large pieces that cover the entire cake, and this small one for rolling smaller pieces of decorations. I love these rolling pins because they come with the guide rings to ensure even rolling, which is really important when working with fondant.
Q: How did you make the coral flowers that decorate the Bridal Shower Cake (pictured above)?
A: I’m working on a step by step tutorial, but in the meantime: I tint gum paste to the color of my choice and roll it out using the small rolling pin. I then use shape cutters such as these to cut the flower shapes. Then using gum paste tools such as these, I mold the cut-out into a flower shape. I then put a dot of Royal Icing in the center and carefully placed an edible sugar pearl in the center. The Royal Icing acts as glue that will harden as it dries to secure the sugar pearl. I did this same method to attach the gum paste flowers to the fondant cake – used a dot of Royal Icing to secure. Alternatively, Wilton makes these little flowers already prepared, but you are then limited on color. I was going for a coral and ivory theme and wanted the flexibility of creating a custom color.
Q: I have other questions you didn’t address here; how can I contact you?
A: Please send me an email at mtmbakesblog [at] gmail [dot] com, and I’d be happy to help! Alternatively, you may comment on a specific post with your question, and I’ll do my best to answer!
