Decorating Children Birthday Cakes - The Simple Essentials

In addi...

When I 1st started baking and decorating my youngsters birthday cakes, the selection of decorating tools I could buy seemed endless. And there was so a lot guidance out there on cake decorating! It was a entire new globe to me. Nevertheless, I reined in my impulsive nature to buy every thing I believed I needed, and purchased some simple tools. It is these basics which have 'stood by me' in my quest for decorating these colourful creations my children ask for each year on their birthdays.

In addition to these tips, I've added some useful ideas for decorating your child's subsequent birthday cake - some of which had been given to me freely from other individuals whilst a handful of goodies had been borne from my personal mistakes...

Cake Decorating Gear:

You do not necessarily need elaborate gear but you will require some fundamental supplies. You can acquire most of the following supplies at specialty baking shops or even your local supermarket. They are indispensable for baking and decorating any birthday cake your kid may well dream up.

Rubber Spatulas:

It's excellent to have a set of assorted sizes that are made of flexible rubber. They are the greatest tool for scraping frosting from the sides of bowls.

Metal Spatulas:

Have at least 1 large and one small angled spatula for spreading and smoothing frosting. Stay away from your cake crumbling by making use of a modest metal spatula to gently ice the cake with a really thin layer of frosting just before adding the 'real' layer. This method is named 'crumb coating'.

Piping Bags:

Reusable 8", 12" and 18" bags with plastic coating on the inside for straightforward cleaning. Clear plastic disposable zip-lock bags are great for tiny jobs.

Coupling Nozzles:

These nozzles are important simply because they let you to adjust your guidelines according to the style. They can also act as a extremely big round writing tip for piping figures.

Gel, Powder or Paste Food colouring:

These are preferable to liquid food colouring due to the fact they are far more concentrated and will not thin down the frosting.

Guidelines:

1. Have all ingredients at area temperature.

two. Use an electric mixer when beating the cake mixture. You have much more chance of eliminating bumps in the pre-cooked cake mixture.

3. Wire Cake Racks are essential for cooling and inverting cakes.

4. Trim baked cake so it sits flat. Use the smooth base as the prime of the finished cake and decorate with icing.

five. To cease crumbling, bake the cake the day just before you need to decorate it and place it in the freezer.

6. Decorate even though still cold.

7. Cake boards are really cakes low cost to pick up from cake decorating shops. Or you can cover a large piece of cardboard (cut from a box) with coloured foil.

8. Butter Cream Icing is fantastic for decorating cakes. The only issue I have located with butter cream icing is that when you add colouring, a pastel colour is the only colour it will go to. This is simply because of the fat in the butter. If you want a darker colour, you have 3 choices: Use plain icing sugar and water then add colouring replace the butter in the butter cream icing recipe with vegetable shortening or add black coloured powder to your icing mixture - it will deepen the colour.

9. Cut strips of waxed paper to slip underneath the edges of your unfrosted cake. When completed, you can pull them away and you will not smear the cake board.