How can you have a celebration without a cake? You can't! At least not at our house, especially for birthdays. Taking the time to make and decorate a cake is just a really special thing to do for someone.
I love creating special cakes -- from castles,
to monster trucks,
using buttercream, fondant, and modeling clay, plus
whatever else I might find in my pantry to complete the design.
Cake decorating is like any other skill -- it just takes a little practice. I learned the basics, (how to make a basic buttercream, frost a cake, and how to use decorating tips to create borders and flowers,)when I was in high school. Over the years I've experimented with different products and techniques. The lastest being an Italian buttercream which was silky smooth and amazing to pipe!
Creating something with your own hands is cool, it's rewarding
and fun! Click here 🎂 to see some of the cakes that I've decorated over the past few years.
There are tons of videos and recipes out there to help you get started. Wilton has a comprehensive website that provides tons of information.
Here are a few tips and some of my favorites resources.
Use the right type of frosting for the job! A basic decorators buttercream is okay to decorate with, but I find them too sweet. When I do use a basic buttercream I like to use natural fat (like butter) rather than hydrogenated vegetable shortening (which I feel is one of unhealthiest substances man as ever created-- which is generally used in decorators frosting.) Cooked (flour) buttercream and meringue based Italian buttercream use granulated sugar (rather than confectioners sugar) and tend to taste less sweet.
I love this flour buttercream recipe from Serious Eats:
https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2014/12/flour-buttercream-fluffy-frosting-recipe.html
Or this Italian buttercream from Preppy Kitchen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HP2XJ_0g-Ik
Here is a good Marshmalloww Fondant (Wilton)
https://www.wilton.com/rolled-marshmallow-fondant/WLRECIP-242.html
I love this Modeling Chocolate Recipe for creating various shpaes
https://sugargeekshow.com/recipe/modeling-chocolate-recipe/
Here are some more links to Preppy Kitchen!
How to get flat cake layers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNuAMoMgq70
How to decorate a cake
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdowDWYurzw
How to make buttercream flowers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHc8cqgmYTQ
Have fun! Make a Mess! And most importantly--MAKE SOME MEMORIES!!!
