Keeping it Simple – Cake Decorating for the Domestically-Challenged

Do birthday parties cause you to tense up because a) you really don’t want to mortgage your firstborn to pay for the cake your child wants, knowing full well that you can’t even pronounce half of the ingredients on the supermarket cake’s box and b) you really want to make the cake yourself but have no idea where to start?  Well, then you’ve clicked on the right article.  Here are a few tips to help you keep cake decorating simple, fun and creative without putting you in the loony bin or the poorhouse.

Homemade cakes can be nice but if you’re planning the party yourself you’ll want to save some time wherever you can.  Remember, keep it simple!  Start by choosing a theme for your party and cake.  Scour the internet for ideas and you’ll find that not only do most bakers post pictures of their cakes but they also post detailed instructions on how to create them.  There are companies who will make any picture you choose into an easy-to-apply, edible cake topper.  Peruse the aisles of your local craft store.  There you will find books upon books on how to decorate the perfect cake and cake pans of all shapes and sizes but, remember, we’re keeping it simple.  If you aren’t used to cake decorating, go with the simplest idea you can find because it will always, and I mean always, take you longer than you think it will.  Still can’t find that perfect cake idea?  Then it’s time to hit the toy box.  Go through your kids’ toys and find small cake toppers to match your theme…Matchbox cars, Lego figures, action figures, Strawberry Shortcake dolls, etc.  Once you have a featured toy or topper you can create the rest of the cake around the centerpiece decoration.  Try sketching your idea on a piece of paper to see if it’s realistic before you start baking.

Now that you've got an idea, it’s time to bake.  In the interest of keeping it simple, our resident cake decorating expert, Justine Parlet, recommends a boxed cake mix and pre-made icing.  They are easy and the store brands have proven over time to be just as good as the name brands.  Here are a few tricks to decorating your cake with ease.  First, once your cake has been baked, place it in the freezer for 15-20 minutes until the top is firm but not totally frozen.  This will reduce the amount of crumbs mixed into your icing and will help prevent the top layer of cake from tearing and being pulled into the icing.  Second, when using store-bought frosting, scrape it out of the container and into your electric mixing bowl.  Mix it on medium speed for about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as you go.  Repeat this process until it fluffs up the icing.  This allows for more spreadability, decreases tearing and helps you frost more cake for the money.  After applying the base coat of icing to the cake, allow it to sit on the counter, uncovered, for several hours or overnight.  This gives the icing a chance to harden slightly and makes decorating the cake much easier.  The base layer won’t be able to mix in with the decorating layer as easily.

Now that it’s time to decorate, you’ll want to put your fun cap on.  This is where the possibilities are endless and your kids are forgiving.  Let’s get to creating!  If you are making designs of differing colors on the cake you have two choices, color your own icing or buy the pre-made, pre-colored tubes.  For coloring your icing, Wilton’s food pastes are superb and the colors are vibrant.  Scoop out a small amount of white icing into a separate bowl.  Dip a toothpick into the food paste and then stir the paste into the icing.  In this case, less is more.  It does not take very much food paste to color the icing.  Remember, it’s easier to make the icing darker than it is to lighten it so go easy.  Mix the coloring into the icing with a spoon and slowly add more paste until your icing reaches the desired color.  If you want black icing, start with chocolate icing and add black food paste until you have the desired color.

 
After your icing has reached the color you want, allow it to rest on the counter for 15 minutes, covered with a damp paper towel to keep it from drying out.  This allows the color to be absorbed into the icing and gives you a chance to ensure the correct coloring before decorating.  When you are ready to decorate, you can use the ready-to-go icing piping bags and tips found in your local craft store or simply use a plastic zipper bag.  If using a zipper bag, place the icing into the bag and squeeze it to one corner.  Using scissors, snip off a small piece of the corner and, voila!  You have a piping bag for writing or simple decorating with icing.  If you run into a snag along the way then take a deep breath and do an internet search.  You will be surprised by how many problems you can trouble-shoot on the internet.

Finish off your cake with pre-made roses or candy pieces, action figures, dolls…the possibilities are endless!  Remember, the idea is to make your special occasion a simple, positive memory and not a nightmare that you wish would end.  Keep a positive attitude, keep it simple (have I mentioned that one already?) and give it a try.  You might just find a hidden talent that’s been waiting for its debut.

Some Simple Cake Ideas – use any combination of these ideas to come up with your own unique cake:

• Cars – ice the cake with a green base layer, use black-colored icing to make a road across the middle of the cake, use a piping bag to make yellow dashes in the middle of the road.  Place toy cars on the road.

• Construction cake – bake a chocolate cake.  Using one of your child’s large dump trucks (make sure you wash it out!), crumble the cake into the bed of the truck.  Layer with chocolate pudding, frosting, crushed chocolate cookies and gummy worms to look like a pile of dirt.

• Princess cake – bake your cake in a medium sized mixing bowl.  Turn it upside down onto a platter.  This will be the princess ball gown.  Ice to the desired color and add pre-made candy flowers, ribbons or pipe various colored icing on the “dress” to resemble ribbons.  Place a Barbie doll into the center of the cake and ice the top half of the doll to look like she is covered with the top of the dress.

• Beach theme – using a 9x13 cake, frost with white icing.  Swirl blue icing on half of the cake to resemble waves in the ocean.  Sprinkle the other half with brown sugar to look like sand.  This cake is a great starter for lots of themes – pirates, surfing, fishing, a luau.

• Sports theme – color coconut flakes with green food paste for grass and, using a pre-made decorating tube or a zip bag, draw the lines of your favorite sports field on top of the “grass”.  Use small sports figurines to decorate the cake.

We hope you try out some of these ideas. Please share your ideas and what you've tried with us. We would love to hear about it.