If someone you know is having a birthday, and you are in charge of making the cake, it can be overwhelming, but never fear, the following are some tips for easy cake decorating to make your birthday cake the best looking cake your friends have ever seen.
Tip one: Choose a cake topper, or items to put on top of the cake. Without the right tools and an expert hand, making flowers out of frosting, or writing words out can be difficult. A much safer option, and one that will always look nice is to choose cake toppers, like princesses, cars, animals, action figures, etc. to top the cake and look great with no work other than icing them on. Of course, you will want to find cake toppers to fit your party theme, and the personality of the person that the cake is for. Additionally, if you do not want to pay the sometimes high price for actual cake toppers, look at what else you can use to create a fun cake. For example, let’s say you are making a birthday cake for someone who loves bugs! You can go to a dollar store, or the kid’s toy section at Wal-Mart, and buy a package of plastic bugs. These make great cake toppers, and cost a buck or two.
Tip two: Use an icing that works well for you. If you think you can handle a piping bag to put a decorative border around the edges of your cake, and to writing out “Happy Birthday” etc. then this is a great option, just be sure to choose icing that will set up well, and work well within a piping bag. If you are questioning your ability to use icing without making a mess of the cake, then consider buying pre-made fondant icing. You can put one coat of basic icing out of a can, or home made, down, cover it with fondant, and then use cut out fondant to decorate with shapes, etc. This is so easy because all you have to do is go to your local craft store to buy the premade fondant, and then use cookie cutters and a rolling pin to shape it.
Tip three: Pick a theme. Birthday cakes are easier to decorate when you have a theme. For one, it means you have a plan for the cake, and aren’t going to go at it haphazardly, and for another it gives you more specific ideas to work with. If you are doing a princess theme, you can use plastic crowns and jewelry, use sparkly sprinkles, and find plastic princess dolls to top the cake. The idea is that the better focused you are on what you want on your cake, the better chance you have of an easy cake that looks great!
When in doubt, make a few practice cakes, as your family probably won’t complain about having to eat cake, even if they don’t look all that great.
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