Cake decorating 101
<p>When it comes to decorating your baked goods, there are many tips and tricks to creating master pieces. But before you get to the fun part, to ensure your cakes are on the professional side rather than baking disaster, you'll need to know these basics...</p>
<p><strong>DECORATING TOOLS</strong></p>
<p>1. Sturdy serrated knife (to ensure clean cuts)<br />2. Large and small offset spatulas (to make precise frosting easy)<br />3. Teaspoon and table knife (in place of more specialised tools)<br />4. Pastry bags (to make frosting, creating patterns and shapes)<br />5. Rubber spatula (to stir batter)<br />6. Bamboo skewers (to stabilise cake layers – this is not always needed)</p>
<p><strong>DECORATING TIPS</strong></p>
<p><strong>Butter up</strong><br />Remove the butter for both the cake and icing from the fridge about an hour before you start cooking to allow it to be room temperature. This will ensure your butter is soft enough to beat and create a light, fluffy texture.</p>
<p><strong>Prep perfect</strong><br />Make the cake at least one day out before you intend to cut it into shapes. This will make cutting easier. You can store cakes, before icing them, in an airtight container for up to two days.</p>
<p><strong>Adding colour to your icing</strong><br />Adding colour to your icing comes in two forms – gel or paste. One of the most important things to remember at this step is that a little goes a long way. Swirl a toothpick into the colouring and mix well into your icing. Add the colour little by little until you have your desired hue. There’s also liquid food colouring which is more commonly found in grocery stores but only comes in limited colours such as red, blue, yellow and green. To use, stir drops of food colouring into the frosting (mix and match the primary colours to get creative hues!) until you achieve your desired colour.</p>
<p><strong>How to flavour icing</strong><br />For a little something extra, you can add flavour to your frosting to complement the flavour of the cake. Choose from various flavourings and extracts, such as vanilla, almond, rum, or maple, as well as different liqueurs (raspberry, hazelnut, coffee) and citrus zest to add standout flavours before decorating your cake.</p>
<p><strong>Using a coupler</strong><br />The plastic coupler is a nifty little tool that allows you to use different decorating tips while piping from one bag. To change decorating tips, you simply unscrew the coupler ring, replace the decorating tip, and replace the ring. Voila.</p>
<p><strong>Filling a pastry bag</strong><br />First, you need to place the bag, tip down, in a tall glass and cuff the bag around the rim. Insert icing with a spatula, scraping the icing against the side of the bag to release it. Be sure, not to fill the bag more than halfway. Unfold the cuff. Second, gather the top edges together with one hand, and drag the thumb and index finger of your other hand downward to let out air, forcing icing into bag and decorating tip. Twist the top of the bag to close and to maintain pressure.</p>
<p><strong>Creating the perfect base</strong><br />To ensure your icing experience is as seamless and doesn’t get too messy, it's important that every icing job begins with a smooth layer of base icing.</p>
<p>1. Place the chilled cake on a cardboard cake round or plate, and transfer it to a rotating cake stand. Smooth on a base layer of slightly chilled buttercream with a straight icing spatula to seal the cake crumbs. Chill the cake until icing has hardened, this should take about 15 minutes.</p>
<p>2. Next you’ll want to coat the sides of the cake with 1/4 inch of buttercream. Hold the spatula parallel to the sides of the cake with the blade slightly angled towards you. Apply pressure with the spatula against the sides of the cake, and use your other hand to rotate the cake stand, smoothing the sides.</p>
<p>3. Lastly, spread excess icing from the sides onto the top of the cake and add more to coat. Position the spatula almost flat halfway across the top of the cake. Apply pressure as you rotate the cake stand, smoothing the top. Chill until the icing has hardened, about 15 minutes, before decorating.</p>
<p><em>Image: Getty</em></p>
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