Buying a professionally decorated cake can cost hundreds of dollars, it doesn't take that much extra effort or talent to decorate your own cake at home.
We're
gonna teach you five really easy decorating styles to zhuzh up your next cake.
Honestly,
like cake, it's a really tangible way to show people you love them.
First
things first, we have to prep our cakes to be decorated.
Get
a little icing, secure the board on top of that, and start building our cakes.
All
you really need to do is plop a good amount of icing down first, more than you
think, honestly.
You
don't have to worry about it being perfect, you could pipe it on if you wanted,
but I dunno, it's not really the biggest deal in the world.
And
then, for the top layer, you're actually gonna put it bottom side down, that's
a lot flatter and we want a really sharp edge to our cake.
You
might have to move it a little bit to make sure that it's totally level on all
sides, and then put a whole bunch of frosting on top.
I
like to take the back of my spatula and just dab the icing onto the cake.
And
then you're gonna use the offset spatula to flatten out the sides, and get off
any excess icing.
This
is your primer, if you will, on your cake to ensure that the finished coat is
gonna go on really nice and smooth.
As
you can see, there's crumbs that kinda get caught in the mess, and that's why
it's called a crumb coat.
We're
gonna chill that until we're ready to decorate.
To
make this job really easy, all you need is a piping bag, a spoon, an offset
spatula, you know I love 'em, a cake board, and a rotating cake stand, if
possible.
Lastly,
you'll need a rosette piping tip.
Not
all of these tools are necessary, I mean really all you need is a piping bag
and a tip, but they make the job a lot easier.
First
things first, we're gonna put the piping tip into the bag, then turn it right
around and put the bag over your non-dominant hand with the top of the bag
kinda folded down.
And
you're gonna use your thumb, actually, to help scrape off the extra icing.
Put
the top back up and squeeze it in-between your thumb and your hand, and that's
where you're gonna have all the pressure coming out of.
So,
a lot of people want to press down in the middle of the bag, and it actually
gives a lot of uneven pressure, and that's not what you want to do.
It's
actually a lot harder, as well.
So,
when you're making your rosette you start in the middle, apply even pressure
until the end, and just curve around really easy and at the very end, when
you're trying to make the edge of your rosette, you just flick your wrist a
little bit, wrap it around, and release that pressure.
You
just kind of quickly dismount, if you will.
Oh,
dismount, that's a good word for it, yeah, you dismount! And the first few that
you do, they're gonna feel kind of awkward, you're gonna have some that look
better than others, but I will say just go for it.
To
fill in those holes that are naturally gonna be there, all you need to do is
just put the tip down in that hole, apply a little bit of pressure, and then
kind of flick your wrist so it almost looks like it's part of a petal of a
nearby rosette.
The
reason why the rosette cake is great is you really don't need to be perfect, it
looks so cool when it's done.
It's
so elegant, it's really, really easy, it's just one piping tip with one icing
color, next thing you know, it looks like you've been doing this for years.
So,
to start the ombre cake, you're gonna take the darkest color and pipe it around
the bottom.
Put
two thick layers of icing on the bottom and then do two stripes of the next
color.
Just
choose whatever colors you want, you could do from a dark blue all the way to a
really, really light blue.
We're
going for more of a sunrise look, like a tequila sunrise is what we're calling
this cake.
I'm
gonna top it with white, it's gonna be a really nice gradient of colors.
This
tool is a bench scraper or a dough cutter.
You
can drag it right along the bottom of the stand itself so it'll be really,
really level.
If
you want a really clean stripe you can start here, but we were going for that
gradient ombre look so now we're gonna use that excess frosting and go up, go
down, go in a few different directions so that you're really getting a good mix
of all of the colors together.
The
fun thing about this is, honestly, anyone can do it, it's so easy, and you
really just have to know when to stop, like, that's usually my problem is that
I just want to go and go and I have more fun with it.
We're
just topping it with a little bit of crushed Graham Cracker and an umbrella,
because we can.
Just
play with it, that's the fun thing about decorating cakes is they can be kind
of kitschy or elegant, or whatever you want them to be.
I
think we really just need a vacation, that might be why we went with the sunset.
We're
gonna show you how to make homemade buttercream succulents.
And
for dyeing your frosting we recommend using gel colors, they're just a little
bit more saturated.
We're
going for kind of a dark greenish-gray kind of color.
I'm
using some green, a little bit of brown, and a little bit of blue.
A
little goes a long way, so start with a little and you can always add more.
Alright,
so I've got the green, I'm also gonna use a little bit of pink for these
succulents, and so this is, I don't know, what tip is this? Oh yeah, it's a
petal nozzle, yep, that's it.
This
one's great for making roses and succulents.
And
what we're gonna do is put a stripe of pink down one side of the bag.
And,
similar to the ombre cake, it doesn't have to be perfect, just get it in there
from right to the start of the piping tip, all the way to the top of the bag.
And
we're gonna fill in the rest with the green color.
And
again, I'm gonna use my thumb, here, to scrape off the icing when it gets into
the bag.
We're
gonna twist, make sure there's no air bubbles, and set that aside while you
grab some parchment paper.
So,
just a little square is what we're gonna use to make our succulents on.
And
you're gonna just test the icing to make sure that the color is coming out the
way that you want it to.
Kind
of schmoop schmoop, get it out there until I'm happy with the color.
A
new piece of parchment, and I'm gonna make a mound of icing in the middle and
then do an X shape over that.
And
then you're gonna do little C shapes all around that X that you made.
Do
a quarter turn in-between each one.
When
you're trying to dismount that icing I think it's better to go down into the
parchment itself.
And
then just keep going until you're happy with the size of that succulent.
With
the same nozzle you can play with it and create different shapes.
So
you're gonna turn the bag to ensure that the pink side's kind of on the top of
the nozzle when it's coming out, and you're gonna go in a loop motion, turning
your parchment around and going in these little loop, loop, loops until you're all
the way around.
And
just keep going up until you have a beautiful, unique little cactus, like this.
You
can just buy a beginner's piping set, all of the tips we used here are kind of
the standard ones that come in there.
If
you're nervous about spending much money on frosting, and you still want to
practice your piping, in culinary school they used to have us buy powdered
instant mash potatoes and practice with that.
Top
tip, you heard it here first, don't take it too seriously,1 just have fun! And
then, while those are chilling in the fridge, we're gonna assemble our naked
cake.
So
this one's really cool and it looks really elegant and is ridiculously easy to
do.
Similar
to our crumb coat, you're gonna take a bench scraper and scrape off all the
excess.
You're
gonna really push into the cake and get as much icing off as you can.
So
it's gonna look, you know, naked.
They're
very trendy right now, very in.
And
then you can start putting on your succulents.
So
these came straight out of the freezer, so that they're really easy to work
with.
It
looks very intimidating, and you may not want to try it because you think
people will think your piping's not good, but the point of this and why it's so
great, is that there's so much on there and it's just like an overwhelming,
beautiful, gorgeous, unique cake that you don't see everywhere, and you should
just go ahead and try it.
Now,
for the drip cake, very dramatic and elegant, and also very on trend.
You
make a really simple white chocolate ganache and then dyed it this really
gorgeous blue color.
You
pour the ganache in fourths along the cake.
So
the cake's really cold, the ganache is warm, and I'm pouring the warm ganache
onto the cold cake, it's gonna kind of set as it goes.
I'm
just gonna use a dinner spoon and kind of coax the ganache in the direction
that I want, to make sure that it's pooling down the side of the cake.
You
could use a piping bag or a little squeeze bottle to do this, but we thought
this is a really organic, natural way, as well as not really needing a ton of
extra equipment.
You
could top it with anything, candy, macarons, or just leave it plain, it looks
really gorgeous with a clean, shiny top, as well.
Mirror
glaze is an absolute show stopper, do not be intimidated, you can do this.
You
just have to be prepared, so make sure you have all your mise en place ready,
because you do have to work quickly with this glaze.
To
make sure that it's really, really well mixed, we recommend using a stick
blender.
If
you put cling film on the top that can help get rid of any extra bubbles, but
as you can see some remain so you want to get out as many as you can.
The
ideal temperature to pour the mirror glaze on top of the cake is anywhere
between 90 to 96 degrees fahrenheit.
The
most important things about doing a mirror glaze is one, making sure that it's
frozen solid, and two, making sure that it's as smooth as you can possibly get
it.
The
glaze is warm when you're pouring it on, so the cold cake will help the glaze
set really nicely on the cake.
Take
an offset spatula and do a little schmoop! And then it really completes that
marble look.
And
this is the fun part, it's when all of the hard work pays off and you just get
to watch this mesmerizing process take shape.
'Cause
we just can't help ourselves we just had to add a little bit of silver leaf to
the top as well.
Most
of it will drip off, but you just want to make sure that you're getting a good
mix of the two colors.
Hello!
Oh my god, that's so cool! Every occasion, every party, has a cake, and this is
just a few helpful tips to help you make yours really stand out at your next
event.
So
all the care, all the effort, all the fun creativity that goes into making
these cakes, don't be afraid to eat them in the end, that's the whole point,
that they're something great to look at but also something great to eat and
enjoy with your loved ones.
Really
though, what are all those damn tips called? - [Man] Tips! - [Presenter] No,
but all the different styles, like, I don't know, the one that makes a squiggly
bit? I don't know, like, whether the-- (laughs) I don't know the names of the
tips, I just buy the mixed five of them, I don't know!

Post a Comment
Post a Comment