The Fundamentals of Decorating Children's Birthday Cakes

When I first began making and decorating birthday cakes for my children, the number of decorating tools available seemed limitless. And there was so much cake decorating guidance available! It was a whole new world to me. Nonetheless, I restrained myself from buying everything I believed I required and instead acquired some basic instruments. These fundamentals have'stood by me' in my endeavor to decorate the bright masterpieces my children request each year for their birthdays.

In addition to these ideas, I've included some useful tips for decorating your child's next birthday cake, some of which were offered to me for free by others, and a few of which came about as a result of my own blunders.

Cake Decorating Supplies:
You don't require expensive equipment, but you will need some basic materials. The majority of the items listed here are available at speciality baking stores or even your local supermarket. They are essential for creating and decorating any birthday cake your youngster may concoct.

Spatulas made of rubber:
It's a good idea to have a set of varied sizes manufactured of flexible rubber. They're ideal for scraping icing off the edges of bowls.

Spatulas made of metal:
For spreading and smoothing icing, have at least one big and one little angled spatula on hand. Use a tiny metal spatula to delicately ice the cake with a very thin layer of frosting before adding the'real' layer to prevent it from disintegrating. This is known as 'crumb coating.'

Bags for Piping:
Reusable 8", 12", and 18" bags with an inside plastic covering for simple cleaning. Clear plastic zip-lock bags are ideal for little chores.

Nozzles for Coupling:
These nozzles are necessary since they enable you to modify your tips based on the design. They may also be used to pipe figures as a huge circular writing point.

Food coloring in the form of a gel, powder, or paste:
Because they are more concentrated and will not thin out the frosting, they are preferred to liquid food coloring.

Tips:

1. Make sure all of the ingredients are at room temperature.
2. When beating the cake mixture, use an electric mixer. You have a better chance of removing bumps from the pre-cooked cake mixture.
3. Cooling and inverting cakes need the use of wire cake racks.
4. Trim the cake so that it lies flat. Use the smooth foundation as the final cake's top and decorate with icing.
5. To prevent crumbling, bake the cake and place it in the freezer the day before you want to decorate it.
6. Decorate while the cake is still cool.
7. Cake boards are inexpensive to get from cake decorating stores. Alternatively, you may use colorful foil to cover a huge piece of cardboard (cut from a box).
8. Butter Cream Icing is excellent for cake decoration. The only issue I've discovered with buttercream frosting is that when you add coloring, it only goes to pastel colors. This is due to the fat content of the butter. You have three alternatives if you desire a darker color: Replace the butter in the buttercream icing recipe with vegetable shortening or add the black-colored Powder to your frosting mixture - it will intensify the color.
9. Cut waxed paper strips to tuck beneath the sides of your unfrosted cake. When you're done, you can peel them away without smearing the cake board.

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