Simple Cake Decorating Ideas

 

Easy ways to decorate a simple cake and make it look elaborate and professional are:

1.  Use one color icing
2.  Make random squiggles and designs
3. Cover the entire top and sides of the cake with the designs

For this two-layer, red velvet mix cake, I spread a thin layer of store-bought, squirt can vanilla icing between the layers. The can of icing had been leftover and stored in the fridge for some time. 

I had three, plastic, interchangeable pastry tips that fitted on the can tip. I don't think I'd ever used them. While I was introduced to basic, cake decorating in home ec, I don't have any experience. I like cake decorating but over the years hadn't taken time to build my skill.

I started in the center making a few long, leaf shapes with one tip. I then added large round shapes, in swirl shape, with the rosette or star tip. These were supposed to loosely resemble flower blooms. I used the same tip to make star designs around the outer border and to fill in.

I used the round tip or liner to make a few long vine shapes or squiggles to fill in. For the outer top border, I used the rosette, or star tip, and the leaf tip to make long designs. I waved some of them to make a somewhat rippled border. I covered the side of the cake with the same long piping strokes.

I like how it turned out because it reminds me of some type of traditional or ethnic porcelain or fabric design. Even if you've never had an introduction to cake decorating, you can do this too. 

Whether you have some old pastry tips back in a drawer or you buy a little set of plastic ones, just make some squiggles. Keep them close together and cover the top of your cake. Make some simple, easy lines around the outside. If you don't have a steady hand, don't worry. Make the lines wavy. Use your skillful, wavy hand to completely cover the side. 

Remember, squiggles, waves, circles and plops! You can easily decorate a simple, little cake. Those who matter will be impressed. Before you know it, people will be saying, That's SO pretty! Will you make one for me? Most of all, just impress yourself and it won't matter what others think!  

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Use tags for gift-giving your baked goods.

Printable Tags

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Tips For Using Silicone Baking Pans

I am glad that I researched how to cook with silicone bakeware. I would never have thought it necessary to use cooking spray on the cake pans. 

The Dough Academy suggests that even though these pans are non-stick, using a cooking spray coating can prevent further sticking. 

I used the spray and my cakes released perfectly from my pans and left very few crumbs behind. This was my first time using silicone baking pans. 

I think people buy them so that they don't have to oil the pans in advance. I believe that they would have worked well in that way but I will probably continue to use spray. 

The pans are worth having because they are very lightweight, easy to clean and I didn't have to flour them after spraying them.

Silicone bakeware how to use.

I cut up the 10" cake and put it in the freezer, except for a few pieces. Then I put the 6" cake in the 10" pan. 

Baking with silicone pans.

I ordered my pans from Temu, a 6" and a 10".

Find more baking tips for silicone pans and other cooking help at The Dough Academy, whose mission is to provide you with the knowledge, tips, and tricks you need to become a dough-making master.

Tags make lovely presentations for baking gifts. Print your own tags, cut out, punch holes and add pretty baker's twine or ribbon to embellish your edible gifts. 

Baker's twine is a two-tone twist of white and a color. It comes on cards or rolls. Traditionally, bakers used it to tie up white boxes of baked goods. It adds such a festive touch!

Tags for baked goods.

      Downloadable Gift Tags To Print

Thrown Together Banana & Applesauce Muffins

I don’t even know how they got that way in the fridge without me noticing. It was overnight, I think. My bananas were so ugly! They were so yucky that I didn’t want to touch them but I couldn’t bring myself to throw them out. They weren’t terribly ugly on the inside though, just mushy. 

I knew I had the basics in the pantry to whip up some small muffins. Anyone who has cooked for a few years knows the basic ingredients for bread products. I keep self-rising flour too, so it’s easy peasy! I guesstimated all measures. 

For 6 muffins, I mashed the 2 bananas in a bowl. I added 2 eggs, about 3/4 cups of sugar and a tsp of vanilla. I stirred it up well by hand. I then added self-rising flour, applesauce to thicken them and add more flavor, and a little milk. I gently stirred it, again by hand, until it was just moistened and still lumpy.

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I closely watched the consistency because I didn’t want them to bake out overly dry or too soft and crumbly. I could always have added more flour if the mix became too wet but that would possibly mean having to add more sugar, vanilla, etc. Sometimes adding more flour and other ingredients at the late stage of mixing can toughen and coarsen the end product.

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Spooned the mix into the greased muffin tin. I chopped up some nuts that I had on hand and sprinkled them over the tops with a little sugar. I pressed the nuts down a little with the back of a spoon so that they would not fall off during the rising.

I baked them on 400 and watched them after about 20 min. When they began to brown, I tested them with a knife until they were done to my liking.

They came out REALLY well! With butter spread over the tops and coffee, they were delish! As you can see, two were quickly gone!

TIPS:

• Using milk browns better than water, though water will do in a pinch for some recipes.

• Adding applesauce will add moisture so reduce the amount of milk/liquid.

• When guesstimating, it’s better to add a little liquid at a time rather than having to add more flour/dry products because the mix has become too wet. Over-compensating and over-stirring can make the baked good coarse and tough. 

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