One Two Step

OK, maybe a few more than two.

I want to show you how to level, fill, assemble, frost and decorate a cake. Lots of pictures for you, woohoo!!

 

 

~ Things you'll need ~

~ Cake
~ Frosting
~ Cooling rack
~ Parchment Paper
~ Bread knife
~ 9in. & 13in. Offset Spatula
~ Pastry bag
~ Decorating tips (#12, #21, #48)

 

 

Step 1 ~ Bake the Cake! Do not skip this step! :)

Allow the cake to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes then, cool on a rack lined with parchment paper (for easy transportation) for about 15 minutes. If the cake is too warm it will want to fall apart. No good. Just wait.

 

 

Step 2 ~ Level that Hump

As much as I love those beautiful humps on my cupcakes, it's a no no in cake land. You'll want to use your bread knife to level off the top. Place one hand (not the holding the knife) palm down on top of the cake. Take the hand with the knife and slowly cut horizontally across the top. Similar to butterflying a chicken breast or cutting through a bagel. Save the top for the sneaky hands in the kitchen when a cake has just come out of the oven!

 

 

Step 3 ~ Cut Layers

My cake was only about 3 inches thick but, I wanted to have a filling. So just the same as step 2, cut horizontally to create 2 even layers. Remove the top piece gently and place off to the side.

 

 

Step 4 ~ Frosting Barricade

At this point I have transferred my top layer to a cake turn table, its not necessary, for easy decorating. This particular cake I am building has an apple compote filling, so there wont be frosting all over. Either way this step is the  same. You'll need to pastry bag with coupler, so you can change out the tips, then fill with icing. Start with tip #12, round, to run around along the top edge of the bottom layer. Fill bag, fold down to close the opening, hold bag in dominate hand at 45 degree angle, use the opposite hand to guide the decorating tip, apply medium even pressure all the way around. For this cake I did an additional rim to hold in the goods.

 

 

Step 5 ~ Flip It

Now that my bottom layer has been lined and filled, I need to put its top back on!! Flip & spin. Get eye level as you spin the cake looking for any area hanging over. You want the wall as straight as possible so your icing goes on evenly.

 

 

Step 6 ~ Ice, Ice Baby

Time to cover the cake's birthday suit with icing clothes! Start with the top of the cake. I use the 13in. offset spatula to scoop the icing from the bowl to the cake. Don't be skimpy. About 3 large dollops in the center to start with. work from the center out. You'll want the icing to hang off the sides, this will help when it comes time to frost the sides. Work around using one hand to work the spatula and the other to turn the cake, scooping more icing as needed. Now for the sides I switch to the 9in. offset spatula, I feel like with such a short cake it works better. Take the very tip of the spatula to scoop a small amount of icing. Holding your arm straight up and press the spatula against the cake. Use the hang over icing to your advantage. Work your way around and you are ready for the fun part.

 

 

 

Step 7 ~ Go Wild

The sky is the limit. I start with the bottom border. Decide what look you want to achieve. Below I put together 4 different pictures of borders. This is just the tip of the iceberg. There are so many options. All of these borders were done with tip # 21 (star).

 

 

 

Step 8 ~ Extra, Extra Frost All Around It

This is just an additional step I took to complete the apple pie look. It is called the basket weave created by using tip #47 or tip #48 (I used #48). The basket weave is meant to be tight but, I've modified it to look like lattice work on a apple pie. I moved my lines further apart (right). The picture demonstrates both looks.


I would have done a border on the top to complete the look, maybe a zig-zag to mimic the edge of the pie, but I ran out of icing! Oops. I used it all practicing designs. It is a lot of fun!!


Hope this has been helpful and enjoyable. I had a great time sharing with you. Come back again for more tips!


Now go... Go decorate and eat cake!!