How to Avoid the Three Big Errors Cake Decorators Make

A wise cake decorator is also a perfectionist. While we all know that perfection doesnt exist, that doesnt stop any of us from trying! We all want to make the most delicious and the prettiest (or cute!) cake possible. This is because we want to make people happy. Yet we need to be guided by correct techniques to prevent making huge blunders. So here are some tips to avoid some of the biggest difficulties cake decorators face.

1. Whats the best way to stop frozen cakes from drying?

A wise cake decorator uses advanced planning for all his cake projects. Sometimes preplanning is not possible, like when your grade-schooler tells you at bedtime that you were chosen (because word gets around when youre good) to make the teachers birthday cake for tomorrows party. The least time you may know it might be twelve hours, so at least you still have enough to prepare everything.

A vital step in preplanning is knowing how to properly freeze your cakes. This means you bake the cake days or weeks before you add the filling or the icing. Baking your cakes early will save you a lot of time and trouble in the days and hours before an important occasion.

However, freezing them may cause the cakes to be tasteless and become dry. But freezing cakes wont have to dry them out if they are appropriately wrapped and set aside. It is ideal to freeze cakes plain without icing.

You can utilize a plastic wrap to cover the cake in two to three layers. Utilize the aluminum foil to prevent moisture and air from being trapped in the wrapped cake. Mind you, they can absolutely last even longer than fruitcakes.

The cake must be taken from the freezer a day before you add icing so the cake can still have time to thaw.

Defrost the cake to room temperature. A problem may occur while defrosting.

The problem in freezing cakes with icing is that the icing will begin sweating during the defrosting process.

In the end, the design and decoration will look messy and sloppy, which, of course, nobody likes at all.

So show the world that you are smart to the ways of cakes and make it a habit to bake your cakes in advance!

2. How do I stop my filling from bulging out the sides of my cake into the icing?

Many cake decorators are faced with a gigantic problem when it comes to bulging, and so they are calling for help.

How do I keep my filling from bulging out the sides of my cake into the icing?

There are actually some processes that you can follow too just so the filling will not overflow.

a.) First, you can create an icing dam at the edges of the cake. It will function as a stopper and prevent the filling from overflowing into the outer edges.

b.) You can also wrap the whole assembled cake with crumb coats.

c.) To make the crumb coats and the cake to become firm, place your cake in the freezer for at least two to three hours.

Together, the icing dam and the crumb coat will create a seal for your cake to hold the filling. Then you can already add the final icing. No more bulge!

3. I have a hard time with crumbs in my icing. What can I do?

Do not ignore the crumbs. Even if they're so small, they can still pester you by damaging the overall cake design.

It might be enough to drive a baker to the edge! Fortunately, there is a foolproof way to shield your sanity.

For this dilemma, you can use a crumb coat. A crumb coat is a fine layer of icing or glaze that you apply to your assembled cake to seal the cake and cement any crumbs to the cakes surface. When the crumb coat dries, it will prevent crumbs from being glued into the final icing.

To apply a crumb coat, get some of your icing and thin it with extra of whatever liquid is part of the recipewater, milk, or creamuntil you get an almost-runny consistency. You cover the entire cake with the thinned icing.

You wont have any problems about crumbs mixing with the icing or even how the cake will look like. Once the crumb coat of icing has dried, all your crumbs will become glued to the surface and the cake will have a protective shiled holding it all together. To speed up everything, you place the cake in the refrigerator. Applying crumb coats may take a while, but its worth it. It significantly decreases the frustration of having crumbs mix into the final icing and does a superb job of firming up the cake base.

Since youve been armed with these face-saving tips and techniques, youll be ready to take on any cake anytime, anywhere!