Tag: Buttercream Icing

What Frosting To Use In Your Cake Decorating

Those of us who are into cake decorating, think of the beautiful icing designs when we think of cake. Icing is the finishing touch on cakes, cookies, and cupcakes. There are several different types of icing used in cake decorating. The choice of icing while cake decorating, will have a great deal to do with how the decorated cake will look.

1. Buttercream Icing: Buttercream is the icing that is used the most in cake decorating. This is the same type of frosting that we can buy readymade in the grocery store. This icing is easy to use and easy to make. The ingredients are confectioners sugar, and butter or shortening. What you use to thin the frosting will differ with the icing texture you need to work with, to determine whether to use eggs or milk. Take care when thinning the frosting, remember, a little milk goes a long way. If you find the frosting is too thin, you can add a bit of confectioners sugar to thicken it.

To assure an even finish on your frosting, dip the icing spatula in cold water to make the surface smooth. This will give a smoother finish for writing. Buttercream is used to create flowers and other decorations made with a pastry bag. The icing needs to be the right consistency to make flower petals or writing. When you make roses out of icing, you can freeze them and add them to the cake later. This will make them easier to handle.

Buttercream can be stored in the refrigerator without getting hard. Make sure it is back to room temperature before you attempt to use it.

2. Foam Icing: This is a meringue and is used on lemon pie or Baked Alaska. This frosting is made of egg whites beaten into stiff peaks. It is possible to add flavoring and color to the meringue. You will not be able to use this icing for intricate cake decorating, and you won’t be able to use an icing bag with this icing. This icing is used when you want the cake to look fluffy, with little ornate decoration.

3. Fondant: This icing is very popular with those who decorate wedding cakes, and cakes for very special occasions. The ingredients are simply powdered sugar, water, cream of tartar, or glucose. Fondant is thick and doughy, with a silky, smooth, texture. Fondant will give the cake a flawless surface, and soft, rounded edges. Working with fondant is an art and will take practice to get it right. Fondant has a translucent quality, and will work best when placed on the cake over a thin layer of buttercream frosting.

4. Fudge Icing: Fudge icing is made from chocolate, peanut butter, almond, or mint. This icing is quite thick and contains both shortening and butter.

5. Glazes: This frosting is thin and watery, and will harden into a shell after it is placed on the cake. This frosting is mostly used on pastries. Glazes help to keep the pastry moist.

6. Flat Icing: This icing is similar to a glaze, but it is a bit thicker. Flat icing is a combination of confectioner’s sugar and water and is used to drizzle onto pastries.

7. Royal Icing: This is also a flat icing, and hardens after it is set. Royal icing is a wonderful choice to make flowers, sculptures, and garnishes for cake decorating.

You can use any combination of the basic seven icings listed, to create a personal masterpiece. You will need to practice before you become good at cake decorating. You will get the hang of it sooner than you think, and even the mistakes will taste great.

Simple Cake Decorating Ideas

Cake decorating is not as difficult as it seems. We look at the elaborately decorated masterpieces and feel completely intimidated. Here are a few simple ideas and hints to make your cake decorating project a winner.

– Buy readymade cakes, or make your cake from a mix.

– Make sure you have several pastry bags, a coupler, a flower nail, and 6 icing tips- #824 large open star, #23 small open star, #104 small rose, #125 large rose, and #109 and #129 drop flowers.

– A turntable makes icing a cake much easier. A lazy susan will work.

– Use decorations that are already made- fresh flowers, silk flowers, ribbons, and fruit are some of the items you can use.

– Always brush fresh fruit with a glaze to seal in moisture.

– Use a decorative cake plate or platter to present your cake.

– Use Ganache icing.

Ganache

1 pound semi sweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup heavy cream or evaporated milk
1/4 cup sugar
4 tsp. unsalted butter

Place the chocolate in a bowl.

Combine cream, butter, and sugar in a pan, bring the mixture to a boil.
Pour the mixture over the chocolate, stirring gently until it is melted.
Using royal or buttercream icing, ice the cake with a thin coating, and freeze for 15 minutes.
Place a cooling rack on a cookie sheet.
Make sure the icing is set, and place the cake on the cooling rack.

Quickly pour the ganache over the top of the cake and down the sides. You can use a spatula to smooth the surface if needed. The hot ganache will melt the icing, so only smooth as necessary. Tap the rack to remove any excess ganache, this can be refrigerated for later use.
Chill the cake until set, remove to a serving platter.

Fruit Flan

You can choose to purchase a pre-made flan, or bake one yourself.
Slice your choice of assorted fruit and arrange it on the cake surface in concentric circles.
Coat with apricot glaze.
Serve on a decorative cake plate or platter.

Apricot Glaze

12 oz. jar of apricot jam
2-3 tbsp. Water

Combine jam and water in a saucepan.
Bring ingredients to a boil.
Strain glaze and keep in the refrigerator until needed.
Heat to brush on fruit.

Piping

Using a pastry bag and the tip of your choice, you can create a number of cake decorations, ranging from flowers to simple borders. Basic icing recipes can be found on the internet. Work on a piece of waxed paper before you apply any icing to a cake.

Edible Flowers

Apply icing to your cake
Decorate the cake with piping if you desire
Distribute edible flowers in a decorative fashion

I hope that any, or all, of these tips will help you with your cake decorating projects. My suggestion is to gather all of the tips, tricks, and ideas you can find and print them out. Put your collection in a binder and the next time you are having a problem with your cake decorating project, you will have an answer at your fingertips.