How to Make a Cake Beautiful If You Don’t Know How to Decorate It
I can make a delicious cake that tastes good, but – when it comes to decorating – I’m an episode of ” Nailed”! Liven up. I suspect my problems are mainly a lack of patience, but it is worth noting that I cannot draw most stick figures, and this could be a problem of a complete lack of artistic talent.
Luckily, there are ways to make a cake look pretty without a ton of work, patience, or (luckily for me) artist skills .
Forget icing and use icing sugar
Glaze is overrated. Not only is it (for me) difficult to work with, it’s always too much and it darkens the flavor of the cake. Do you know what is very easy to use, tasteless and just looks like fairy dust? Powdered sugar.
You can either sprinkle it on a nicely shaped cake (as shown in the picture above) or steal a move from the GOAT Stella Parks bake and get some stencils. Just search for “cake stencils” to find the real butt load to choose from. I have a bat stencil from Michael that I love to use all year round.
Pour icing on it
I’m not talking about mirrored glazing – a technique so beautiful and (in my opinion) unattainable that I feel like crying – I’m talking about plain chocolate, vanilla or icing poured onto a roll or loaf. Maybe grate some zest. Maybe you can add some fancy sprinkles. The goal is to distract yourself from your low-quality skills. (You can also fool your way towards a glossy finish by blow-drying some store-bought buttercream .)
Cover it up with spray
Speaking of decorative redirection, you can always completely hide any frosting with a whole mess of colored candied pieces. Unfortunately, this method requires some buttercream work (chill the cake first to make it easier ), but it’s just one layer and it doesn’t have to look good. After you’ve applied the frosting, ignoring the crumbs, wipe any stains off the cake board or stand, and then gently dab handfuls of colorful spray onto the sides and top of the cake.
Blame the kids
If you have children, you’re in luck – you can let them “help”. Give them a squeeze of icing, lots of candy and sprinkle on them and let them go. Damn it, let them crown it with (clean) toys . Only a monster will criticize the creative ideas of a child.