From the category archives:

Cake Decorating

Classic Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

by alice on March 12, 2010 · 20 comments


When I used to bake and decorate wedding and birthday cakes, I would use different types of frosting depending on who was eating the cake.  Most wedding cakes were frosted in egg- based recipes such as Italian or French meringue but for children’s cakes or cupcakes I usually frost cakes in American buttercream frosting.  Made with powdered sugar, butter, vanilla, and milk, this is a basic, easy recipe for classic vanilla buttercream frosting.  This frosting works great for spreading on cakes, cupcakes, and/or for decorating.   Some frosting recipes will call for shortening.  Although you could easily substitute some of the butter for shortening, your frosting will taste greasy.  But if you must have a true bright white frosting or need to stabilize it, shortening and clear vanilla extract flavoring would work fine.  I prefer using all butter and occasionally substituting the vanilla extract for other flavors such as almond, coconut, milk, or lemon.  The color of the buttercream is slightly off white but the taste of whipped buttery frosting makes it entirely worth it.  Also, the frosting can be easily tinted with food paste gel or food coloring. [click to continue…]

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{Tutorial} How to Frost a Cake

by alice on November 15, 2009 · 41 comments

FallCake

Earlier this week I posted a tutorial on how to make Fall gum paste leaves.  I had used the Fall leaves for a cake I baked and decorated for the Daring Bakers Cake Challenge. I was 2nd runner up; I think the winning entry was spectacular! Congrats Katie!

Well today I would like to show you how to frost a 2 layer cake using my Fall cake as your guide.  I am going to share with you some simple and practical tips so your cakes will look as good as they are to eat!  I realize there are countless ways to frost and decorate cakes, I’m just sharing you mine.  Keep in mind this is not a “How to decorate a cake” tutorial -this is a frosting tutorial (but I will give instructions on how to re-create this Fall cake below).  So grab a mug of salted caramel hot chocolate and lets get this party started! [click to continue…]

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How to Make Realistic Gum Paste Leaves

by alice on November 9, 2009 · 54 comments

paintedleavescollection2 When you see the picture above, what do you see?  Hopefully you’ll respond by telling me, “I see leaves” (lie if you have to).  Because if you don’t see what I’m seeing I’m screwed.  You see, I just finished baking and decorating a cake for The  Daring Kitchen’s Cake Decorating Challenge for a chance to win a trip to the New York Cake Convention in NYC sponsored by the lovely people at the U.S. Confection Connection. {Entries can be found here}  The challenge was to decorate a 9-inch cake in an Autumn inspired theme. For my entry, I decided to decorate my cake with chocolate fondant and gum paste leaves painted to look like Fall in Seattle.  As I was making the leaves, it occurred to me others may want to know how to make these leaves as well.  So grab a cup of coffee and lets get started.  [click to continue…]

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