If you're looking for the best cake decorating tools for beginners, you're in the right place! Even as a beginner, having the right basic tools can make a huge difference – cake decorating becomes easier, more enjoyable, and your cakes will look SO much prettier, too. In this guide, I'll show you the 10 essential cake decorating tools for beginners, along with tips on how to use them like a pro. You can also check out my list of favourite cake tools.

1. Offset Spatula or Palette Knife

The most basic but vital tool for cake decorating is an offset spatula, also known as a palette knife. You'll use it to spread fillings and frostings onto your cakes. The longer the blade, the faster and smoother your spreading will be because a longer blade lets you flatten more with each swipe compared to lots of short strokes.

However, bigger isn't always better! A small offset spatula, like a 9-inch offset spatula, is perfect for detailed techniques such as stenciling, layered colour designs, and spatula painting. These are all skills covered in my online course on 10 Cake Decorating Techniques.

2. Cake Comb or Icing Scraper

A cake comb (also called a frosting smoother or icing scraper) is another essential. They come in plastic, acrylic, or metal, and it's crucial to choose one that's at least as tall as your cake, so you can smooth the entire side in one go.

Personally, I recommend a metal cake comb because plastic and acrylic versions can chip easily when washed or dropped, and those tiny chips cause grooves or trails in your frosting. Metal combs can also be gently warmed with warm water, a hairdryer, or even a blow torch to make your frosting ultra-smooth.

3. Turntable or Spinning Cake Stand

A turntable is incredibly useful when decorating cakes. It allows you to spin your cake while smoothing frosting or adding decorations, saving you lots of time and effort.

Plastic turntables are the cheapest option but tend to be quite wobbly, causing jerking motions that create vertical indents or dents in the frosting. A metal turntable costs a little bit more but is well worth the investment because the spin is much smoother, resulting in more polished cakes. You can see both in the image below - a metal turntable on top and a plastic turnable (with frosting grooves and dents!) is in the bottom two photos. The turntable on top is actually a cast iron turntable, which I love because it has such a sturdy base and comes with a non-slip mat!

4. Piping Bags

You'll definitely need piping bags for filling cakes, piping decorations, and adding details. You can choose between disposable and reusable options. I prefer disposable piping bags because they can be washed and reused hundreds of times. I find that reusable bags develop a lingering smell after a few uses.

You don't always need piping tips. Simply snip a small piece off the end of the bag to pipe small dots or a larger piece for bigger decorations. This makes them brilliant for quickly adding fillings and frosting or even creating dotted decorative designs.

5. Piping Tips

Now let's talk about piping tips. Fitting one into a piping bag is easy. Drop the tip inside the bag and push it down as far as it will go. Score a line with scissors about halfway up the piping tip. Push the tip out of the way and cut along the scored line. Then push the piping tip back down so that about half of it sticks out of the bag. This keeps it snug and secure while piping.

For piping swirls on top of cakes and rope borders, I recommend a 1M or 2D tip.

For beaded borders, a #8 tip is perfect and for textured beaded borders, a #32 tip works beautifully. And for chunky shell or wave borders, a 4B tip is ideal.

If you want to write messages, pipe intricate designs, or add tiny details like eyes or facial features, a #3 or #2 small round tip will do the trick.

Piping tips come in regular, small, large, and even "Russian" or "flower nozzle" sizes. You'll need different sized holes cut into your piping bags depending on the size of the tips, so it's handy to have a few bags ready.

I organise my piping tips in a craft box with separate sections for each type, making it easy to find exactly what I need.

6. Couplers

A coupler is a brilliant tool to have in your piping toolkit. It allows you to swap different piping tips onto the same piping bag without having to empty the bag.

To use a coupler, drop the base of the coupler into the piping bag, push a piping tip onto the outside, and screw on the coupler ring to hold the tip in place. This means you can switch tips while using the same buttercream colour, or move a single tip between different coloured bags, saving loads of time and effort.

7. Textured Cake Comb

Textured cake combs let you create fabulous patterns in your frosting. They can be plastic, acrylic, or metal, and you use them exactly the same way as a straight-edged cake comb by scraping them around the cake.

For striped cakes, the technique is slightly different. Scrape around the cake to create grooves, chill the cake in the freezer for 15 minutes, spread or pipe a second colour of buttercream into the grooves, and smooth with a straight-edged comb to reveal perfect stripes. This adds a professional and striking look to your cakes with minimal fuss.

I store my cake combs organised by size and material in a bamboo rack, making them easy to see and grab when decorating.

8. Small Stiff Paintbrush

If you want to add some metallic magic to your cakes, a food safe small stiff paintbrush is an essential tool.

You can buy edible metallic paints or create your own by mixing edible metallic luster dust with a few drops of vodka or another clear alcohol to make a thin paste. Use your paintbrush to dab or brush this onto cold buttercream. It’s fantastic for painting piped buttercream shapes, attaching details, or even highlighting embossed messages on cakes.

9. Sweet Stamp Letters

Sweet Stamp letters come in a variety of fonts and sizes, and they are ideal for beginners wanting to personalise cakes with names, messages, or quotes.

They work on fondant or buttercream, but for best results on buttercream, chill the cake for at least an hour to set the frosting. Then let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes so the frosting is still firm but slightly softened. Gently press the letters into the buttercream and lift them off carefully to leave a clean, neat imprint.

10. Cake Caddy

Finally, if you’re making cakes for friends and family, a cake caddy is an absolute must.

Instead of buying disposable cake boxes each time, invest in a sturdy cake caddy you can use again and again. Look for one that's tall enough for decorated cakes and toppers. This one has a pop-up lid to give you extra space and even comes with two tiers of cupcake trays!

Setting up your cake decorating toolkit with these beginner essentials will make the whole process more fun, less frustrating, and so much more rewarding. Plus, having a well-organised workspace saves tons of time searching for your tools – if you need inspiration, check out my tutorial on 14 Baking Organisation Hacks!

Ready to dive deeper into the world of cake decorating? Visit my cake school for hundreds of online tutorials and memberships to help you grow your skills and confidence!

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This piña colada cake brings sunshine to every slice. It’s inspired by the classic cocktail, with tropical flavours that are perfect for summer gatherings. Think soft coconut milk cake layers, tangy pineapple cream cheese filling, and creamy pineapple buttercream. It's easy to make and impossible to resist!

Make the piña colada cake layers

The cake layers for this piña colada cake are made with butter for richness and they're naturally flavoured with coconut milk. It's easiest to mix the batter using a stand or handheld mixer. Start by creaming butter and sugar together at medium speed until it's fluffy and lighter in colour. The butter should be at room temperature so that it mixes well with the sugar.

Switch to a lower speed and add the eggs. This Piña Colada cake recipe is at the end of this tutorial with a video showing how to make it. Add vanilla and coconut milk and when that's mixed in add the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder and salt.

When everything is mixed together, divide the batter between three greased 8 inch pans and bake at 325F for . These cakes bake beautifully flat! But after the cakes cool, if you want to trim the tops with a serrated knife you'll have an even neater cross section when you slice the cake.

Make the pineapple buttercream

While the cake layers are cooling, make a batch of pineapple buttercream. Blend a 1.5 oz (43g) packet of freeze-dried pineapple into a fine powder. If you don’t have a food processor, use a Ziploc bag and a rolling pin. If you pound for long enough it works just as well!

To make the buttercream you'll need the butter to be at room temperature. I like to take mine out the night before I bake this cake so that it has plenty of time to soften. Sift your icing sugar or powdered sugar to remove any lumps. Mix them together on a low speed for about 4 minutes, until the buttercream is smooth. Pour the pineapple powder in and mix at a low speed - you don't want the powder to fly out of the mixer! Add 1-2 tablespoons of milk or cream to thin out the buttercream so that it's easy to stir. You're looking for soft peaks when you pull your spatula out of the bowl.

See below for the recipe card where you can toggle between US and metric measurements!

Scoop out about a cup of the pineapple buttercream into a small bowl and stir in two tablespoons of cream cheese. This creates a creamy, tangy filling for your cake and balances the sweetness of the pineapple buttercream frosting.

Assemble the piña colada cake

Spread a dab of pineapple buttercream on the middle of your cake board to hold the first layer in place. When this buttercream sets it will attach the cake like glue! These cake layers bake flat so there’s no need to trim them. Any unevenness will be fixed by the buttercream filling and frosting.

Add half of the pineapple filling, spread evenly to cover the top of the cake layer, and press the second cake layer on top. Repeat with another layer of filling and top with your final coconut milk cake layer.

Crumb coat and frost

Chill your cake layers before frosting them so that they're firmer and less crumbly/ Then apply a thin crumb coat using half of your pineapple buttercream. This seals in crumbs and shapes the cake.

Chill again to set the crumb coat before applying your final layer with the rest of the buttercream. Smooth the top (I like to use an offset spatula or palette knife held at a 45 degree angle while spinning the cake) and then spread around the sides. Use a cake comb to scrape around the cake several times to smooth the frosting.

Decorate

To decorate this piña colada cake, press shredded coconut around the bottom to highlight that coconut flavour.

On the top I like to make a spiral swirl of texture using an offset spatula, pressing down on the outer edge and pulling it in to the middle as I spin the cake.

For a simple but stunning tropical decoration, use dried pineapple slices. They look just like flowers!

How to store and serve this piña colada cake

You can store this cake in the fridge for 2–3 days. It tastes best at room temperature, so take it out about 2 hours before serving to soften the cake and buttercream.

This Piña Colada cake recipe is one of my favourite summer bakes. It’s light, fruity, and its cocktail vibes are perfect for any summer occasion.

Sign up for my Free Course on 10 Buttercream Frosting Techniques to learn more ways to decorate cakes using buttercream!

You can also watch a video of how to make this Piña Colada Cake, coming soon!

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If you struggle with smooth buttercream frosting, you’re not alone! In this tutorial I’ll show you how to prevent and fix the most common problems using five cakes and ten tried-and-tested techniques. These are easy frosting hacks for beginners that will help you troubleshoot, prevent issues, and achieve smooth buttercream frosting - no fancy tools required.

1. Buttercream Dot to Anchor the Cake

Start by spreading or piping a small dot of buttercream in the middle of your cake board. This acts as glue and holds the first cake layer firmly in place.

If you skip this step, the cake will shift around as soon as you apply any pressure. As you flatten filling bulges or spread frosting, even a light push against the sides will slide the cake across the board. But with that little dot of buttercream anchoring the base, the cake stays centred and steady as you stack and decorate. This small trick is one of the most essential easy frosting hacks for beginners.

2. Repair Crumbling Layers with Buttercream

To achieve smooth buttercream frosting, your cake needs straight sides. This is possible even if your cake breaks while turning it out of the pan.

Here’s the hack: use buttercream to reattach any broken pieces so that each layer is level and straight. Once the cake is layered and frosted, it will have a clean, tidy shape, ready for finishing touches. This is a great rescue technique!

3. Apply a Crumb Coat to Trap Crumbs

The next step is to chill and crumb coat the cake. Smoothing the frosting comes later—this step is all about preparing the cake.

A crumb coat is a thin layer of buttercream (or any frosting) that completely covers the cake to trap loose crumbs. Chill the cake for at least 30 minutes first for two reasons. First, the buttercream dot underneath becomes firm when cold, anchoring the cake securely to the board. Second, the cake itself becomes firmer and less crumbly, so spreading frosting won’t pull off as many crumbs.

Don’t worry about making this layer perfect because it will soon be covered. It’s fine if you can still see the cake showing through in spots. Scrape the sides a few times so there are no thick frosting bulges and make sure the top is flat. Then put the cake back in the fridge for another 30 minutes.

4. Build a Frosting Lip for Sharp Edges

Once the crumb coat is chilled and firm, it’s time for Hack #4. Apply a second layer of frosting and this time focus on creating a wall or “lip” at the top edge of the cake.

After covering the top of the cake, spread the frosting around the sides and push it upwards so it rises slightly above the top edge. This lip helps you create sharp, clean angles around the top of the cake.

Spread frosting all the way down to the cake board and then scrape the sides a few times. If the top lip isn’t as thick as the rest of the frosting, go back and add more. To build it up just scoop up some more buttercream with your offset spatula and push diagonally upwards around the cake. This is one of the most important easy frosting hacks for beginners and will come in handy in Hack #9!

5. Smooth Buttercream Frosting Technique

This next hack is really about patience. Think of it as “scrape, spread, repeat.” First, scrape around the cake with a cake comb. Then spread more buttercream over any shallow areas, indents, holes, or gaps. Repeat the process: scrape, spread, and again, scrape and spread.

When scraping, press the cake comb down onto the board to keep it aligned straight against the side of the cake. With your other hand, spin the turntable so the cake rotates while the comb stays still. Press very gently—just enough to smooth the frosting—then swipe the comb away once you’ve gone as far as you can.

Don’t expect a perfect result on the first pass. Keep scraping and filling in the shallow spots until your frosting is beautifully even. Patience really is a game-changer for beginners working towards that perfect, smooth buttercream frosting.

6. Get the Right Buttercream Consistency

Now for Hack #6: make sure your buttercream is the right consistency.

If it’s too stiff, like in the top photo below, you’ll see lots of texture when you stir it. It will look chunky, with air pockets and resistance as your spoon or spatula pulls through it. Add milk a spoonful at a time to loosen it until it stirs and spreads easily. You're looking for soft peaks like in the bottom photo below. Now it will glide smoothly over the cake, helping you get a much neater finish.

On the other hand, if your buttercream is too runny, it won’t hold its shape and will slump or slide down the cake. Notice how runny the buttercream is in the top photo below. You can thicken it with more sugar but that makes it very sweet. A better option is to mix in some stiffer buttercream until the consistency balances out. You're looking for a consistency like in the bottom photo below.

This is one of the key easy frosting hacks for beginners and experts alike, because consistency makes all the difference in getting a flawless, smooth buttercream frosting.

7. Remove Air Bubbles Using Pressure

Air bubbles can appear in your buttercream even when the consistency is right. You’ll often see them when colouring buttercream or when it’s been sitting at room temperature.

To remove them, press and stir the buttercream firmly against the sides of the bowl. You want to push the air out by stirring aggressively—listen for slapping sounds as the spatula knocks the frosting into the bowl. This method forces out air and gives you a smoother, cleaner texture. It’s quick, simple, and ideal for beginners.

8. Use Heat to Eliminate Air Bubbles for Smooth Buttercream Frosting

If you’ve still got air bubbles, try using heat. Scoop out about a third of your buttercream into a microwave-safe bowl and heat it for 10 seconds.

It will turn shiny and loose because some of the butter melts. Pour it back into the main bowl and stir well. It might look runny at first but as you mix, the consistency will even out. The combination of heat and mixing eliminates most of the air bubbles, resulting in much smoother frosting.

You can also apply heat directly to the cake. Warm a metal cake comb with a blowtorch, hair dryer, or by dipping it in hot water. Rub it with a towel or dowel to remove moisture and reduce the heat slightly—it should be warm, not hot.

Scrape the comb around the cake. The warm edge will soften the very outer layer of buttercream, allowing it to glide more easily and fill in shallow imperfections or bubbles. It leaves behind a beautifully polished finish that looks professional, even for beginners.

9. Tidy the Top Edge

Once the sides are smooth, it’s time to focus on the top edge, which you prepped earlier with that raised lip of buttercream in Hack #4.

Use your offset spatula to push the frosting from the edge inward, not downward. This removes excess buttercream without pushing it out over the sides, which could cause a bulge.

After each swipe, scrape the excess frosting into your bowl and wipe the spatula clean with a towel or paper towel. This prevents smearing or dragging frosting back onto the cake. Repeat all the way around, cleaning the blade each time.

Finally, get down to eye level and spin the cake slowly. Look for any uneven areas and gently smooth them out. This small detail helps achieve those crisp, neat lines that are essential for beautifully smooth buttercream frosting.

10. Chill Before Decorating

After everything you’ve done to get the frosting smooth, don’t ruin it by skipping this final step—chilling the cake.

Refrigerating the cake will set the buttercream so it’s firm. That way, any piped decorations or stencilling won’t damage the surface. It also helps when adding cake toppers because if the frosting is soft, the weight can cause the top to bulge or sink.

This is a must-do finishing step, and one of the simplest frosting hacks for beginners that makes a big difference to your final results.

These 10 easy frosting hacks for beginners will help you solve common issues and achieve a flawless, smooth buttercream frosting finish—whether you’re fixing crumbling layers, smoothing out air bubbles, or prepping for detailed decorations.

Looking for more tips and techniques? Visit my cake school for online courses and memberships to take your cake decorating skills to the next level!

Here's a video of this tutorial on 10 hacks for smooth buttercream frosting on cakes:

https://youtu.be/V1njoI-9CAk

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Make a gorgeous ombre cake in four simple steps! This tutorial starts with a crumb coated cake. To learn how to get to this point watch my tutorial on How to Make a Layer Cake.

Step 1: Prepare your ombre cake colours

Step one is to tint your buttercream or any other kind of frosting. I'm using my 4 Minute Buttercream. Strictly speaking, ombre is made by blending different shades of a single colour. But of course you can blend different colours into each other instead! The more colours or shades you make, the more gradual your ombre will be. To make the colours blend into each other in a subtle gradient instead of stripes, tint at least four shades. Another tip is to keep a small different between each shade so the transition isn't too dramatic.

There are two ways to make different shades of a colour. The first method is to start by tinting the darkest shade. Mix that with different amounts of plain white buttercream to make lighter shades.

The second method is to start with the lightest shade. Add more and more colouring to make darker shades. Keep the ratio of colours the same, for example one drop of green for every two drops of blue.

Step 2: Spread colours onto a cake

Start by spreading the darkest or lightest shade to cover the top of the cake. You want the frosting to stick out over the edges to make nice sharp angles around the top edge of the cake later. Then spread this same shade around the top of the sides of the cake. If you have three different shades, spread it to cover a third of the cake. Six shades? A sixth of the cake. I have four shades so I'm covering the top quarter of the cake, approximately.

Then use the next shade, spreading it around the cake below the first shade. Since these are going to blend together to make an ombre gradient you don't need an even band of coloured frosting around the cake. It's fine to go down a bit lower in some places and higher up in others. It's also fine to overlap the colour above.

Continue down the cake with all of your shades of buttercream. Go right down to the bottom of the cake board to cover up the very bottom of the cake. There shouldn't be any gaps where you can see the crumb coat.

Step 3: The Wiggle

Using the tip of your offset spatula or palette knife, use light pressure to zigzag up and down the buttercream. Do this as you spin the cake on the turntable, which starts the blending of the different shades of buttercream.

Step 4: Smooth the ombre cake frosting

This is the only step that might take some practice. The first three steps are really quite straightforward if you follow this tutorial. To smooth the frosting, rest the bottom of the cake comb down on the cake board. Press gently against the cake as you spin the turntable. When you can't spin any further, swipe the comb away and scrape it clean on the edge of a bowl.

Spread more buttercream over any indents or shallow areas using the same shade that's already on that part of the cake. So if the gap is in the lightest buttercream, use the lightest buttercream to fill it in.

I like to use a metal cake comb because you can heat the edge for the smoothest ombre frosting. I'm using a blow torch but you can use a hair dryer or hot water instead. Let the comb cool down for a second so it's warm, not hot. When you scrape around the cake it will glide over the buttercream, warming it and pulling it effortlessly to fill in any shallow indents in the surface without causing air bubbles or tiny tears in the buttercream.

I find holding the comb at a 45° angle against the cake gives the best results. Your cake comb hand is staying still, it's the cake on the turntable that's moving or spinning. Smoothing the frosting takes some practice and some patience! It took me 5 minutes and 52 seconds until I was happy with the results of my ombre frosting.

You can leave the top edge of the frosting uneven, which works really well for rustic designs. It looks very dramatic on cakes with simple designs, too. Or you can flatten or level it by swiping sideways with your offset spatula or palette knife. Make sure you're pushing sideways, not down, so that you don't create a bulge of frosting around the top edge. Wipe the blade clean on a towel or paper towel after each swipe so you don't drag buttercream back onto the top edge and leave texture behind.

This is how I decorated this ombre cake with a checkerboard cake design inside and painted buttercream flowers on the outside:

So, in four steps that's how I make an ombre cake! I hope this tutorial was useful! Visit my cake school to learn hundreds of other cake decorating techniques and designs, broken down into simple steps, close up videos and easy to follow instructions.

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This tutorial will show you how to make a birthday cake in 5 simple steps!

Step 1: Choose the size of your cake

To choose the size of your cake, consider how many people you're serving and how you plan to decorate it. For example, a 6 inch cake serves 12-18 people and an 8 inch cake serves 28-32 people. But your cake design or how you decorate it will factor in too. Let's say you’re serving 30 people so you need an 8 inch cake recipe. If you want to put a design on the side of a cake you’ll need a tall cake, for example the reindeer cake in th photo below. I baked my three-layer 8 inch Perfect Chocolate Cake batter in four 6 inch pans instead. You'll get the same amount of cake but with much taller sides to make space for your design.

You might need to adjust the baking time stated on the recipe if you change the size of the pans. I start checking the layers five minutes before the time on the recipe. Look for layers that spring back up the you poke them, which shows that they're baked.

Which designs work best of the sides of cakes? I almost always put decorations on the sides of cakes because they’re more visible than on the top. When the cake is on a dessert table or you’re singing happy birthday or cutting the cake it’s the sides, not the top, that you’re looking at.

However, some designs need less space on the sides of the cake, for example piped details on a vintage cake. And some messages require more space on top of the cake that others. For those designs I would choose a wider, shorter cake.

Step 2: Choose the flavours for the cake

Choose your cake, filling and frosting flavours

You'll have several flavour choices when you think about how to make a birthday cake. The cake layers, of course, but also the filling and the frosting. Popular fillings include dulce de leche or caramel, strawberry jam, lemon curd, and chocolate chip cookie dough.

Buttercream also works well as a cake filling, flavoured with ingredients like freeze dried strawberries or chocolate or Oreo cookies.

Flavoured buttercream can be used as a frosting, too. Or whipped cream or eggnog frosting… there are so many flavour options! As well as endless combinations of flavours. Some of my favourites are my Lemon and Raspberry Cake and Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake.

How to make a birthday cake with your flavours

To put these together, choose a cake board at least 2 inches wider than your cake layers. Spread a bit of your frosting onto the middle, to act as glue. Push your first cake layer onto that, to attach it to the board, and then spread on your filling.

If it’s buttercream you can spread it right up to the edges but for runny fillings there's an extra step. Spread a thin layer of buttercream onto each cake layer first, to prevent the filling from absorbing into the cake. Then you’ll need to pipe a ring of buttercream around the edge of the cake, using a piping bag. This is called a buttercream dam and it acts as a wall to hold the filling within it, so it doesn’t ooze out from between the cake layers.

Once the cake is assembled you’ll need a crumb coat. This is a thin layer of frosting to completely cover the cake and trap any crumbs that come off the cake while you’re spreading the frosting on. It’s best to do this after chilling the cakewin the fridge for 30 minutes or the freezer for 15 minutes. Now it will be firm and won't slide or wobble or lean as you frost it. You’ll typically use the same flavour and colour as your final coat of frosting. It doesn’t need to be neat because it’s going to be covered up in a minute.

Step 3: Frost the cake

Now you’re ready for the fun part! Step 3 is to choose a frosting technique. Smooth it with a cake comb or use any of these techniques from my FREE course on 10 Frosting Techniques. Each step is broken down step by step so you can follow along and create stunning cakes! 

Step 4: How to make a birthday cake with decorations

The next step for how to make a birthday cake is to choose a decorating technique. I have an online course on 10 Decorating Techniques, too, all of which you can do with just an offset spatula or palette knife, or a piping bag, or parchment paper or wax paper, or sprinkles!

Step 5: How to make a birthday cake with a message

To write a message you can use a piping bag with a small round piping tip like a #3. Pipe lines or pipe tiny dots to make each line, called pointillism. I think this is easier than piping lines because you don’t need to pipe with consistent pressure or speed. Score the letters with a toothpick before you start to guide you as you pipe lines or dots.

Another way to add a message is to create an edible cake topper message. Melt chocolate and then spoon it into a ziplock bag and cut a tiny piece off one corner. Squeeze the chocolate out through the hole to write the message. Then stick a toothpick into the bottom of each letter or group of letters and pipe over it with more chocolate. You can pour coloured sugar or sprinkles onto the chocolate and it will stick as it sets. After about 30 minutes at room temperature or 15 minutes into the fridge, lift the letters up and push them into your cake! Here are another 10 delicious cake decorations.

So, are you ready to make a birthday cake? Ask me any questions in the comments and remember to take my FREE course on 10 Frosting Techniques! See you there!

You can also watch a video of this tutorial on how to make a birthday cake in 5 steps:

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Let's make these cute and fun mini Easter cakes using cupcakes! I'l show you how to bake, assemble, frost and decorate this bunny, chick and Easter egg mini cake.

Prepare the cake, filling and frosting

You'll need three cupcakes to make each mini cake. After baking let the cupcakes cool and take them out of their wrappers. Don't worry if they're domed or overflowing because you can cut that part off. Use a serrated knife like a bread knife to trim off the tops to level the cupcakes so they're flat. Three trimmed cupcakes makes a nice tall mini cake. I like the height of these Easter mini cakes, especially for the Easter egg, but you can use just 2 cupcakes for each if you prefer.

Next, make your buttercream. The recipe for this mini batch of my 4 Minute Buttercream is at the end of this tutorial.

For easy fillings for these mini cakes choose anything you can spoon onto the cake. For example, Nutella, dulce de leche or caramel, jam, and lemon curd all work well.

Put the mini cakes together

It's easiest to put these mini cakes together with the buttercream in a piping bag. You'll need a cake board at least 4 inches wide. My cake boards are 6 inches wide.

Start with a blob of buttercream on the middle of the cake board. Push the first cupcake down onto it to attach it, which makes frosting it easier. Then you'll need a buttercream dam to stop the filling oozing out from between the cake layers. This is a ring of buttercream around the edge of the cupcake, which you pipe. It acts like a wall to hold the filling in. Then put the next cupcake on top and the filling will stay where it's supposed to.

Check that the cupcakes are lined up directly on top of each other so the cake will be straight. Then repeat with another layer of filling and the final cupcake.

For an Easter egg mini cake put the bottom cupcake upright and the next two upside down.

For a chick and a bunny it doesn't matter for the bottom layers but put the top cupcake upside down:

Put the assembled mini cake into the fridge for 30 minutes or the freezer for 15 minutes before you frost it. When the cake and buttercream get cold they'll get firm and less crumbly. Now it will be much easier to spread the frosting onto the mini cake.

The first layer of frosting is called a crumb coat. It's a thin layer of buttercream to trap any crumbs that come off the cake. You can smooth this with the side of your offset spatula or palette knife or use a cake comb. Don't worry about getting it really neat because it's going to be covered up soon.

For an Easter egg mini cake, before frosting it you need to carve it into an Easter egg shape,. This is much easier than it sounds. When it's cold from the fridge or freezer, use a serrated knife like to cut diagonally down around the top. Start by taking just a little bit off the top cupcake. Then gradually carve off more and more until you have a cone shape with a rounded top.

Putting the bottom cupcake upright and the next one upside down makes the rounded bottom shape of the egg. After carving the cake, if it's still cold you can crumb coat it straight away. Although the crumb coat doesn't need be smooth, practicing will make you confident for the final coat. A piece of acetate is the best way to smooth curved surfaces because it wraps around the cake without leaving trails along the sides.

Put the crumb coated cakes into the fridge for 30 minutes or the freezer for 15 minutes before decorating.

Decorate the mini Easter cakes

Easter chick mini cake

For the chick, spread yellow buttercream to cover the whole cake. This design is great because you don't need to smooth the frosting. When the whole cake is covered up, use the tip of your spatula or palette knife to gently press against the frosting and then pull away. You'll leave little yellow peaks like fluffy chick feathers.

Smooth out a little patch where the eyes will go. Then use black buttercream in a piping bag with a tiny piece cut off the end to squeeze out a dot for each eye. Let the buttercream bulge out until the eye is as big as you'd like it to be. We'll make these eyes look less ghostly in a minute!

Put the leftover yellow buttercream in a piping bag with a larger piece cut off the end. Squeeze a dot on each side of the chick to make a wing, swiping it sideways with the back of a spoon.

For the beak and feet cut a V into the end of a piping bag. Spoon in a spoonful of orange buttercream and hold the piping bag like Pac-Man with an open mouth. Squeeze the buttercream out and stop squeezing as you pull away to make a pointed beak. Do the same thing for the feet with three little spikes on each side of the chick.

With the yellow buttercream I'm piping a tail and adding some texture to make that look fluffy.

To finish off the eyes, add a tiny white dot in each one. You'll need plain white buttercream for this and a piping bag with a really small piece cut off the end. Try to get the dot in the same place for each eye. This Easter chick mini cake is such a cutie!

Easter egg mini Easter cake

Now the Easter egg cake. You can use any colour for the frosting but pastel colours are traditional for Easter eggs. Spread the frosting to cover the cake from top to bottom, creating the rough shape of an egg. Then use a little piece of acetate to scrape upwards to smooth the frosting. If you notice faint lines of texture going vertically up the cake, hold the acetate sideways and scrape around the cake instead.

To decorate the egg I'm piping dots by cutting the end off piping bags with different colours. They're the same colours I used for the other mini cakes to use up the leftover buttercream. The dots are simple to pipe but the trickiest part is keeping the line of dots straight. You could measure the height and use a toothpick to poke a few dots around the cake as a guide as you pipe. Or just do what I did and try to hold your piping bag in the same position as you spin the cake on the turntable with the other hand. With minimal movement of your piping hand, the dots are more likely to stay at the same height. If they aren't, scrape them off with acetate and pipe them again!

By cutting different amounts off the end of the piping bags you can make your dots bigger or smaller. You can also leave different amounts of space between the dots in each row. These two techniques add some variety to the design.

Easter Bunny mini cake

For the Easter Bunny, start the same way you made the chick. Cover the cake with frosting by spreading it on but don't smooth it. Then add texture using your offset spatula or palette knife or a spoon. Drag it in little arc motions around the cake to add texture to look like fur.

Put the leftover white buttercream into a piping bag with the end cut off to make a fairly large hole. Pipe two dots for the bunny's muzzle or cheeks and two dots for its feet. Add a final dot to make a tail and add texture to it like you did for the fur.

Pipe a nose with pink buttercream in a bag with less cut off the end. Use a toothpick to shape this into more of a triangle nose shape. Pipe two eyes just like the chick's, with black buttercream squeezed to expand to a big flat dot. Then put the cake in the fridge for 30 minutes to set these details while you make the ears.

Put a spoonful of sugar into a bowl and add a very small drop of pink colouring. Stir this around, smushing it with the sugar against the side of the bowl to mix it in. Then cut a marshmallow in half diagonally and press the cut side down into the sugar to make it pink. Do the same for the other half of the marshmallow. Poke a toothpick into the bottom, flat part of each ear.

Take the cake out of the fridge to add the ears and some final details. To finish off the eyes add a tiny white dot in the same place for each eye. Use a toothpick to score two lines on each foot to make toes. Also use the toothpick to poke some holes into the muzzle or cheeks.

Finally, poke the ears into the cake. This is easiest to do by pulling the marshmallow off the toothpick and poking just the toothpick in first . Then push the marshmallow onto the toothpick using the hole the toothpick made earlier. Isn't this bunny adorable?

How to store and serve these mini Easter cakes

These mini Easter cakes can be kept in the fridge for 2 to 3 days. If you want to transfer them from their cake boards onto a platter or cake stand, it's easiest to do that when they're cold. Cold frosting will be form so you won't damage it. Slide a cake comb or offset spatula underneath each cake to loosen then from their board. Then pick them up and place them on a platter or plate or cake stand.

Cakes taste best at room temperature so take them out of the fridge about 2 hours before you eat them. This gives the cake and buttercream a chance to warm up and soften. Yum!

You'll find the recipe for these Easter mini cakes below and you can toggle between US (cups) and Metric measurements.

You can also watch a video of this tutorial on how to make 3 mini Easter cakes:

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Using coconut milk in the cake layers, filling and frosting makes this deliciously rich coconut milk cake!

Make the cake layers

It's easiest to mix the batter using a stand or handheld mixer. Start by creaming butter and sugar together at medium speed until it's fluffy and lighter in colour. The butter should be at room temperature so that it mixes well with the sugar.

Switch to a lower speed and add the eggs. This Coconut Milk Cake recipe is at the end of this tutorial with a video showing how to make it. Add vanilla and coconut milk and when that's mixed in add the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder and salt.

When everything is mixed together, divide the batter between three greased 6 inch pans. These cakes bake beautifully flat but for the neatest slices of cake you can level them. Do this after the cakes cool using a serrated knife like a bread knife. By trimming off the top of each layer you'll leave them level. The tops of the cake are the perfect treat while you put this cake together!

Make the coconut frosting and filling

The coconut frosting for this cake is a cooked frosting, also called an ermine frosting. It's creamy and not too sweet and it compliments the cake wonderfully. To make it, whisk together flour, salt and both regular milk and coconut milk in a pan. Bring it to a simmer over low heat, whisking constantly until it thickens which will take 5 to 10 minutes. As soon as it thickens, switch to a spatula and scrape along the bottom and sides of the pan. This will prevent lumps. Stir for about 2 minutes until the mixture thickens enough to leave ribbons when you lift the spatula.

Take the pan off the heat and add vanilla before pouring it into a heat proof bowl. Press cling film or Saran Wrap down onto the surface to cover it. Then put this into the fridge for about 30 minutes to bring it to room temperature. You don't want to chill it, just cool it down.

To make the frosting, mix butter and sugar for about 3 minutes until it's soft and looks fluffy. Add the coconut mixture and mix for maybe two more minutes to make the filling and frosting for the cake. I can't wait for you to try this coconut frosting! In case you want to make more similar frosting recipes, try my eggnog cake or cookie dough cake!

Put the coconut milk cake together

To assemble this cake, start by spreading a bit of frosting onto the middle of a cake board. Then press your first cake layer down onto it to attach it. Spoon on about a quarter of a cup of the coconut frosting and spread it over the top of the cake layer. Then lower the next cake layer down, making sure it's positioned straight on top of the layer below. Repeat with another layer of filling and then the final cake layer. Put this into the fridge for 30 minutes or the freezer for 15 minutes to chill and set the filling before you frost it.

Frost the coconut milk cake

I always recommend doing a crumb coat of frosting before the final layer. A crumb coat is a thin layer of frosting to trap any crumbs that come off the cake. It prevents crumbs from getting into the final layer, making the cake look much neater. After smoothing the crumb coat, chill the cake again for 15 to 30 minutes in the fridge or freezer. The cold will set the crumb coat so that the next layer of frosting doesn't blend with it.

Then add another layer of frosting. I'm adding texture so I'm spreading it on quite thickly. You use a textured cake comb in exactly the same way as a straight edged cake comb so there's not need to learn a new technique! Rest the base of the comb down on the cake board to line it up straight against the side of the cake. Spin the turntable with your other hand. Push the cake comb very very gently against the frosting as the cake spins around to smooth it. Then swipe the comb away when you can't spin the turntable any further.

Spread some frosting over any gaps or indents in the frosting and then use the cake comb again. Do this as many times as you need until the frosting is smooth. Swipe sideways over the top of the cake to flatten the frosting that's sticking up, wiping your offset spatula or palette knife clean after each swipe. For more frosting ideas, take my free course on 10 Frosting Techniques!

Add finishing touches

To add a quick finishing touch, put the rest of the frosting into a piping bag with any star shaped tip. I'm using ga 4B. Pipe a border around the top of the cake, squeezing the piping bag to push out a textured bead shape. Then release your pressure as you pull the bag away. You'll leave a tail on the bead which you'll cover up with the next bead.

How to store and serve this coconut milk cake

This cake can be kept in the fridge for 3 days but should be served at room temperature. The cake and frosting taste best when they're soft so take it out of the fridge about 2 hours before you slice it. I hope you love this cake as much as I do!

You can also watch a video of how to make this Coconut Milk Cake:

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Make a gorgeous buttercream flower cake using just a knife, fork, and spoon! This design uses no fancy tools, just a plate and a bowl and your cutlery!

Make a buttercream flower cake palette

Buttercream works well as paint for these flowers because of its consistency and how well it takes on colour. I'm using my 4 Minute Buttercream with these gel colours to tint it:

Scoop a spoonful of buttercream into a small bowl and add a drop of green gel. I like to dip toothpicks into yellow and orange gel and add a tiny amount of each to the green. This makes a slightly duller shade that looks more plant-like.

Start by tinting the lightest shade of green in your bowl. Then spoon it onto a plate and add another spoonful of buttercream to the bowl. Add more gel to make the next shade, mixing to incorporate the leftovers of the previous shade. This way you don’t have to wash the bowl in between every single colour.

You only need a very small amount of each colour, especially the greens.

Continue with the rest of your colours, making two or three shades of each colour. Cover the plate (palette) with cling film or Saran Wrap if you prepare it in advance. This will keep the buttercream soft so that it doesn't dry out and crust.

Make buttercream stems

Your cake should be chilled in the fridge for at least an hour before you paint onto it. The frosting needs to be cold and firm so it will hold its shape as you paint.

Start with the stems, using a fork. Dip one side of the fork into one of the green buttercreams on your plate. Dab it on the plate a few times to take off the excess buttercream. Then press that edge against the side of the cake to make a stem. For a longer stem, drag the fork upwards, following the curve of the fork.

Flip the fork around to use the other edge to curve the stem in the other direction.

When you change colours, wipe the fork clean before dipping it into the next colour. Using a variety of colours and heights and directions will make the flowers look more realistic and also more interesting.

How to paint flowers onto a cake

Now let’s paint some flowers with a knife, fork, and spoon!

To use a spoon, use small scraping motions across coloured buttercream on your plate. A small ball will build up on the back of the spoon. Spread this buttercream towards a stem to make a flower.

Notice the angle of the spoon, which is somewhere between 45 degrees and upright. Using this angle and lots of little scrapes will create a ball of buttercream on the tip of the spoon.

These flowers look like the bluebonnets where I live in Austin or the bluebells in England. They’re so simple to make with a spoon!

Now let’s use a knife for some flowers with longer petals. Spread the buttercream quite thinly across the plate, mixing different shades together to get those different shades into your petals. 

Now use the tip of the knife to scrape sideways to build up a ball of buttercream. To make a petal, press the buttercream against the cake and swipe sideways. Start each petal at the tip and swipe towards where you want the middle of the flower to be. For each petal, scrape again to make a new ball of buttercream on the tip of the knife.

Dip the back of a spoon into yellow buttercream and then press gently against the middle of a flower. Pull away to leave a little yellow dot in the center.

Next, chrysanthemums, which are my favourite on this buttercream flower cake. Score a cross within a circle onto the cake where you want the flower to go. Now use the same knife technique as the previous flowers. Scrape buttercream up with the tip of the knife using several small scrapes. Then swipe inwards from the tip of the petal towards the middle of the flower. Create several rings of petals, starting with the outer ring and working your way in to the middle of the flower.

Dip the back of a spoon into yellow buttercream and then press it against the middle of the flower. You can add texture by poking the yellow buttercream with the prongs of a fork.

Make buttercream leaves

You can use the same knife technique to make leaves. Spread some green buttercream across the plate, mixing different shades if you like. Scrape it up with the tip of a knife with lots of little scrapes to form a small ball of buttercream. Then spread the buttercream onto the cake.

Adjust the shape of these leaves with a toothpick, nudging a point at the tip of the leaf. Since the cake is cold and firm after being in the fridge, you can scrape across the frosting on the cake without damaging it.

Finishing touches on this buttercream flower cake

We’ve used a spoon and a knife to make flowers but you can use a fork, too. For dandelions, dip the tips of the prongs of a fork into plain white buttercream. Gently push the tip of the fork against the cake and spin the fork to push at different angles. You'll make a circle of tiny white dots like the white puff ball of a dandelion.

Add this finishing touch to make the dandelions stand out, especially on light coloured frosting backgrounds. Put the cake into the fridge for 15 minutes to set the white buttercream dandelions. Then squeeze a few drops of edible gold paint onto your plate. If you don't have any, make your own with clear alcohol or clear vanilla extract mixed with edible gold luster dust. Dip the back of a spoon into the paint and press it gently against the dandelion, to add gold details.

Repeat any of these flower techniques with different colours to add variety to your buttercream flower cake.

Using just a plate as a palette for buttercream with a knife, fork, and spoon, you can paint gorgeous edible flowers onto a cake! I hope you try this fun technique!

The checkerboard pattern inside the cake is such a fun surprise to cut into!

You can watch a video of this tutorial on how to make a buttercream flower cake without cake decorating tools:

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This decadent Oreo chocolate cake is made with cookies and cream buttercream sandwiched between layers of rich chocolate cake. It's wrapped up in more Oreo buttercream, topped with pretty swirls and Oreo cookies. 

Make the Oreo buttercream and bake the chocolate cake

To make the Oreo buttercream is really simple. Make one batch of my 4 Minute Buttercream for an 8 inch cake and you'll need 16 Oreos. Crush 4 Oreos in a food processor or in a sandwich bag and bang them with a rolling pin. Then pour them into the buttercream and stir them in. 

Stir this buttercream as little as possible. If you over-mix, instead of white frosting with black specks you'll make unappealing grey frosting.

Bake your cake layers and when they cool, it's time to layer your cake!

Layer the Oreo chocolate cake

Spread some buttercream onto the middle of a cake board to attach your first cake layer. You can level the layers if you want to, but they bake quite flat so it's not necessary. Leaving them as they are will make the tallest cake!

Spread on the Oreo buttercream as filling, going right up the to the edges of the cake. Spin the cake to smooth the buttercream with your offset spatula or palette knife at a 45 degree angle. This will level the filling so even if your cake layers aren’t perfectly level, the cake will be straight. 

It’s easiest to frost cakes when they’re cold so put the cake in the fridge for 30 minutes or the freezer for 15 minutes. This will chill and set the Oreo buttercream, which will hold the cake in place. If you skip this step the cake can start to lean as you frost it. It will also wobble and slide around on the cake board. Another benefit of cold cake is that it's less crumbly so it’s easier to spread the buttercream on.

Frost the Oreo chocolate cake

It’s best to cover the cake with a crumb coat first. This is a thin layer of frosting to trap any crumbs that come off the cake. Then put the cake back into the fridge or freezer for another 15 to 30 minutes to set the crumb coat. When you touch it, it should be firm, not sticky. 

While the cake is in the fridge, cover the bowl of Oreo buttercream with plastic wrap. This is really important because it keeps the buttercream soft. If you leave the buttercream uncovered it will crust and dry out.

When the cake is cold, takeout out of the fridge and spread on the rest of the Oreo buttercream.

This final layer of frosting takes much longer than the crumb coat because it needs to be smooth. For this cake, the crumb coat took me nearly 5 minutes but the final coat took almost 9 minutes. Smooth frosting takes patience and practice! After scraping around the cake several times, spread more buttercream over any gaps or indents in the frosting. Then scrape again and again until the frosting is smooth. For the top edge swipe sideways with your offset spatula or palette knife to flatten the frosting there. Wipe the blade clean after each swipe before using it again. For more tips on smooth frosting, check out my tutorial on How to Frost a Cake.

Add decorations

Now it’s time to decorate! Drop a star shaped piping tip like a 1M into a piping bag. Score around the tip with scissors about half way up the tip. Next, push the piping tip out of the way and cut along the line you scored. Then push the piping tip through the hole. It should be about halfway out of the bag. 

Spoon the leftover Oreo buttercream into the piping bag. I like to fold the top of the bag over so it doesn’t get covered in buttercream which will then get all over my hands. A tall glass is great for holding the bag open while you spoon the buttercream in.

Unfold the bag and your hands will have no buttercream on them! Grip the top of the bag and push the buttercream down to the end. Then twist the bag to keep the buttercream pressed down, which makes it easier to pipe.

But before piping onto the cake, arrange the remaining 12 Oreo cookies on top of the cake. It’s easiest to position the cookies first and pipe the swirls afterwards, so that you can space them evenly. Stand them upright and so that the sides go out to the edge of the cake. I put four around the cake first, at 12 o’clock, 6 o’clock, 3 o'clock and 9 o’clock. Then I added two more cookies into each gap between the cookies.

Now pipe swirls between the cookies. Pipe out to the edge of the cake and all the way up to the cookies on each side. Stop piping when you get to the top of the cookies. This is another reason for putting the cookies onto the cake before piping these swirls! They act as a guide to make each swirl the same width and height.

Here’s a quick hack if you find that the buttercream is clogging and not coming through the piping tip. This happens because chunks of Oreo cookie are blocking the tip. Pry the prongs of the piping tip out a bit with a knife so the crushed cookie pieces can get through!

How to store and serve this cake

If you make this cake in advance, keep it in the fridge for up to 3 days. Take it out 2-4 hours before you serve it, so that the cake and buttercream come to room temperature. That’s when they taste the best!

There are two sizes of this recipe - this tall 8” cake and a smaller recipe. Use the smaller recipe for a shorter 8 inch cake or a tall 6 inch cake.

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Here's a video on how to make this Oreo Chocolate Cake:

https://youtu.be/kHR9KnI-QS4

To make a shorter 8 inch cake or a tall 6 inch cake, use these recipe quantities instead!

Ingredients for the Chocolate Cake
Hot water	1 1/2 cups 355ml
Cocoa powder	3/4 cup 65g
Unsalted butter	3/4 cup 170g
Sugar (white, granulated or caster)	1 3/4 cups 338g
Eggs	3
Vanilla extract	1 1/2 teaspoons
All purpose flour (plain flour)	2 cups 250g
Baking soda	1 1/2 teaspoons
Baking powder	1/4 teaspoon
Salt	1/8 teaspoon
Total weight of batter	1388g
Weight of batter per pan for 3 pans	462g
Baking time at 350F	35 minutes

Ingredients for the Oreo Buttercream
Unsalted butter at room temperature	1 1/2 cups 340g
Powdered sugar	4 3/4 cups 544g
Salt	1/4 teaspoon
Vanilla extract	3/4 teaspoon
Cream or milk	2 tablespoons
Oreo cookies	10-16 (2 for the buttercream plus 8-12 for decorating)

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Follow these 10 cake decorating tips to turn your hobby into a profession by improving your frosting, colours, presentation and more!

Hi! I’m Emily and I started decorating cakes for fun. Fast forward 12 years and I've owned, grown and sold a cake business and taught more than 25,000 students in my online courses and over half a million people follow my cake decorating on social media.

But how do you make your cakes more professional? Here are my 10 cake decorating tips for transformations like my before and after cakes below!

Tip #1: Don't wait!

My first and most important cake decorating tip is: don’t wait. We’re our own biggest critics and it’s easy to convince ourselves that our cakes aren’t good enough. But who doesn’t like free cake? Make cakes for a birthday parties or a school event, practicing on cakes for friends and family. You can start selling your cakes any time if you set expectations. Share a portfolio of your work on instagram or Facebook or a website so customers know what they’re buying.

Tip #2: Even layers make neat slices

An aesthetically important tip is getting your cake layers the same height. You can do this with a scale, weighing the cake batter when you divide it between different pans. Or use a measuring cup or an ice cream scoop and count the same number of scoops into each pan. Now each cake layer will be the same weight, which means they’ll all be the same height. This looks so much better when you cut into the cake than having all of the layers different thicknesses.

#3: Cake decorating tips to get your colours right!

Correct colours make the difference between a cake that stuns or disappoints. Make white by adding a tiny bit of violet to buttercream that’s bit yellow, to make a brighter white. Dip a toothpick into the bottle and drag that through the buttercream to control how much you add. Adding a drop that's bigger than expected that can accidentally turn your buttercream purple! Look at the difference in this buttercream before and after adding violet:

For dark colours, use less gel than you need to make a lighter shade. Then microwave it for 5-10 seconds to melt the buttercream and make it darker. Leave it on the counter, covered, to come back to room temperature. Or if you're in the rush, pop it into the freezer for 5 minutes. At room temperature the buttercream will be darker without using so much gel you can taste it!

Tip #4: Invest in a good turntable

A good quality turntable is about $30 on Amazon. Why is this important? The spin on a plastic turntable is quite wobbly and the vibrations will cause grooves or dents in your frosting. Notice the lines of texture that go up and down the cake in the middle of this image:

My cake comb leaves those vertical dents in the frosting when the plastic turntable jerks as it spins. A metal turntable, in comparison, has a smooth spin and my cake comb doesn't leave any dents in the frosting. If you're serious about cake decorating and want really smooth frosting, choose a metal turntable. Once you’ve practiced and perfected your technique for smooth frosting, your results will be much better with a metal turntable. 

#5: Cake decorating tips using the freezer

One of the most underrated cake decorating tips is to use the freezer or fridge. After frosting a cake, chill it before adding decorations. This will set the frosting so it doesn’t bulge and undo the hard work you put into getting it smooth! After decorating, keep the cake in the fridge to prevent drooping and sagging.

Take cakes out of the fridge 2-4 hours before serving so that the cake and frosting come to room temperature. That's when they will taste the best!

I have a tutorial on 10 freezer hacks with more ways to make cake decorating easier with a freezer.

Tip # 6: Practice

You won’t like this next tip! Practice, practice, practice, smooth frosting in particular. This is the foundation for almost every cake design. Once you’ve mastered your technique, every cake will look more professional.

If you struggle with smooth frosting, get free tips and tricks in the 'Smooth Frosting' section of my YouTube channel. My favorites are 7 Secrets for Smooth Frosting and 15 Frosting Mistakes and How to Fix them.

Tip #7: Take cake decorating courses

Take your cake decorating skills from beginner to professional by progressing through three Layers in my Layer Up program. You’ll learns hundreds of skills and techniques and ways to improve your cake business, like scheduling and taking custom cake orders, making cakes in bulk and transporting and serving cakes and making cake videos for social media. Instead of learning everything over 12 years, like I have, learn it all in 3-6 months with this program.

Tip #8: Choose the right cake board

Don’t serve your cakes on an ugly cake board! Choose a greaseproof board so you don’t get greasy butter stains on the board. Ideally choose one without these corrugated cardboard edges on the top cake photo:

Foam core cake boards like on the purple ombre cake have nicer white edges. Or use a cake drum, which is thicker and greta for heavy or tier cakes.

To transfer the cake to a cake stand for a display, chill the cake in the fridge for a few hours first. Then sliding an offset spatula underneath it to loosen it from the board. Pick it up and attach it to a cake stand with a dot of fresh buttercream. If your cakeboard gets messy as you decorate, use the same method to transfer the cake to a new cakeboard.

Tip #9: Make your cakes taller

Maybe the easiest of my cake decorating tips is to consider making your cakes taller. This leaves more space on the sides for decorations, and it’s here that they’ll be the most visible. What do you see on a dessert table or while singing happy birthday or blowing out candles? The side of the cake!

The easiest way to make a cake taller is to use a recipe for a wider cake. For example, this is my 3 layer 8 inch Perfect Chocolate Cake recipe, baked into four 6 inch pans instead.

But when you make a tall cake for someone, tell them how to serve it! Or even better, show them a video. I have a few saved in my instagram highlights that you can send them.

It’s much easier to cut tall cakes into strips than cutting traditional wedge shaped slices. Slice across the cake about an inch from the edge, tipping the slice onto a cutting board. Then divide it into three or four tall pieces. Repeat across the cake, cutting each slice the same thickness and then tipping and dividing.

People who love frosting cake can choose an edge piece, which has frosting all the way down one side. People who like less sweetness can choose a middle piece with frosting on top but not on the sides. 

Tip #10: Choose professional packaging

Instead of using cake caddies or just handing cakes out on cake boards, choose cake boxes. They're only a few dollars each when you buy 10 or 20 at a time on Amazon or other websites. And they make your cakes look so much better!

If your cake is too tall for the box, use this hack for homemade height! Cut diagonal slits in opposite sides of the lid, which will raise the box a few inches. You'll be able to fit the lid on and keep your packaging looking professional.

I hope these cake decorating tips will help you improve your cakes and sell more cakes for more money. Visit my cake school and choose an online course or membership to learn new cake decorating skills, techniques and designs!

You can also watch a video of this tutorial on 10 Cake Decorating Tips to Improve Your Cakes:

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