I'll show you exactly how to make a tiered cake from start to finish in this step-by-step guide for beginners. Once you understand the structure behind a tiered cake, it's much simpler than it looks!

In this tutorial you'll learn how to frost a cake smoothly, create sharp edges, add supports, stack it safely, and transport it without disaster. These techniques will help you create a tiered cake that is straight, stable, and professional-looking as a wedding cake, birthday cake, or celebration cake.

Choose the Right Cake Sizes

The first step in learning how to make a tiered cake is choosing the sizes of your tiers. Each cake should be at least 2 inches smaller than the tier beneath it. This allows each tier to remain visible after stacking and creates the classic tiered-cake appearance.

For this cake, I'm using an 8 inch bottom tier, 6 inch middle tier and 4 inch top tier.

You can use larger or smaller sizes, but maintaining at least a 2-inch difference between tiers will give you the best visual result.

Essential Supplies for Tiered Cakes

Before you begin assembling your cakes, you'll need a few important supplies. I'll talk about what you'll need for stacking the cakes later, but for now you'll need:

Cake Drum

Your bottom tier should sit on a thick, sturdy cake board, ideally a cake drum. Choose one that is between 4 and 8 inches wider than your bottom tier. For an 8 inch cake, I think a 12 inch cake drum looks perfect. The extra space provides room for decorations around the cake and gives you somewhere to safely hold the cake when lifting or moving it.

Invisible Cake Boards

Each upper tier needs its own cake board that is exactly the same size as the cake it will support. I call these "invisible cake boards" because they disappear completely once the cake is assembled. These boards support the weight of each tier and prevent the cakes from sinking into one another.

Cardboard cake boards work well because they are strong enough to support cakes and easy to trim to size if necessary. Choose something greaseproof so they won't absorb moisture from the cake.

If you don't have the exact size board you need, you can make one by tracing around your cake pan onto a larger board and cutting it out.

Assemble the Cake Layers

Attach the first cake layer to the cake board with a small amount of buttercream. I use my 4 Minute Buttercream for all of my cakes! Think of the buttercream as glue that prevents the cake from sliding around.

For the bottom tier, assemble the cake directly on the cake drum. For upper tiers, assemble the cakes on their invisible cake boards.

If your cakes have domed tops, trim them so that they're flat and level. Level cake layers create better structure, more stable stacking, and straighter finished cakes.

Spread your filling over the top of each cake layer and place the next layer on top. Pay close attention to centering each layer so that it sits directly above the layer beneath it. Even a small shift can create a leaning cake later.

If filling bulges out around the sides, flatten it with an offset spatula or angled palette knife. This will make frosting much easier later.

At the end of this step, you should have your bottom tier assembled on the cake drum and each upper tier assembled on its own invisible cake board,

Chill the Cakes Before Frosting

Once assembled, chill all of the cakes for 15 to 30 minutes. This step is incredibly important!

Cold cakes are:

• Less crumbly
• Less wobbly
• Easier to frost
• Less likely to lean

Many frosting frustrations disappear simply by chilling the cakes first.

Apply a Crumb Coat

A crumb coat is a thin layer of buttercream that traps loose crumbs. Without a crumb coat, crumbs can mix into your final layer of frosting and will be visible at the end.

Cover each cake completely with a thin layer of buttercream. Don't worry about making it look pretty. The goal is simply to seal in the crumbs.

For upper tiers, place the cakes on larger cake boards while frosting. This gives your cake scraper somewhere to rest as you smooth the frosting. To prevent sliding, place a non-slip mat or tape between the boards.

Smaller cakes are especially lightweight and can move around while frosting. You may need to push against the cake board with one hand on the side opposite to where you're spreading. (Larger cakes are usually easier because their weight helps keep them stable.)

Although the crumb coat doesn't need to be perfectly smooth, try to smooth out any buttercream sticking up above the top edge or bulging from the sides. Those bumps will show through your final coat of frosting later.

After crumb coating, chill the cakes again for about 30 minutes in the fridge.

Add the Final Coat of Buttercream

Once the crumb coat is firm, apply your final layer of frosting. This can be smooth or textured.

The reason for chilling the cake after the crumb coat is so that this final layer of frosting sits on top of that. If you don't chill the cake, this layer will mix with the crumb coat and you'll get crumbs into this layer.

How to Get Smooth Buttercream

One of the biggest challenges when learning how to make a tiered cake is achieving smooth frosting. Here are three techniques that make a dramatic difference.

Trick #1: Improve Buttercream Consistency

If your buttercream feels stiff, difficult to stir, or full of air bubbles, it's too thick. Thick buttercream creates air pockets and rough surfaces.

To fix it:

1. Scoop out about one-third of the buttercream.
2. Microwave it for 10 seconds.
3. Pour it back into the bowl.
4. Stir to mix it in completely.

This simple microwave hack melts away air bubbles and transforms the texture. Buttercream becomes silky, smooth, and much easier to spread.

Trick #2: Warm Your Cake Comb

While you're frosting the cake, you may notice tiny air bubbles and shallow imperfections on the surface.

Warm your cake comb using hot water, a hair dryer, or a blowtorch. The comb should be warm, not hot.

Scrape around the cake and the warmth will gently smooth out imperfections, leaving it much smoother. This works for both smooth and textured cake combs!

Trick #3: Create Sharp Top Edges

Sharp edges instantly make cakes look more professional. Here's my favourite way to achieve them.

After frosting, chill the cake for 30 minutes in the fridge or 15 minutes in the freezer. Test the frosting by gently touching the top edge. If the frosting holds its shape, it's ready.

Dip a knife into a cup or glass of warm water and dry it with a towel or paper towel. Use the warm knife to carefully slice away any buttercream sticking above the top edge. Clean the knife between cuts by scraping any buttercream into a bowl and then dipping the knife back into the warm water and drying it off.

This method creates much sharper edges than swiping with a spatula while the buttercream is still at room temperature.

How to Stack a Tiered Cake

Now comes the step that can be intimidating before you've done it successfully. The secret to stacking a tiered cake is internal supports.

Choose Your Supports

You can use boba straws, plastic dowels, or wooden dowels. I prefer boba straws because they're sturdy while still being easy to cut.

These supports act like hidden pillars inside the cake, holding up the cake board above it.

You do not need supports inside the top tier.

Add Supports to the Bottom Tier

Make sure all of your cakes are well chilled before stacking. An hour in the fridge should make the buttercream firm enough so that you don't damage it during the stacking process.

Start with your bottom tier on its cake drum. Take the cake pan from the next tier up and lightly score around it with a toothpick to draw a circle in the frosting. This marks exactly where the next cake will sit.

Push a straw or dowel about 1 inch inside the scored circle, pushing down until it touches the cake drum beneath the cake. Pinch the straw at the height of the frosting and pull it out. Cut it where you pinched it. This creates a support that is exactly the height of the cake.

Use that first support as a template and cut three more supports the same length. Insert all four supports into the cake. They should all be within the circle you drew, spaced evenly to make a square formation.

Next, spread some buttercream over the tops of the supports. This acts like glue for the next tier.

Add the Second Tier

Remove the second tier from the fridge. Slide an offset spatula beneath the invisible cake board and separate it from the larger board underneath.

Carefully lower the cake onto the bottom tier, centering it within the marked circle. Since the cake and buttercream are cold and firm, it's ok to touch the cake as you lower it and position it. Fortunately, cold cakes are much sturdier than most people expect!

Add Supports to the Second Tier

If you're making a three tier cake, you'll need to add supports to this tier, too. Repeat the same support process: use the top tier's cake pan to score a guide circle and then insert one support, pinch it, pull it out, and cut it. Then use it to measure and cut three more supports that are exactly the same length/height.

Insert all four supports into the second tier and spread buttercream over the top.

Add the Top Tier

Remove the top tier from the refrigerator. Separate it from the larger board underneath and lower it onto the middle tier.

At this point, your invisible cake boards are completely hidden, creating the illusion that the tiers are stacked directly on top of one another.

Make Your Tiered Cake Look More Professional

Here are a few finishing touches that can dramatically improve the appearance of your cake.

Blend Texture Seams

Cake scrapers and textured cake combs leave seams where the scraper lifts away from the buttercream. You can position all seams at the back, or use this trick to blend them away. The buttercream needs to be cold and firm to do this, so chill the cake in the fridge for at least an hour first.

To blend seams, place parchment paper or wax paper over the seam and gently press through the paper with your finger. Rub back and forth a few times to soften and smooth the seam.

Chill Before Decorating

Before adding final decorations, chill the cake for at least 30 minutes. You may need to remove refrigerator shelves to make room for the cake's height. The firmer frosting makes decorating much easier and prevents accidental damage.

Pipe Borders Between the Tiers

Borders hide the joins between tiers, where the edges of the invisible cake board may be noticeable.

For tiered cakes, my favourite type of border is a beaded border. It adds subtle detail without distracting from the rest of the design or decorations. For this cake I'm using a Wilton #8 round piping tip:

Tips for a Neat Beaded Border

Fill your piping bag about two-thirds full so it's comfortable to hold.

Rest the piping tip on the cake board or lower tier while piping. This helps steady your hand and keeps the border even. Because the cake is chilled, resting the piping tip against the frosting won't damage it.

Instead of facing the cake to pipe each bead and pulling straight away from the cake, pipe sideways. This creates smooth, elegant beads without peaks. Squeeze the piping bag until the buttercream bulges out to form a ball shape and then release pressure on the bag and swipe away sideways.

Position your piping tip beside the previous bead so that the next bead overlaps the little tail left behind.

Fix Small Imperfections

Chilled frosting is surprisingly forgiving. If you accidentally touch the cake or create a small mark, you can pipe some buttercream over that area and blend it using your cake comb or scraper.

How to Transport a Tiered Cake Safely

A tiered cake shouldn't just look stable, it should actually survive the drive to its destination.

Always transport tiered cakes cold. Cold cakes are more stable and resistant to vibrations. They're also less likely to shift during sudden stops or turns.

The combination of internal supports and chilled frosting makes transporting cakes a breeze! I've driven a tiered cake for four hours on very bumpy roads to Yosemite and thanks to the support structure and proper chilling, it arrived perfectly intact.

Box Your Cake Properly

I don't recommend leaving a decorated cake uncovered in the refrigerator overnight. Cakes can absorb refrigerator odors and develop condensation from the moisture in the fridge.

Instead, place the cake inside a box before putting it into the fridge.

Cake Box Hack

If your cake box isn't tall enough, take the lid or a second box turned upside down. Cut two diagonal slits into one of the sides and also the opposite side. Lower the line or upside-down box onto the box that the cake is in. Push the center flap inward while leaving the outer flaps outside. This creates extra height, allowing the box to be covered.

Final Thoughts on How to Make a Tiered Cake

Tiered cakes can look complicated but once you understand the structure behind them, they become much more manageable.

Here are the key take-aways from this tiered cake tutorial:

• Choose cake sizes at least 2 inches apart
• Layer the bottom tier on a cake drum at least 4 inches wider than the cake
• Layer each upper tier on an "invisible" cake board
• Chill cakes after assembling, crumb coating, and the final layer of frosting
• Add internal supports beneath every upper tier
• Chill cakes before stacking
• Transport the cake while chilled

The more tiered cakes you make, the less intimidating they become. Once you feel confident you can focus on the fun part: decorating them!

You can watch a video of this tutorial on how to make a tiered cake:

https://youtu.be/HMSRX4LIyJk

Birthday cakes have become a huge part of the celebration and these cakes for kids and tweens include everything from simple sprinkle cakes to detailed themed cakes. They all look impressive but are secretly simple to make, without needing professional decorating skills. Try these beginner-friendly techniques that you can customize for any age, theme, or colour scheme.

Number Cakes for Kids and Tweens

Number cakes are one of the most versatile cakes for kids because you can customize them for any age or celebration theme.

Start by baking a sheet cake. Use a piece of paper that’s about half the size of the cake to draw your number template. Place the template onto the cake and cut around it to create two identical number shapes. This is much easier when the cake is cold because the cake is firmer and less crumbly.

Attach the first cake layer onto a cake board with two dots of buttercream underneath to hold it in place. I use my 4 Minute Buttercream for all of my cakes - it's delicious, easy to make, and smooths and pipes beautifully! Pipe your filling on top using any piping style you like. Simple dollops with a round piping tip work beautifully, or you can use a 1M piping tip for rosettes and swirls.

Lower the second cake layer on top, making sure it lines up neatly with the bottom layer. Again, cold cake makes this much easier to handle.

Pipe decorations over the top layer using a variety of piping tips. A 1M tip creates rosettes and wavy swirls, a petal tip creates ruffles, and open star tips like a 4B or 2B are perfect for filling gaps with texture.

Decorate the top with chocolates, candies, macarons, flowers, sprinkles, or any toppings that match your theme. This can be a really fun cake for kids to help decorate because there’s no pressure for everything to look perfect.

Emoji Cakes for Kids and Tweens

Emoji cakes are playful cakes for tweens and kids and they’re much easier to make than they look.

To make a mini version, cut three small cake layers out of a larger cake using a round cookie cutter. If you prefer a larger cake, that's fine too! You can use any size cake layers for this design.

Attach the first cake layer onto a cake board with a dot of buttercream and continue layering cake and filling until the cake is stacked. Cover it with a crumb coat, chill if needed, and then add a final coat of frosting.

To create the emoji face, make homemade stencils by drawing the emoji features onto parchment paper or wax paper and cutting the shapes out. Use the surrounding paper as the stencil.

Chill the cake so the frosting is firm before pressing the stencil against the cake. Spread buttercream over the stencil and then peel it away to reveal the emoji design underneath.

Make a heart-eye emoji like this one or kids can choose their favourite emoji - I love the sunglasses face! These simple emoji designs are instantly recognizable.

Minecraft Cupcake Cake

If you need cakes for kids who love gaming, this Minecraft cupcake cake is such a fun option.

Bake cupcakes in a square cupcake pan using regular cupcake liners. As the cupcakes bake, they’ll spread to fill the square shape, which gives them that pixelated Minecraft look. Arrange the cupcakes into the shape of your design before decorating. This example creates a Minecraft sword.

Laying out the cupcakes first helps you figure out how large your cake board needs to be. If you don’t have a cake board large enough, improvise with another flat surface. This cake uses an IKEA tabletop as the base.

Melt chocolate chips and use the melted chocolate as glue underneath each cupcake so they stay in place when transporting the cake.

Decorate the cupcakes using buttercream and a 1M piping tip. Tint half the buttercream brown using melted chocolate and pipe wavy swirls onto the chocolate sections first. Tint the remaining buttercream light blue and after piping the inner cupcakes, add more blue to the buttercream and then pipe the outer cupcakes. Using two shades helps create that pixelated Minecraft style.

Cupcake cakes are especially practical for birthday parties because they’re so easy to serve. Instead of slicing cake, guests can simply pull cupcakes away from the design.

If you want to make this ahead of time, wrap it airtight with cling film or plastic wrap to stop the cupcakes drying out.

Rainbow Ombre Butterfly Cake

This rainbow ombré butterfly cake is one of the prettiest cakes for kids and tweens. Tint buttercream in all of the colours you want to use, making sure the colours blend smoothly into each other like a rainbow gradient. Layer the colors side by side inside a piping bag and pipe the frosting onto the cake.

As you smooth the frosting, the colours blend into each other to create the ombré effect. For this design to work with just one piping bag, start by piping yellow just above the middle of the cake and continue with orange and pink above it. Then pipe purple at the bottom and continue with blue and the green above it.

Although this design looks beautiful smooth, adding texture makes it even prettier. Use the edge of a cake scraper and wiggle it gently up and down through the frosting to create soft waves.

Add sprinkles or sugar pearls immediately while the frosting is still soft and sticky. Optionally, finish the cake with wafer paper butterflies for extra movement and colour. Wafer paper decorations are lightweight and easy to add to cakes without weighing down the frosting.

Graffiti Cakes for Kids and Tweens

This graffiti cake is one of the coolest cakes for kids and tweens! For an extra surprise inside, create rings of rainbow colours using my Rainbow Cake Recipe.

Layer and frost the cake as usual. For a brick-effect frosting, I used melted chocolate chips with a tiny bit of orange food colouring in my buttercream. If you prefer a bolder brick colour, add red food colouring.

After chilling the frosting until firm, use a zigzag textured cake comb to imprint horizontal lines into the cake. Then use a petal piping tip to score vertical lines between each brick. Cold frosting works best for this because soft frosting drags easily and creates unwanted texture.

To create the graffiti effect, mix about a teaspoon clear almond extract or clear vanilla extract with food colouring and paint directly onto the cake with a paintbrush.

This cake design also includes a homemade edible chocolate topper. Melt chocolate chips in the microwave at 50% power so they don’t overheat. Spoon the melted chocolate into a sandwich bag, snip off a tiny corner, and pipe over a design drawn onto parchment paper. I used a hand showing the peace sign. Freeze the outline briefly to set it and then fill in the middle with white chocolate. Press a wooden skewer into the chocolate and freeze again until firm before peeling it away from the paper and inserting it into the cake.

Simple Sprinkle Cake

If you want simple cakes for kids and tweens that still feel festive and fun, sprinkle cakes are always a great choice.

The most important step for this cake is to frost the cake smoothly. If you need help for this, check out my tutorial on how to frost a cake.

Place your frosted cake onto a tray before decorating so the tray catches all of the extra sprinkles.Pour sprinkles around the bottom edge of the cake and gently press them into the frosting so they stick. Tap the extra sprinkles off the cake board and pour them back into the container to reuse later.

Spoon leftover buttercream into a piping bag, filling it no more than three-quarters full so it’s comfortable to hold. Pipe swirls around the top edge of the cake. Double swirls add texture and height without making the cake overly sweet or heavy with frosting.

If you want sprinkles on top, add them straight away while the frosting is still soft and sticky.

This is one of the easiest birthday cakes to make but it still feels colourful, celebratory, and fun for all ages.

Vintage Heart Cake

Vintage heart cakes have become incredibly popular and are surprisingly easy to create. With this method you don't even need a heart shaped pan to bake the layers!

Start with round cake layers and cut small sections off two sides of each layer to create the bottom point of the heart shape. Spread buttercream onto the curved sides and attach the cut-off pieces using the buttercream as glue. Now you have a heart-shaped cake layer! Layer the cake with filling and repeat until you have a full heart-shaped cake.

Like most cakes, this design is easiest to frost when the cake is cold so chill it before adding a crumb coat. Chill again before adding the final coat of frosting and smoothing it carefully. Smooth frosting helps vintage piping stand out neatly.

Use a variety of piping tips to add the vintage details. A petal tip like a Wilton 104 creates beautiful ruffles around the bottom of the cake. Use cookie cutters to lightly press into the frosting to create guides for piping swags, also using a petal tip.

Star-shaped piping tips add gorgeous texture for beaded details, which can be layered over other piped decorations. Changing the size of the piping tip creates even more variety. For example, I used a Wilton 32 star tip to pipe on top of ruffles at the bottom of the cake and a smaller Wilton 18 star tip to pipe above the ruffly swags:

To add a message, use a small round piping tip or my favourite tip for lettering on vintage cakes is a small star-shaped piping tip.

Ideas for Cakes for Kids and Tweens

I hope you've seen some ideas you love for cakes for kids and tweens. Ask me any questions in the comments section below and visit my cake school to learn hundreds more cake decorating designs and techniques. Or take my FREE course on 10 Frosting Techniques!

You can also watch a video of these cake ideas for kids and tweens:

https://youtu.be/9pue8UNwJhY

How to write Happy Birthday on a cake neatly can feel surprisingly difficult once you actually try it. Letters often come out shaky, off-center, sloping up or down, or with the last few letters squished so that they fit. But with the right techniques it becomes much easier to control your piping and get beautiful results.

Simple printing for how to write Happy Birthday on a cake

One of the easiest ways to start is by printing your letters using straight lines and all capital letters. This gives you much more control as you pipe one line at a time. To center your message, begin with the letter in the middle of the cake and work your way outwards, adding letters on each side.

Choosing the right piping tip for how to write Happy Birthday on a cake

The piping tip you use makes a big difference when learning how to write Happy Birthday on a cake. For an 8 inch cake, a number 8 round piping tip works well, like I used for 'HAPPY' on the cake above. For smaller cakes, choose a smaller tip so the letters don’t look crammed together.

Larger tips are generally easier to use because the thicker lines absorb small, jerky wrist movements, while smaller tips show every tiny movement and require much steadier hands.

Using dots to anchor your letters

A great beginner technique is to print your letters using dots at the beginning and end of each line. Piping dots helps you position where each line starts and finishes so your letters look neater, even with a small piping tip. See the cake photo above for an example of this font, used to write 'BIRTHDAY'.

Chilling the cake before writing Happy Birthday on a cake

One of the most important tips for how to write happy birthday on a cake is to chill your cake before adding your message. When the cake is cold, the buttercream is firm, which means you can scrape off mistakes with a toothpick, knife, or offset spatula and then pipe again without damaging the frosting underneath.

Getting the buttercream consistency right

Buttercream consistency is crucial for writing. If it’s too stiff, the lines will break apart as you pipe. If it’s too soft, it will flow out of the piping bag without you squeezing, making it very difficult to control. I love using my 4 Minute Buttercream because it's easy to adjust the consistency by simple adding more or less milk and sugar. Since buttercream can vary slightly each time depending on temperature, humidity, and ingredient quantities, it’s always worth checking before you start with some test piping.

Practice before you write Happy Birthday on a cake

A simple way to practice is by using the cake pan you baked your cake in. This allows you to test the size and spacing of your letters and get used to your buttercream consistency. You can also use a toothpick to lightly score your message onto the cake first, which helps you check spacing and placement before piping.

Using pointillism for shaky hands when writing Happy Birthday on a cake

If you find it difficult to pipe continuous lines, try the pointillism technique. This involves piping lots of small dots in the shape of each letter or number. Just like with lines, using a larger tip like a number 8 makes it easier to pipe neatly than using a smaller tip.

Piping onto parchment for more control

If your hands are shaky or you want more control, pipe your message onto parchment or wax paper instead of directly onto the cake. You can rest your hand on the work surface while piping, which makes it much easier to keep your lines steady. Pipe your message a few times so that you can choose your favorite version.

Freeze the message on the paper for about 10 minutes. Once it’s firm, slide an offset spatula underneath, lift it up, and transfer it onto your cake. This method gives much neater results than piping directly onto the cake.

Tracing your message when writing Happy Birthday on a cake

For even more guidance, you can trace your message. Write your text in a font you like on paper or trace it from an image on your phone or computer. Then flip the paper over and trace from the back to create a mirror image.

Place parchment or wax paper on top and pipe over the mirrored letters using buttercream and a small round tip like a number 4. It can feel slightly awkward writing in reverse but having a guide makes it much easier to get neat, consistent letters. Once piped, lift the parchment, flip it over, and press it buttercream side down onto your cake. Chill the cake in the freezer for about 10 minutes before peeling off the parchment to reveal the message.

Skipping piping when you write Happy Birthday on a cake

If you’d rather avoid piping altogether, you can use letter stamps to imprint your message into the buttercream. Chill your cake until the frosting is firm, then let it sit at room temperature for about an hour so the buttercream softens slightly. This prevents cracking when you press in the letters. Arrange the letters, press gently to imprint them, and lift them off. You can leave the imprint as it is or paint over it using edible paint or a mixture of luster dust with a clear liquid like vodka or a clear extract such as lemon, vanilla, or almond.

How to write Happy Birthday on a cake

Learning how to write happy birthday on a cake takes practice. I hope these techniques make it easy to find a method that works for you and you'll get neat, professional-looking results every time. And if you're not ready to try any of these yet, or need more time to practice, use a cake topper for now instead!

Visit my cake school to learn hundreds more cake decorating techniques and designs! You can also watch a video of this tutorial on how to write Happy Birthday on a cake:

Sharp edges on a cake make any cake look instantly more professional, with clean lines from the sides up onto the top. In this tutorial I’ll walk you through exactly how to get sharp edges on a cake using simple techniques and tools, with all of my tips and tricks to make it easier.

How to prepare a cake for sharp edges on a cake

Start with a cold cake. Wrap your cake and leave it in the fridge for an hour or overnight or place it unwrapped in the freezer for about 15 minutes. This makes the cake much firmer and less crumbly, which makes the process easier and neater. Assemble your cake by attaching the first layer to a cake board with a small amount of buttercream. This acts as glue so it doesn’t move around. Spread on a layer of filling next. I’m using my 4 Minute Buttercream with Nutella mixed in and it's delicious! Then place your next layer on top, making sure it’s centered so the cake is straight, not leaning.

Repeat with more filling and cake layers. You’ll notice that assembling a cold cake is much easier than working with a room temperature cake, which tends to crumble and slide around as you spread the buttercream on.

How to apply a crumb coat

Next, it’s time for a crumb coat. Before you start, chill the assembled cake for about 20 minutes in the fridge or 10 minutes in the freezer. This sets the buttercream 'glue' and holds the cake securely in place while you frost it. A cold cake is also much firmer so it won't lean as you spread and scrape around it.

Apply a thin layer of buttercream over the entire cake. I like to start with the top and then move down to the sides. This layer doesn’t need to be perfectly neat, but it’s important to avoid any bulges of buttercream sticking out sideways or above the top edge. Those will harden when chilled and can stick through your final coat of frosting. It's fine to be able to see the colour of the cake through the frosting in places, as long as there is at least a thin layer of frosting covering it. If the cake is completely exposed, those crumbs will get into your final layer of frosting, which you don't want.

Once the crumb coat is finished, chill the cake again for 20 minutes in the fridge or 10 minutes in the freezer.

How to apply the final coat for sharp edges on a cake

Now the cake is ready for its final coat, which is where sharp edges on a cake are created. First, wipe the cake board clean with a towel or paper towel. If there are any hardened smudges of buttercream, your cake scraper will bump into them as you smooth the sides, creating dents in the frosting.

Spread buttercream onto the top of the cake and push it outwards so it extends over the edges. This prevents gaps around the top edge. Then spread buttercream around the sides of the cake, making sure it sticks up above the top edge. This is crucial because it prevents a domed top and instead creates a wall or lip of buttercream all the way around the cake. See the image below for a visual on the two places the buttercream should be sticking out. Continue spreading down to the bottom so the cake is fully covered.

How to smooth the sides for sharp edges on a cake

To smooth the sides, press the base of your cake comb or scraper flat against the cake board to line it up straight. This helps create straight sides, instead of a cake that's wider at the top than the bottom (or wider at the bottom than the top). Spin your turntable and scrape around the cake in long, smooth motions. After a few scrapes, fill in any gaps or indents with more buttercream and scrape again. Repeat this process until the sides are smooth and even.

How to create sharp edges on a cake with a spatula

Now for the part you've been waiting for: the top edge. Use an offset spatula, angled palette knife, or cake scraper and swipe sideways, pushing the lip of buttercream towards the center of the cake. Then lift your tool up and away to remove the excess frosting. Wipe your blade clean after each swipe so you don’t drag buttercream back onto the surface and create texture.

Here are the three things to focus on:

• It’s important to push sideways rather than down, because pushing down will create a bulge underneath the top edge.
• Don’t swipe more than halfway across the cake before lifting your spatula. If you swipe too far you'll drag buttercream over the opposite edge.
• For your first swipe, swipe slightly higher than you think you need to. You can always go back and swipe lower, but starting too low can expose the crumb coat or even the cake itself. Trying to fix that with an upward diagonal swipe will create a domed top instead of a sharp 90° angle.

Work your way all the way around the cake and then get down to eye level and spin the cake to check that the top edge is flat and level. If you see any areas where the edge rises, go back and swipe those sections again until the entire top edge is even.

Why chilling is essential for sharp edges on a cake

The final step is to chill the cake again so the buttercream sets and becomes firm. This is essential for maintaining sharp edges on a cake. If you try to decorate the cake while the frosting is still soft, you’ll damage the smooth sides. If you pipe onto the top before chilling, the weight of the buttercream can push down and cause the edges to droop or bulge. Chilling locks everything in place so your edges stay crisp.

I hope this tutorial helps you achieve sharp edges on a cake with confidence. For more cake decorating techniques and designs, visit my cake school!

You can also watch a video of this tutorial on how to get sharp edges on a cake:

Looking for ideas for ideas for Easter cakes and cupcakes? These designs are cute, colourful, and surprisingly simple to decorate. In this tutorial you’ll learn how to create seven designs using buttercream, including a stencil Easter bunny cake, a speckled egg cake, carrot cake decorations, piped rose cupcakes, carved buttercream, and a technique that reveals a hidden design inside the frosting. Most of these use basic tools and simple techniques but still give really impressive results.

Easter Bunny Cake

This Easter bunny cake is decorated using homemade stencils, which makes it much easier than it looks. Start by drawing or tracing your design. I traced a bunny with a bowtie from my computer screen onto paper. Then place parchment paper or wax paper over the sketch and trace the background shape first, which will be your first stencil and your base colour. Next, trace the details onto separate pieces of parchment or wax paper, using a new piece for each colour. Once everything is drawn, cut out the shapes.

After frosting your cake, chill it until the buttercream is firm. Meanwhile, mix your buttercream colours. A time-saving tip is to use a cupcake pan as a palette by putting a spoonful of buttercream into each hole. Then add a few drops of food colouring to each one and mix. A cupcake pan is the perfect size for techniques like stencilling and it's quicker to cleanup than lots of little bowls.

Press the background stencil onto the cake and spread buttercream over the top. Smooth it a few times so that only a thin layer remains, then carefully peel the stencil away. If there are any smudges, you can tidy them up with a toothpick.

Put the cake back into the fridge or freezer for about 10 minutes to set the buttercream before adding the next stencil. Continue layering the stencils from the back of the design to the front.

At the end, you can optionally pipe around the coloured sections to make the design stand out. I find it easier and neater to pipe small details, like dots within the eyes, instead of using a stencil. For the mouth I like to score a smile with a toothpick because unless your cake and design are huge, piped lines always seem too thick.

Speckled Egg Cake with Mini Eggs

This cake is inspired by speckled chocolate eggs and is one of the easiest ideas for Easter cakes and cupcakes. After assembling your cake layers with filling and frosting, take your time smoothing the frosting because there won’t be many decorations covering the sides.

While the frosting is still soft and sticky, press colourful mini eggs onto the top in a ring.

For the speckled effect, mix one teaspoon of cocoa powder with one and a half teaspoons of hot water. Before splattering, protect your work surfaces with cloths or towels because this can get messy. Dip a paintbrush into the cocoa mixture, pull the bristles back with your finger, and let go so they snap forward and splatter onto the cake. This creates a realistic speckled egg effect. It’s fine if some of the splatter lands on the eggs because it helps bring the whole design together.

Carrot Cake with Buttercream Carrots

Carrot cake is perfect for Easter, and these buttercream carrots are simple and cute decorations. My carrot cake recipe pairs lightly spiced carrot cake layers with not-too-sweet cream cheese filling and frosting. Using a buttercream base for the frosting makes it easy to spread and smooth, and also works really well for these carrot decorations!

Before adding cream cheese to your frosting, set aside a few spoonfuls of the buttercream base because it’s stiffer and easier to pipe. Tint most of it orange and pipe zigzag shapes onto parchment paper to create the carrots.

Add green food colouring to the remaining buttercream. The leftover orange in the bowl will slightly mute the green, which actually works well for carrot tops. Put this into a piping bag fitted with a small round tip, like a number 4, and pipe three small spikes at the top of each carrot. Freeze these for about 10 minutes so they firm up.

While they chill, assemble your carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. Smooth the frosting or add texture using the back of a spoon or an offset spatula or palette knife. Then lift the frozen carrots off the parchment and arrange them on the cake. I like toplace them where I plan to cut the cake to mark out portions. This decoration only takes a few minutes but looks really effective.

Ideas for Easter Cakes and Cupcakes With Carved Buttercream

This carved buttercream technique creates a textured design using simple tools. Start by crumb coating your cake, then spread on a smooth layer of frosting and freeze it for about 15 minutes. Next, add a final layer of frosting in a different colour. Both layers should be smooth, and the top layer should be as thin as possible without exposing the colour underneath. Chill the cake again until the buttercream is firm.

Dip a clay modelling tool into warm water and start carving into the frosting. A hook-shaped tool works well for fine details like dandelion seeds, a round tool is useful for larger circular shapes, and a pointed tool is ideal for stems, leaves, or outlining petals. After each carve, dip the tool back into warm water to remove buttercream and keep it warm so it glides smoothly.

You can use this technique on cupcakes as well. Pipe two blobs of different coloured buttercream onto a cupcake using a large round tip, like a 1A. Flip the cupcake over onto parchment or wax paper and press down to flatten it, then freeze for about 30 minutes. Once firm, carve your design using modelling tools or even the pointed end of a petal piping tip.

Buttercream Rose Cupcakes

These buttercream rose cupcakes look elegant but are simple to pipe. Use a petal tip, like a number 104, and start by piping a blob of buttercream in the centre of the cupcake to give the rose height. Hold the piping tip with the narrow end pointing upwards and pipe a spiral around the centre while spinning the cupcake to form a rosebud.

Next, pipe arcs around the rosebud, overlapping each one by about halfway. Angle the piping tip slightly inward at first so the petals wrap tightly, then gradually angle it outward as you move to the outer layers so the petals open up. This technique works beautifully for single cupcakes or grouped together as a bouquet.

Stencil Ideas for Easter Cakes and Cupcakes

Instead of using stencils on top of a cake, like in the first cake design with the Easter bunny, you create stencil designs around the sides of a cake. Cut parchment or wax paper to be the same height as your cake and draw or trace your design onto it. Cut out the shapes while leaving the surrounding paper intact to use as a stencil.

Wrap the stencil around the cake and spread buttercream over the cutouts. For narrow shapes like stems, spread the frosting up and down rather than sideways to avoid pulling the stencil away. For larger shapes that are fully surrounded by paper, spread inward toward the centre for the same reason.

Peel the stencil away and clean up any smudges with a toothpick. Chill the cake before adding the next stencil so each section sets. If your design has elements close together, using separate stencils can prevent colours from smudging. Ideally, leave about an inch around each shape on the stencil to avoid spreading buttercream beyond the edges.

Place each stencil onto a cold cake, spread buttercream over it, scrape away the excess to leave a thin layer, and then peel it away. As long as your cake is cold, this technique is very forgiving. It allows you to replicate anything you can draw or trace, onto a cake!

Facelift Frosting Cake

This technique creates a completely flat cake with a hidden design revealed underneath. Pipe your design directly onto the cake and freeze it for about 20 minutes. Then cover the entire cake with buttercream so the design is fully hidden and freeze again for another 20 minutes.

Warm a cake scraper by dipping it into hot water, running it under a hot tap, or warming it with a hair dryer or blowtorch. Then begin scraping around the cake. At first, it will feel like you’re removing frosting you just added, but as you continue, the hidden design will start to appear. The final result is a perfectly smooth cake with an embedded buttercream design.

Tips for Displaying Easter Cakes

As the weather gets warmer, remember that butter melts and so does buttercream. If you’re displaying your cakes outside for an Easter party or spring celebration, keep them in the shade rather than in direct sunlight, otherwise the buttercream can start melting very quickly.

Which Ideas for Easter Cakes and Cupcakes Will You Try?

Now you have seven ideas for Easter cakes and cupcakes, from simple designs to more detailed techniques. Tell me in the comments which one you’re going to try and for more cake decorating tutorials, visit my cake school to learn hundreds more techniques and designs.

You can also watch a video of this tutorial with 7 Ideas for Easter Cakes and Cupcakes:

This spring porch cake looks like a colourful house decorated with beautiful buttercream flowers. It's seasonal and fun but it’s secretly really easy to make!

How to Start Your Spring Porch Cake

I’m using my Very Vanilla cake recipe baked in 6 inch pans and my 4 Minute Buttercream for both the filling and the frosting. Those two recipes are my go-to combination because the cake is sturdy enough for decorating and the buttercream is quick to make and really easy to work with.

Start by assembling your cake and applying a crumb coat. If you’re new to cake decorating, a crumb coat is just a very thin layer of frosting that traps any loose crumbs so they don’t show up in the final layer of frosting. Stack and fill your cake layers with buttercream, spread a thin layer over the top and sides, and smooth it roughly. Don’t worry about making it perfect because this layer is only there to catch crumbs. Once the crumb coat is done, put the cake into the fridge for about 30 minutes so the buttercream can firm up before you add the final coat.

While the cake is chilling, make the little door for your spring porch cake. I’m using white chocolate chips for this because they melt easily and set firm in the fridge. Put the chocolate chips into a microwave-safe bowl and microwave them at 50% power for 30 seconds. Stir well and repeat until the chocolate is smooth. Heating chocolate at lower power is the best way to prevent it from burning.

Spoon the melted chocolate onto a piece of parchment paper or wax paper and spread it out into a rectangle using the edge of an offset spatula or angled palette knife. This rectangle will become the door of your cake house. Add a large gold sprinkle to act as the doorknob and then put the parchment paper into the fridge or freezer so the chocolate can set while you frost the cake.

Frosting the Spring Porch Cake to Look Like a House

Tint your buttercream for the house. You can make this spring porch cake any colour you like but I’m adding just a drop of brown food colouring to create a peachy shade. I considered making the cake grey to look like painted wood siding but a grey cake didn't sound very appetizing.

Spread the buttercream over the top of the cake and then cover the sides. Instead of smoothing the frosting, use a textured cake comb to create the look of wooden siding on a house. I love this style because it instantly makes the cake look like a little building instead of just a frosted cylinder.

Use the textured cake comb in the same way you would use a regular cake scraper. Hold the comb against the side of the cake with the base resting on the cake board. Spin the turntable so the comb scrapes all the way around the cake, imprinting its pattern into the frosting. After the first scrape you’ll probably see some areas where the grooves are shallow or missing. Spread a bit more buttercream onto those spots with your spatula and scrape around again. Repeat this process until the texture looks even all the way around.

If you’re using a metal cake comb, you can make the texture even neater by gently heating the edge of the comb. A hair dryer, hot water, or even a blowtorch works for this. Warm metal glides across buttercream and leaves a really smooth surface on the texture.

To tidy the top edge of your spring porch cake, swipe sideways across the top edge with your offset spatula or a cake scraper. This pulls the excess buttercream inward so the top edge looks sharp and neat.

Now attach the door while the frosting is still soft and sticky. Take the chilled chocolate rectangle out of the fridge or freezer, peel it off the parchment paper, and press it gently into the frosting. This immediately turns the cake into a little house. Put the cake back into the fridge while you prepare the buttercream flowers.

How to Pipe Flowers for a Spring Porch Cake

I like to mix my buttercream colours for the flowers in a cupcake pan instead of lots of small bowls. This trick is perfect when you only need a small amount of several colours. It keeps everything organized and at the end you only have one pan to wash.

Ombre flowers

The first flowers for this spring porch cake are piped using layered piping, sometimes called lazy piping. To do this, spread stripes of different coloured buttercream inside a piping bag fitted with a drop flower tip. I’m piping these onto parchment paper wrapped around a cutting board. Piping onto parchment makes it much easier to arrange flowers later because you can move them around before placing them on the cake.

Rest the tip of the piping bag on the parchment paper. Twist your wrist so that your thumb is close to your forearm. Squeeze the piping bag and slowly twist your wrist away from yourself so the petals fan outward. As you pipe more flowers, the colours layered higher in the piping bag will gradually push through the lower colour, creating a beautiful ombre effect. This is one of my favourite cake decorating techniques because it creates such pretty flowers with almost no effort.

Lift the cutting board and place it into the freezer so the flowers can firm up. You'll pick them up and attach them to your cake later.

Pansies

The next flowers are piped on a flower nail. Attach a small square of parchment paper or wax paper to the flower nail with a dot of buttercream. Fit a piping bag with a petal-shaped tip. Hold the tip so the wide end of the teardrop shape touches the centre of the flower and the narrow end points outward. I'm using a Wilton #104.

Squeeze the piping bag while turning the flower nail and moving the piping tip slightly away from the centre. This creates a petal shape. Pipe five petals to form each flower. When the flower is finished, lift the parchment square off the nail and place it on a tray or cutting board. Once you’ve piped several flowers, put the tray into the freezer.

Buttercream roses

Roses are piped on a flower nail as well. Start by squeezing a small mound of buttercream onto the centre of the parchment square to create height for the rose. Hold the petal tip with the narrow end pointing upward and angled slightly inward. Squeeze the buttercream while spinning the flower nail to create a spiral around the centre, forming a rose bud.

After the bud, pipe arcs around it to create petals. Start with three or four petals and add more in each outer ring. As you pipe each arc, lift the piping tip slightly at the middle of the arc and lower it again at the end. This creates the curved petal shape. Overlap each petal about halfway over the previous one so the rose looks full and layered. For this spring porch cake I’m keeping the roses small so they don't look giant!

Transfer each roses to the tray on its little square of paper and freeze them along with the other flowers.

Decorating the Spring Porch Cake with Flowers

Once your flowers are frozen, it’s time to decorate the cake. Start with a small round piping tip and green buttercream to pipe vines onto the sides of the cake. These vines act as both decoration and glue for attaching the flowers.

Take the flowers out of the freezer and press them onto the cake along the vines. Because they’re frozen they’ll hold their shape and be easy to handle. They will soften within a few minutes so work fairly quickly. If they start to soften too much, put them back into the freezer for a few minutes.

To add leaves, use a leaf piping tip such as the Wilton #352. When you look at this tip sideways it looks like Pac-Man jaws. Squeeze the piping bag and then release the pressure as you pull away so each leaf ends in a pointed tip. Pipe clusters of leaves to make bushes and press frozen flowers into the bushes while the buttercream is still soft and sticky.

If you want to vary the colour of the greenery on your spring porch cake, you can mix different shades of green buttercream. Adding a tiny bit of orange gel colour dulls the green for a more natural leafy shade, while yellow gel brightens it.

For tiny flowers, switch to a small star tip like a number 18. I pipe little star-shaped blossoms onto clusters of piped leaves that looked like bushes. These are a quick and easy flower to use as filler flowers in any empty areas!

This cheerful spring porch cake looks like a tiny house covered in blooming flowers. It’s a perfect cake for spring celebrations or for welcoming someone into a new home.

How to Slice a Spring Porch Cake

When it’s time to serve the cake, I like to use the cutting board method for slicing. Start by cutting about an inch from the edge of the cake and slice straight across from one side to the other. Push the slice away from the rest of the cake to flip it over onto a cutting board. Cut it into long narrow slices.

Then make another cut about an inch further in and repeat the process. This method creates neat slices that are a really reasonable portion size. When cakes are cut into large wedge-shaped slices there are almost always leftovers on every plate!

Another advantage of this slicing method is that guests can choose the piece they want. Someone who prefers less sweetness can choose a middle piece with less frosting, while frosting lovers can pick the outer slices. Tell me in the comments which piece you would choose!

I hope this spring porch cake tutorial was helpful. If you have any questions about the techniques, ask me in the comments. Visit my cake school to learn hundreds more cake decorating techniques and designs 🙂 See you there!

You can also watch a video of this spring porch cake tutorial:

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This carrot cake with cream cheese frosting is amazingly flavourful without being overly sweet. You won't able to stop eating it! It's quick and easy to make and you don’t even need a mixer for the batter because it comes together in bowls using a whisk and a spatula. The frosting smooths beautifully and can be decorated just like buttercream!

Why This Carrot Cake Recipe Is So Easy

One of the things I love about this carrot cake recipe is that it’s mixed by hand. There’s no need to pull out a mixer, which makes the process faster and the cleanup easier.

Instead of creaming butter and sugar, you’ll simply mix the ingredients in two bowls: one for the wet ingredients and one for the dry ingredients. Once both are prepared, the dry ingredients are stirred into the wet ingredients to form the batter. This method keeps the cake tender and moist without requiring any special equipment. You will need a cheese grater to grate the carrots, or a food processor if you have one!

This carrot cake with cream cheese frosting is a very flexible recipe when it comes to cake size. The same batter works perfectly for either a two-layer 8-inch cake or a three-layer 6-inch cake, and the same amount of frosting will fill and frost either size.

How to Mix the Carrot Cake Batter

Start by preparing your cake pans. Grease the pans well so the cakes release easily after baking. (If you want to make cupcakes instead, try my one bowl carrot cupcakes!)

In your first bowl, mix the wet ingredients together. Use a whisk to combine everything until smooth and evenly blended. Because this cake is mixed by hand, you don’t need to worry about overmixing at this stage.

In a second bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Stir these together so the spices and leavening are evenly distributed throughout the flour.

Next, add the dry ingredients to the bowl of wet ingredients. Fold the ingredients into each other gently with a spatula or spoon just until everything is combined. The batter should look thick and smooth.

When you can't see the flour anymore, add the grated carrots. Freshly grated carrots work best because they add moisture and a natural sweetness to the cake. If you like a bit of crunch in your carrot cake, you can also add chopped nuts like walnuts or pecans at this stage.

Once everything is mixed, divide the batter evenly between your prepared cake pans.

Baking Your Carrot Cake Layers

This recipe works beautifully for two different cake sizes. If you’re making an 8-inch cake, divide the batter between two pans for a classic two-layer cake. If you prefer a taller cake, divide the batter between three 6-inch pans.

Spread the batter evenly in the pans and bake until the cakes are set in the middle and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in their pans for a few minutes before turning them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Cooling the cakes fully before frosting is important so the frosting doesn’t melt when it touches the cake.

Why This Cream Cheese Frosting Works So Well

Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting is a classic flavour combination because the tanginess of the cream cheese balances the sweetness of the cake beautifully.

However, traditional cream cheese frosting can sometimes be quite soft, which can make it tricky to spread smoothly onto a cake or to use for decorating.

My favourite solution is to start with a stiff buttercream base and then fold cream cheese into it at the end. This method creates a frosting that still has the rich tangy flavour of cream cheese but with a much more stable consistency.

How to Make Stable Cream Cheese Frosting

Begin by making a thick buttercream base. Beat the butter and powdered sugar together until the frosting becomes smooth. It will be very stiff because you'd normally add milk at this stage to thin it out, but don't! You'll need it to be stiff.

Now add the cream cheese. Instead of beating it in aggressively, gently fold the cream cheese into the buttercream until it’s fully incorporated. Folding rather than whipping helps keep the frosting smooth and prevents it from becoming too soft.

The result is a beautifully creamy frosting that spreads easily onto the cake while still holding its shape.

Assembling the Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Once your carrot cake layers are completely cool, it’s time to assemble the cake.

Place the first cake layer onto your cake board or serving plate. If you're going to drive anywhere with the cake, I recommend spreading some frosting onto the board or plate first. This will act as glue to attach to the cake and hold it in place.

Spread a layer of cream cheese frosting over the top of the first cake layer. Add the next cake layer and if you’re making a three-layer cake, continue with another layer of frosting and the final layer of cake.

Put the cake into the fridge for 30 minutes or the freezer for 15 minutes before frosting it. Cold cake is firmer and less crumbly so it will be easier to frost afterwards.

How to Frost a Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Finish by spreading frosting over the top and around the sides of the cake. Because this frosting has a buttercream base, it’s much easier to smooth neatly compared to traditional cream cheese frosting.

If you struggle with smooth frosting, add texture instead by dragging a spatula or the back of a spoon around the cake. It's easier to make this look neat compared to smooth frosting, and it looks just as pretty!

Decorating a Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Decorating options are endless for this carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. Add sprinkles, flowers, a cake topper... Or pipe tiny carrots to divide the cake into portions! I used a small (#4) round piping tip for these and I scooped out a few spoonfuls of the buttercream before adding cream cheese. This consistency is much easier to pipe with than after adding the cream cheese.

Pipe zigzags of orange buttercream onto a piece of parchment or wax paper, which is much easier than piping straight onto the top of the cake. Pipe a few green spikes at the top of each carrot and then put them into the freezer for 10 minutes to chill and harden. Now you can pick them up and place them onto your cake!

For more cake decorating techniques and designs, visit my cake school 🙂

This cake is always a crowd favourite. If you want to make cupcakes instead, try my one bowl carrot cupcakes! You'll find the recipe below and you can toggle the ingredients between Metric measurements (grams) and US (measuring cups and spoons).

Keep the cake in the fridge for up to 3 days and take it out 3 hours before serving, to allow it to warm up to room temperature. Enjoy!

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Make a stand up rainbow cake using different piping tips, rainbow colours mixed in just one bowl, and only one layer of cake.

Prepare piping bags for the stand up rainbow cake

Start by mixing your colours for the filling and frosting of this cake. To mix them using one bowl without washing in between colours, follow an order you probably wouldn't expect. I'm using one batch of my 4 Minute Buttercream for this cake. Start with a bit less than a cup of buttercream in the bowl. Add yellow food colouring, mix it in, and scoop it up. Then add a bit less than a cup of plain white buttercream to the bowl and tint it orange. Mix it, scoop it up, and add more white buttercream. Continue with pink or red next (which should be about twice the amount of buttercream than the other colours), then purple, blue, and finally green. For each colour, scrape around the bowl to mix in all of the previous colour into this new colour. That's the reason for mixing the colours in this order - the colours naturally blend into each other.

Prepare six piping bags with different piping tips to create texture for this buttercream rainbow cake. Petal tips, star tips, and flower tips all create different effects, so using a variety of tips makes each colour look different even if you repeat the same technique. For example, use a 104 petal tip for ruffles, a 2D closed star tip for flowers, a 32 open star tip for shells, a Russian flower tip for detailed flowers, a 4B larger open star tip for bigger shells, and a 1M star tip for a different texture of shells.

Fill each piping bag with one of the rainbow buttercream colours you mixed earlier and twist the tops closed so they’re ready to use.

Fill the stand up rainbow cake with colourful buttercream piping

You'll need a single round cake layer to make this stand up rainbow cake. I used an 8 inch layer of my Perfect Chocolate Cake, drizzled with simple syrup to keep it extra moist for serving the next day.

Slice the cake layer in half to create two semicircles. Pipe the buttercream filling between the cake halves in rainbow order, starting with red or pink on the outside. Continuing with orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. Piping the filling instead of spreading it is a great way to practice using each piping tip and to get comfortable with the consistency of your buttercream before decorating the outside of the cake.

Place the second semicircle of cake on top of the filling to complete the cake shape.

Make the rainbow cake stand up

Pipe a line of buttercream onto a cake board and flip the cake over so the flat cut side of the cake sits on that line. Press the cake gently into the buttercream so it sticks securely. This creates the upright structure that gives the stand up rainbow cake its shape.

Add a rainbow crumb coat

Apply a crumb coat to the stand up rainbow cake using the same piping bags you used for the filling. Instead of piping neatly, simply squeeze the buttercream onto the cake in rainbow arcs that match the colours you’ll pipe later. Matching the crumb coat colours to the final decoration helps hide any small gaps in the piping.

Use an offset spatula (angled palette knife) or a cake scraper to smooth the buttercream across the front, back, and top of the cake.

Decorate the stand up rainbow cake with piping

Put the cake into the fridge for 30 minutes to set this crumb coat before piping on it. By setting the crumb coat, you'll trap any crumbs that have come off the cake. Now they won't get into your piping.

Pipe purple buttercream ruffles

It's easiest to begin decorating the stand up rainbow cake with the purple buttercream using the petal tip. Starting in the middle of the cake gives you the most space to angle the piping bag to pipe ruffles. Hold the piping bag so the narrow edge of the petal tip faces outward away from the cake. Move the piping bag slightly back and forth as you squeeze to create ruffled buttercream texture. Pipe these ruffles along the centre of the cake on both sides.

For the rest of your colours, use these techniques in any order.

Pipe buttercream flowers

To pipe flowers onto your stand up rainbow cake, use a closed star tip like a 2D. Hold the piping bag with your wrist twisted so your thumb is close to your forearm. Then squeeze while twisting your wrist upwards to spin the bag clockwise. This motion allows the petals to fan out from the centre of the flower. You might notice small gaps between the flowers and the rainbow crumb coat underneath helps hide those spaces.

Add shell borders for the easiest texture on the stand up rainbow cake

I think shells borders are one of the easiest buttercream piping techniques. Using an open star tip like the #32 tip I'm using with my green buttercream, squeeze the piping bag and pause briefly so the buttercream attaches tot he cake and rises up. Then release pressure and swipe down and away to create the tail of the shell. Pipe the next shell over the tail of the previous one to continue the pattern along the cake.

Pipe flower details with a Russian piping tip

Russian piping tips (also called 'flower nozzles') add detailed flowers with each squeeze. Russian tips can take a little practice, so the piping you did for the filling earlier helps you get used to them. If the buttercream at the end of the piping bag has crusted slightly and won’t stick to the cake, squeeze a small amount out first to expose fresh buttercream before piping onto the cake.

Use different piping tip sizes and shapes for variety on the rainbow cake

Using both large and small open star tips (like the #32 I used for green and a 4B for orange) creates differed sized shells on your cake. Using the same piping technique with different tip sizes is an easy way to create variety without needing to learn a new technique.

Another way to add variety is to use a different piping tip shape with the same shell technique. For the pink buttercream I'm using a 1M tip to pipe a shell border with a different texture to the shells piped with open star tips.

Finish the stand up rainbow cake with piping on top

Use the pink or red buttercream from the top section of the rainbow for the entire top of the cake as well. I think piping onto the top of the cake is the quickest and easiest part because you’re piping downward instead of sideways, so the piping feels more comfortable and goes quickly.

How to store and serve a stand up rainbow cake

Store the stand up rainbow cake in the fridge until a few hours before serving. Chilling the cake keeps the buttercream decorations firm and protects the texture of the piping. Take the cake out of the fridge about 3 hours before serving so the cake and buttercream can come to room temperature. This is when both the flavour and texture taste their best!

Slice the stand up rainbow cake diagonally to reveal the colourful buttercream filling and piping inside each slice.

I hope this tutorial has been useful! Ask me any questions in the comments and visit my cake school to learn hundreds more cake decorating techniques and designs. You can also watch a video of this tutorial:

The batter of this rainbow cake recipe is the perfect consistency to make easy rainbow rings in each cake layer. It has a beautiful vanilla flavour and it's light and fluffy and absolutely delicious! It's also egg free, which is perfect for egg allergies or if you've run out of eggs.

Making the cake is insanely easy. You'll find the ingredients in the teal box below and you can toggle the measurements between metric (grams) and US (measuring cups). Whisk together the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another bowl, and then whisk them all together.

For this rainbow cake recipe's layers, divide the batter into six bowls and add food colouring to each one, folding it in gently. Over-mixing will make the cake layers taste dense. I love these gel food colouring sets because they make such bright and bold colours in cake batter and also in buttercream!

Grease 3 or 4 6" cake pans and pour the bowls of batter into the middle of each pan, starting with red and following with orange, yellow, green, blue and purple.

Bake at 325F (160C) for 30 minutes. To check that they're baked, poke the middle of each cake gently and if the cake slowly springs back up, it's ready!

Turn the cakes out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely, about an hour.

Layer with your favourite filling and frosting (I love my 4 Minute Buttercream), decorate, and enjoy! Visit my cake school to learn hundreds of cake decorating techniques and designs 🙂

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Valentine’s Day cake ideas don’t need to be complicated to look impressive. In this tutorial I’m sharing three fun cake designs using simple techniques and everyday tools. I’ll walk you through each design step by step, starting with how to frost a cake properly.

How to frost a cake for Valentine’s Day cake ideas

To start, pipe or spread a small dot of buttercream onto the middle of your cake board. I use my 4 Minute Buttercream for all of my cakes! Place your first cake layer on top. This anchors the cake so it doesn’t slide around while you work. Alternate cake layers with your filling and then chill the cake in the freezer for 15 minutes or the fridge for 30 minutes. This firms up the cake before frosting.

Next, add a crumb coat, which is a thin layer of buttercream that traps any crumbs coming off the cake.

Chill the cake again before spreading on the final layer of frosting. Because the crumb coat has set, no crumbs will get into this layer.

Spread the frosting on fairly thickly and make sure it rises above the top edge of the cake. This extra height will help you create sharp angles at the top later. Reach as far as you can around the cake and pull long, smooth spins of the turntable to smooth the sides.

Warming your cake scraper with hot water, a hair dryer, or a blowtorch will make the frosting even smoother.

To level the top edge, swipe sideways without pushing down. This will flatten the buttercream, without creating bulges. Then put the cake in the fridge for 30 minutes to set the frosting before decorating.

#1 Cute character Valentine’s Day cake ideas using pointillism

Let’s start by turning an image into a cute edible character on a cake. For this technique you’ll need a toothpick and a piping bag. If you have a small round piping tip, great, but if not, you can cut a tiny hole in the end of a piping bag or even use a sandwich bag.

After chilling the cake so the frosting is firm, lightly score your design onto the surface using a toothpick. You can draw freehand while looking at your image or print it out, cut it out, and trace around it. Gently brush off any buttercream crumbs with a paintbrush or kitchen towel.

Tint a small amount of buttercream for each colour in your design. I like using gel food colouring because it’s concentrated and creates bold colours. A cupcake pan is perfect for tinting small amounts of buttercream quickly and make cleaning up a breeze! Small bowls work just as well but take a bit longer to clean afterwards.

To make black buttercream, add a small amount of black gel colouring to any colour of buttercream. Microwave it for 5–10 seconds to darken it, then chill it back to room temperature. Stir until smooth and it’s ready to use.

Pipe dots using a small round tip (or a cut piping bag). Hold the tip slightly away from the cake, squeeze to let the buttercream attach, then release pressure as you pull away. This dotting technique is called pointillism and it’s a great way to create detailed, multicoloured Valentine’s Day cake ideas without stencils, fondant, or transfers.

Pipe one colour at a time, switching colours as needed. If you don’t have multiple tips or couplers, simply wash and reuse your piping bag and tip. Try to pipe the dots at the same angle for the whole cake, so that the peaks or points on the dots all point in the same direction.

This technique is incredibly forgiving and very effective.

#2 Valentine’s Day cake with stencils

For this next design, all you need is a piping bag without a tip and a piece of parchment or wax paper. Start by frosting your cake using a layered piping technique. I like to call this 'lazy piping' because it's so quick and easy! Layer different buttercream colours into one piping bag, pushing each colour down to the end with a cake scraper.

Pipe rings around a crumb coated cake from the bottom of the cake upwards. After each colour, the next colour will come through to create a gradient effect.

Smooth the top with an offset spatula and then use a cake scraper around the sides. To blend the colours more gradually, wiggle a spatula or spoon between them and then scrape until smooth. Chill the cake while you prepare a stencil.

Trace a clip art image onto parchment paper and cut it out to create a stencil.

Wrap this tightly against your chilled cake and the cold frosting will prevent it from sticking. Spread buttercream over the stencil and scrape away the excess, then peel it off to reveal the design. Clean up any smudges with a toothpick.

To finish, pipe a simple border on top using a star tip. Starting and ending the border at the back of the cake helps hide the seam. I love fun Valentine’s Day cake ideas like this that don't rely on using pink and red.

#3 Valentine’s Day cake with piped hearts

For a more traditional Valentine’s look, outline hearts on a chilled cake using cookie cutters, paper cutouts, or a toothpick.

Tint buttercream in several shades, starting with the lightest colour and working darker so you can mix everything in one bowl.

Pipe around the heart outlines using round or star tips. My favourites are #363 for rosettes, #16 for tiny stars, and #3 for tiny dots.

For neat piping, keep your bag about ¼ to ¾ full. Make sure the buttercream is stiff enough to hold its shape but soft enough to pipe easily. In colder weather, microwaving buttercream for a few seconds can make piping easier.

To add height and colour, pipe leftover buttercream onto cling film, roll it into a log, and place it into a piping bag fitted with a large star tip. Pipe multicoloured swirls around the top of the cake to tie the whole design together.

How to transfer and display your Valentine’s Day cakes

To move any of these Valentine’s Day cake ideas onto a cake stand or platter, chill the cake first. Add a small amount of buttercream to the middle of the stand, which will act as glue. Then slide an offset spatula under the cake to lift it off the board and lower it onto the stand.

Final thoughts on Valentine’s Day cake ideas

I hope you’ve seen some Valentine’s Day cake ideas that you’d like to try. These designs are all about using simple techniques to create cakes that look detailed and festive.

To learn hundreds more cake designs and techniques, visit my cake school where you'll find online courses and memberships to take your cake decorating skills to the next level!

You can also watch a video of this tutorial on 3 Easy Valentine's Day Cake Ideas: