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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Here are my favourite 10 freezer hacks for cake decorating! They'll make your cakes neater from the frosting to piping, stencils, wraps, carving and more!

1. Freezer hacks for messy piping

When you're piping with any kind or shape of piping tip, the warmth of your hands will soften the buttercream. Your piping will have less definition and more blobby-ness! Fix it with the first of my freezer hacks for cake decorating. Put the piping bag in the freezer and set a timer for 1 minute. Don't leave it any longer or the buttercream will freeze hard against the metal piping tip. After a minute the buttercream will be firmer and your piping will be neat again.

2. How to frost a cake neatly

When you've assembled your cake, layering fillings with the cake layers, don't frost it yet. It will be crumbly and wobbly and slide around on the turntable. Instead, put it into the freezer for 15 minutes or you can use the fridge for 30 minutes. When the cake layers are cold they'll be firm and less crumbly. The filling will set and hold the layers in place so they don't slide around when you frost them. This first layer of frosting is called a crumb coat and it will trap crumbs that come off the cake. Before spreading on the final layer of frosting, read number 3 of these freezer hacks for cake decorating!

3. Keep crumbs out of your frosting

After smoothing the crumb coat, chill the cake in the freezer for another 15 minutes. If you don't have space in your freezer, put it into the fridge for 30 minutes. This will set the crumb coat so it's firm instead of soft and sticky. When you spread another layer of buttercream on top, this layer will sit on top of the firm crumb coat. It won't mix with the crumby buttercream and your final layer of frosting will be crumb free.

4. Freezer hacks for cake with buttercream flowers

This next one is really cool. Pipe flowers onto parchment or wax paper or a silicon mat on a tray. This is a 2D star tip but you can pipe more elaborate flowers like roses or whatever you like. Then put the tray into the freezer for 5 minutes. When the flowers are frozen just lift them up and press them onto the frosting on a cake!

This also works for metallic decorations. Pipe your buttercream details and then freeze them for 5 minutes. Now paint them with edible metallic paint, which you can buy or make your own using any clear alcohol or clear vanilla extract mixed with edible gold or silver luster dust. Lift the frozen metallic buttercream details up and press them onto your cake. If they don't stick, use a dot of fresh buttercream as glue to stick them on. Metallic cake decorations are so eye-catching and fancy!

5. Freezer hacks for cake stencils

Freezer hacks are essential for cake stencils. Any cake has to be cold with firm frosting before you wrap a stencil around it. You'll know the cake is ready when you can poke it gently without leaving texture or an imprint behind. Now the frosting won't be damaged by the pressure of your hands, the stencil, or the buttercream you spread over it. When you peel the stencil away the frosting will be immaculate!

This works for character cakes made with layered stencils too, a technique I teach on my cake school. Start a 7-Day FREE trial of my All You Can Cake membership for access to EVERYTHING on my cake school!

6. Use the freezer to make wrapped buttercream designs

The freezer makes it possible to create a wrapped buttercream design on parchment or wax paper or acetate. Pipe onto the paper or acetate and then pick it up and wrap it tightly around a chilled cake. The piped buttercream then needs to go into the freezer for 15 minutes. When you peel the paper or acetate away, that cold and firm buttercream will stay behind. It will surround the cake with a neat, flat design. You can create such unique cake designs with this technique like this mosaic, making edible art on your cakes!

7. Make a chocolate collar cake using the freezer

Use the freezer in the same way with chocolate. Melt it and put it into a piping bag or a Ziploc bag with a whole cut off one corner. Drizzle the chocolate over parchment or wax paper or acetate to make whatever design you like. Wrap it around a cake and then put the cake into the freezer for about 15 minutes. Peel the paper or acetate off, leaving a gravity defying chocolate design on the cake. Yum!

8. Freezer hacks for cake carving

If you've ever carved a cake, you'll know how difficult it is when the cake is crumbly and wobbly. By chilling cakes in the freezer for 15 minutes before carving, the cake gets firm and much easier to shape. If you don't have space in your freezer you can use the fridge instead. You'll need to leave it in there for about twice as long. This is my carved Bulbasaur cake, before frosting it and adding all of the details:

9. Delay cakes for a future event

The freezer will save you if an event is postponed after you've already made the cake. First, put the cake into the freezer for an hour to set the frosting and decorations. Then wrap it in two layers of cling film or Saran Wrap and put it back into the freezer. Freeze for a few days or even weeks and then move it to the fridge to thaw for 24 hours. Take it out two hours before serving and unwrap it straight away. If you wait for the frosting to warm up and soft, the plastic will damage it. Previously frozen cake tastes just as good as on the day it was baked - I did a blind taste test to confirm!

10. Save leftover cake slices

After serving a cake, if there are any slices left over you can store those in the freezer too. Wrap each slice individually in cling film or Saran Wrap. Freeze until you have a craving for cake or need a last minute dessert for a guest! A frozen slice will thaw after about an hour at room temperature.

I hope these 10 freezer hacks for cake decorating have been helpful! Visit my cake school to learn hundred of cake decorating techniques and designs with my online courses and memberships. See you there!

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10 delicious cake decorations that taste as good as they look! Use buttercream, chocolate, fruit, cookies and marshmallows to make these.

1. Buttercream flowers

First of all, buttercream makes delicious cake decorations. This is one of the easiest decorations because you can just use what’s leftover after frosting your cake. I always use my 4 Minute Buttercream because it's quick, easy, and delicious!

Make buttercream flowers by piping them onto parchment or wax paper before attaching them to your cake. You'll need a flower nail for this, which you can spine between your fingers as you pipe. To use a flower nail, pipe a dot of buttercream to attach a square of parchment or wax paper. The paper square should be about the same width as the flower nail.

To pipe a simple flower use a petal tip like a # 104 or a #125 for bigger flowers. Hold the piping tip with the narrow end facing outwards and squeeze the piping bag to pipe a petal. While you're piping, spin the flower nail between your finger and thumb as you work your way around the flower.

Pipe a dot or a star in the middle with a small round piping tip or a star shaped tip. You could use sprinkles instead but they’re crunchy to bite into!

Carefully slide the paper off the nail and place it on a tray or plate. Put the tray into the freezer for 5 minutes to set the flowers so that they're very firm. Then lift them up, peel them off the paper, and press them onto your cake.

For even easier flowers, use a rounded star tip like a 2D. Rest the tip down on parchment or wax paper and twist your wrist as you pipe. The petals will fan out sideways from the piping tip, all at the same time. Chill these in the freezer before picking them up and pressing them against a cake. If the frosting on the cake has set and isn’t sticky anymore, you'll need some edible glue. Buttercream is perfect for this! Pipe or spread some fresh buttercream onto the cake and push a flower into that. These flowers are gorgeous and will be delicious to eat with the cake!

2. Ganache for drips and mirror glazes

Drips and mirror glazes made with melted chocolate and cream are eye catching and colourful and also delicious! You’ll need cream and white chocolate to make ganache and the cream should be hot but not bubbling. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate chips and leave for five minutes before stirring until smooth. To make ganache for the drip or glaze, use a ratio of 3 parts chocolate to 1 part cream. This means you'll need 3 times as much white chocolate as cream. Add gel colours if you want to tint the chocolate because liquid colours can make it too watery.

To make a drip with dark or semi-sweet chocolate use a ratio of 2:1. Weighing the chocolate and cream is the most accurate way to get the correct ratio.

When the ganache has cooled almost to room temperature, spoon it onto a cake. Nudge it over the sides with a spoon or offset spatula or use a squeezy bottle. Having a cold cake that’s been in the fridge is essential to stop these drips from dripping!

Instead of drips, use ganache to make an easy mirror glaze. Divide the ganache between small bowls and add colouring to each bowl. Then pour the coloured ganache over a cake, alternating between colours and letting them run down the sides. Mirror glaze is a fun, colourful effect that also tastes incredible!

3. Sprinkled chocolate number toppers

Another chocolate cake decoration you can make is a number topper. Melt chocolate at 50% power in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time. Stir it until it's smooth and then spoon it into a sandwich bag and cut off a corner. Write or trace a number onto parchment or wax paper, fill it in and then pour sprinkles on top. They’ll stick to the chocolate.

The chocolate will set after about 10 minutes in the freezer or 20 minutes in the fridge. Now you'll be able to pick the chocolate number up. Flip it over, squeeze some more melted chocolate onto the back and press a paper straw against it. Chill and set this in the fridge or freezer and then push it into a cake.

Sprinkled chocolate number toppers are colourful, fun and delicious cake toppers!

4. Fresh fruit

Here’s a much quicker and easier idea: fresh fruit looks beautiful on cakes and tastes great, too. Fresh berries are my favourite for two reasons. Firstly, since they’re so small and light they’re easy to attach to a cake with a dot of fresh buttercream. Secondly, they stay fresh-looking overnight so you can decorate your cake in advance.

5. Use cake ingredients as delicious cake decorations

Another easy way to make delicious cake decorations is to use an ingredient for the cake. For example, the cookie dough filling in my Cookie Dough Cake can be rolled into balls to decorate the cake. Freeze dried strawberries are a bright decoration on my Strawberry Cake and Oreo cookies look delicious on an Oreo cake. As well as making cakes look pretty, using ingredients as decorations gives you a clue of what the flavour is!

6. Cookies as ears

Cookies can make perfect ears on cakes. I know this sounds strange out of context because of course cakes don’t have ears! But for animal cakes you usually need ears like on the cat and reindeer cakes below.

Cut Oreos into triangles for cat ears, covering them with buttercream by spreading or piping the buttercream on. Scrape the buttercream with a toothpick to make fur texture.

Or for more rounded ears cut Oreos in half before covering with buttercream. Poke a toothpick into the Oreo filling to make these ears easy to attach to the cake. The toothpicks will keep them standing upright.

7. Marshmallows as ears or eyes

Marshmallows are also great for ears! Cut each marshmallow diagonally to make an ear shape. Then press the sticky, cut side into sugar tinted with pink colouring.

Poke a toothpick into the bottom of the ear and then push that into a cake. The marshmallow ears will stand upright, making cute and delicious ears!

Marshmallows can also be eyes for animal cakes. Cut a marshmallow or mini marshmallow in half to make two round pieces. Then poke a chocolate chip into the middle of the sticky side. Press this against sticky buttercream frosting to attach it to a cake. Kids can do this one too - they’re fun and delicious cake decorations for a kid-friendly project. 

8. Layered stencil characters

To create delicious characters on cakes, make your own stencils on parchment paper or wax paper. Trace each colour onto a different stencil until you can layer the stencils to see the complete character. Cut the shapes out to leave the surrounding paper intact and these pieces of paper will be your stencils.

Start with one of the colours at the back of the character. In the cake above, that means the grass. Other parts will be layered on top of this, which will be more in the foreground. Let this chill in the fridge for 10 minutes to set and then position the next stencil on top. Spread buttercream over it and scrape off the excess to leave a thin, smooth layer behind. And repeat! You can add outlines and small details like the eyes at the end.

9. Cookie cake toppers

Add height to your cake with this next delicious cake decorating idea. Cut a shape out of sugar cookie dough and push a paper straw into it before you bake it. When it cools, decorate it with buttercream or whatever icing you like. I like buttercream because it’s so creamy and easy! When I make buttercream to frost my cake I just set aside a little bit to decorate my cookie. Push the straw into your cake and you have a cookie cake topper!

10. Chocolate collars

Wrap chocolate around a cake to decorate it with this decadent, gravity-defying technique. Start by drizzling or spreading melted chocolate onto a piece of parchment or wax paper. The paper needs to be wide enough to wrap around your cake. Lift the paper up and push it gently to flatten it against the cake all the way around. Then put the cake into the fridge for 30 minutes or the freezer for 15 minutes to chill and set the chocolate. Peel the paper off to reveal your chocolate collar, also called a chocolate cage or chocolate wrap. Everyone will ask how you piped chocolate onto the sides of the cake and how you got it to stand up! Run a knife under warm water before serving this for the neatest slices.

I hope you’ve seen some ideas you’d like to try. Visit my cake school to learn hundreds more cake decorating techniques and designs with my online courses. Start a FREE trial of my All You Can Cake membership for access to all of my courses so you can try them out risk free! See you there!

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Anyone can make this Dog Man cake, using nothing but buttercream and parchment or wax paper, with the magic of layered piping. No fondant needed! 

Step 1: Make your cake

Bake your cake

Of course, you can use any flavour and size for your cake. I’m using my 8 inch Very Vanilla cake with my 4 Minute Buttercream as the filling and frosting.

If you want your Dog Man cake character on top of the cake, any size is fine. To put it on the side, choose a tall cake with at least three layers.

Fill and frost your Dog Man cake

One batch of my 4 Minute Buttercream is the perfect about to fill, frost and decorate an 8 inch cake. Set aside about half a cup of the buttercream to make Dog Man later. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap so it doesn’t dry out and crust. Then use the rest to fill and frost the cake. I’m tinting mine with sky blue gel since that’s the background colour of my design.

I always recommend applying a crumb coat if frosting first. In case you’re new to cake decorating, a crumb coat is a thin layer of frosting to catch any crumbs that come off the cake. They’ll get trapped in this first layer of frosting. It doesn’t need to be smooth, it just needs to cover the whole cake to trap all of the crumbs. It’s easiest to frost a cold cake so put it into the fridge for 30 minutes before you do this.

When the crumb coat is fairly smooth, put the cake back into the fridge for 15-30 minutes. When you take it out, the crumb coat should be cold and firm, not sticky. Now when you spread on your final layer of frosting it will sit on top of the crumb coat instead of the mixing into it. Any crumbs will be trapped in the crumb coat so you’ll have no visible crumbs on your frosted cake.

Put the frosted cake back in the fridge to set the frosting. Before you do this, measure how big you want your Dog Man character to be. Mine will be 5 inches tall to leave room for candles and a name.

Step 2: Make Dog Man cake stencils

Make Dog Man cake stencils is simple and will create an accurate replica of the character. It's a very affordable techniques that requires no special tools. Start by tracing all of the details of the character onto pieces of parchment or wax paper. Use one piece of paper for each colour. For example, the yellow parts of the hat and shirt will be on the same piece.

You’ll need a stencil for every detail except lines and dots, like the facial features. Even the backgrounds scenery needs a stencil, like the grass at the bottom. I’m not going to include the buildings on the skyline but if you do, you’ll need separate stencils for those.

When you layer the stencils over each other, you should have every detail of the character there.

Now the details need to be cut out. You’re only going to use the paper around them, not the actual details. So cut a little slit in the middle of each shape and poke a scissor blade through, cutting around the shape. This will leave the paper around the shape intact, which will be your stencil. The more neatly you cut out the shapes, the neater those shapes will be on the character on your cake. 

Step 3: Use Dog Man cake stencils on a chilled cake

How to use homemade cake stencils

To apply the Dog Man cake stencils, your cake needs to be cold and the frosting should be firm. It's best to leave the cake in the fridge for at least an hour. Then it’s time to layer the stencils. Start with the background, which is the grass for me or the buildings if you’re including those. After positioning the stencil on the cake, press it down while you spread buttercream over it. This is leftover blue frosting with a drop of leaf green gel and a drop of yellow.

Spread away from the stencil to seal it against the cake. If you spread towards the stencil you’ll push buttercream underneath it and cause smudges on the cake.

Smooth the frosting over the stencil, scraping a few times with an offset spatula or palette knife. You're looking for a smooth, thin layer of buttercream over the stencil. Then peel off the stencil. Scrape around the side of the cake to take off the excess green buttercream and leave a smooth edge around the cake.

Now the cake needs to go into the fridge for about 15 minutes to set the green buttercream, before positioning the next stencil.

How to use layered stencils with buttercream

The order of your stencils is really important. You need to start with the background details and layer them with details that get closer and closer to the foreground. I’m doing the head and hands next, since those are going to be covered with clothes.

To make this dog fur colored buttercream I used yellow and added a tiny amount of brown. I dipped a toothpick into the brown bottle and then dragged it through the yellow.

The stencils should have about an inch or 2 cm of paper around the edges of each shape. This prevents any buttercream spreading over the edge of the stencil by mistake. If you do get buttercream smudges onto the cake, it’s easy to fix since the cake is cold. Just scrape off any smudges with a toothpick and you won’t damage the cold, firm frosting underneath.

Repeat the process with the rest of your stencils. Chill the cake after each stencil to set the buttercream so you don’t damage it with the next stencil.

Tips for using homemade cake stencils

The thinner the layer of buttercream you spread over each stencil, the neater the edges of those shapes will be. However, to layer light colours like yellow over dark colours like blue, you'll need a thicker layer to cover up the dark colour.

Add piped details to stencils

Leave any tiny details for the end and pipe them on, using a piping bag with a small round piping tip piping tip like a #3. If you don't have a piping bag or the right piping tip, use a sandwich bag instead! Cut a tiny piece off one corner to pipe through just like a piping bag.

My hands are really shaky so piping if the hardest part of cake decorating for me. Luckily this is a cartoon figure so the lines don’t have to be perfectly smooth and steady.

For the white fleck in each eye use a piping bag with a piece cut off the end to make a tiny hole to pipe through. 

If you’re making the book version of Dog Man, pipe outlines around all of the details. For the movie version you don’t need them, which is lucky since piping is such a challenge for me!

So, a buttercream version of Dog Man, traced onto paper and then transferred onto the cake by layering stencils. What do you think? I’d love to hear in the comments! And for more cake decorating techniques and designs visit my cake school!

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Make one of these fun Valentine’s Day mini cakes with delicious cake and filling, dreamy buttercream frosting, and easy decorations! This tutorial starts with three steps to make each mini cake and then shows how to make 3 different designs. Watch the video and get the recipe at the bottom of the page.

Step 1: Prepare the cake, filling and frosting

I’m using cupcakes to make these mini cakes. Unwrap them and cut each one in half horizontally to make two cake layers. I like tall cakes so I use three layers, which means one and a half cupcakes for each mini cake. With 6 cupcakes you can make 4 mini cakes. Or just make one or two or three and freeze the rest for another occasion!

For the filling and frosting I’m using a mini batch of my 4 Minute Buttercream. That recipe is at the end of this tutorial as well.

You can add any ingredients you like to flavour buttercream. It’s so versatile! I'm using is dulce de leche, a thick caramel, and freeze dried strawberries, crushed to make a powder. Add a bit of milk if the buttercream gets too thick or more sugar if it gets too thin.

Step 2: Assemble the Valentine's Day mini cakes

Now let’s assemble these Valentine’s Day mini cakes! Spread a bit of buttercream onto a cake board and press your first layer onto it. The buttercream will act as glue to attach it to the cake board. Now add your filling and alternate between cake layers and filling to assemble your mini cake. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes or the freezer for 15 minutes.

Step 3: Crumb coat

is the CRUMB COAT. Every cake needs a crumb coat. It’s a thin layer of frosting to trap any crumbs that come off the cake. It doesn’t need to be neat but it does need to completely cover the cake. It’s easiest to do this when the cake is cold, which is why you chill it first. When the crumb coat is fairly smooth, put the cake in the fridge for 30 minutes to set. Now you’re ready to frost and decorate!

Step 4: How to decorate Valentine's Day mini cakes

YOU ARE FIRE mini cake

For this first Valentine’s mini cake, tint a third of the remaining buttercream pink. Use this to frost the cake. To smooth the frosting, scrape around the cake a few times and then spread more buttercream over any gaps. Scrape again and again until the frosting is smooth. Towards the end I like to switch to a metal cake comb and warm up the edge with warm water or a blow torch. This gives me the smoothest frosting! For the top, swipe sideways with an offset spatula, all the way around, wiping the blade clean in between.

Next you’ll need piping bag with any open star tip. I'm using a 4B, which has lots of short prongs all close together. Spoon the leftover pink buttercream into the piping bag and push it down to the end. To pipe a border around the top of the cake, hold the piping tip a little bit above the cake. Squeeze to push the buttercream through the piping tip, letting it bulge a little bit over the edge of the cake. Then stop squeezing and pull the bag up. The piping will pull up a bit, pulling away from the edge of the cake so it’s perfectly positioned.

Before adding lettering, the cake needs to be in the fridge for at least an hour to set the frosting. After that, leave it at room temperature for at least 30 minutes so the frosting is firm but not cold. I'm using Sweet Stamp letters for my message, pushing them into the frosting to leave an imprint. Push each letter gently into the frosting and push it at the top and bottom, left and right. This ensures all of it has imprinted into the buttercream. Then pinch the letter and pull it away. You’re aiming for a shallow imprint, just deep enough to see all parts of the letter clearly.

You can colour in the letters with any edible paint. I’m using edible gold paint, which you can make with edible gold luster dust and a drop of any clear alcohol like vodka. To make it without alcohol, use a clear flavor extract like clear vanilla or lemon. A small paintbrush that’s quite stiff is ideal for painting these little letters.

For the fire emoji I’m using yellow buttercream, microwaving it for 5 seconds to melt it slightly. When it's runnier like this you can paint with it! Dab it onto a piece of parchment paper, shaping it to make the inner part of a flame.

Do the same with a small spoonful of orange and red buttercream, painting these around the yellow flame. This is a buttercream transfer, and you can make any nonstick paper like parchment or wax paper or baking paper. Wipe off any smudges with a toothpick or clean paintbrush so that only the flame is left on the paper. Then press the flame against the cake, pushing gently to attach it. Put the cake into the freezer for 10 minutes or the fridge for 30 minutes to set the flame against the cake. Then peel the paper off and voila! You are fire!

HEART EYE EMOJI Valentine's Day mini cakes

Let's make another emoji cake next: a heart eye emoji Valentine's Day mini cake. Start by tinting half of the remaining buttercream yellow to frost the cake. Once that’s smooth, put the rest of the yellow buttercream into a piping bag with a small star shaped tip. I'm using is a tiny # 16 but any small star is fine like a #32 or a #199. To pipe a border, hold the tip just beside the cake, resting it on the cake board. Squeeze the buttercream out and then release your pressure on the piping bag as you swipe the bag away from the cake. You’ll make a textured bead, leaving a little tail behind it, which you’ll cover up with the next bead.

Put the cake into the fridge for at least an hour to set the frosting. Then make two stencils using parchment or wax paper, drawing two hearts for the eyes and a smiling open mouth. The mouth should be on one piece of paper and the eyes on another. It’s best to do this with the cake beside you so you can check the size and the spacing.

Cut the shapes out of the paper, leaving the paper around the shapes intact. These pieces of paper will be your stencils! Position the first one on the cake, pressing it down and then spread buttercream over it. Smooth it a few times to take off the excess and leave a thin, smooth layer behind. Then peel off the stencil.

Put the cake in the freezer for 5 minutes or the fridge for 15 minutes before you do the next stencil. This way the first details will set, so you don't damage them with the next stencil. If the buttercream smudges as you pull a stencil away, use a toothpick to gently scrape off any smudges. Tadaa! A heart eye emoji cake for Valentine’s Day!

PIPED HEARTS mini cake

This next one is really fun. Pipe little hearts onto a piece of parchment or wax paper on a cutting board or tray. Use a small star shaped tip like this # 16. Lift the tray or board up with the hearts on it and put them into the freezer for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, frost your cake. When the hearts are frozen you can pick them up and press gently them into the frosting on your cake! To skip the freezer step you can pipe these straight onto the cake but it's trickier to pipe them sideways rather than down onto the paper.

These Valentine's Day mini cakes are the perfect size to share! They’re best enjoyed at room temperature so if you make them in advance and keep them in the fridge for a few days, take them out about 2 hours before you serve them. This give the cake and buttercream time to warm up and soften and they’ll taste their best!

You'll find the recipe for these Valentine's Day Mini Cakes below. For more cake decorating techniques and designs, visit my cake school and sign up for a FREE 7 day trial of my All You Can Cake membership for access to ALL of my courses so you can try out! See you there!

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These 10 viral Valentine's Day cakes have exploded on social media because they're unique, delicious, easy and fun!

1. Ice Cream Cone Cake

Let's start with this cake that has almost 12 million views on Instagram, for a cake! It's a simple design made with a triangle cut out of parchment paper as a stencil for a cone, scored with the edge of a cake comb to make grid marks, with marbled pink buttercream scooped on top.

Don't you love the fun Valentine's Day pun?! To write it I used Sweet Stamp letters. These have the best results on buttercream that's firm but not too cold. I put the cake into the fridge for an hour but then let it sit out at room temperature for another hour. This way the buttercream softens just enough for the perfect imprint of the letters.

Press the letters one by one into the cake and then paint the letters with edible gold paint. You can buy this or make it yourself using vodka or clear vanilla extract mixed with edible gold luster dust. This number one of these viral Valentine's Day cakes is so eye-catching and fun!

2. Viral Valentine's Day Cake with Roses

This next cake with over a million views is such a unique way to make a floral cake. Pipe rosettes and then put the cake in the freezer for 30 minutes before its transformation. When the roses are firm, scrape around the cake with a warm metal cake comb. The warmth will melt the piping sticking out and then drag it to fill in the gaps in the piping. You'll create a flat design that looks like it's been printed onto the cake. I call it 'facelift frosting'. The key here is to use at least two colours of buttercream. I used two shades of pink and the variation is what creates the details in the design.

3. Wrapped Chocolate Cake

The next of these viral Valentine's Day cakes is for chocolate lovers. Spoon melted chocolate into a ziplock bag and cut a small piece off one corner to make a hole. Squeeze the chocolate through the hole onto a piece of parchment or wax paper. The paper needs to be wide enough to wrap around your cake and a little bit taller. Lift the paper up and wrap it around your frosted cake. Chill in the fridge to set the chocolate and then peel off the paper. You'll leave the chocolate design behind on the cake. Run a knife under hot water before slicing for the neatest results. This cake is so decadent!

4. Viral Valentine's Day Cake with Rainbow Heart

Filmed back in 2020 so please excuse the video quality of my iPhone 8! This cake was spotted by Wilton and featured on their page. The frosted cake has been in the fridge for about an hour before this so that it's firm. This is important, otherwise the frosting can droop with the weight of the rainbow piping.

I'm using a #104 petal piping tip to make lines that create a heart shape. Hold the tip with the wide part pressed against the cake and the narrow end pointing outwards. By scoring the heart shape onto the cake with a toothpick first, it's easy to start and stop each line in the right place. This means the final shape is easily recognizable.

An optional finishing touch is to place edible gold leaf around the edges of the piped heart. Do this after chilling the cake so you don't mess it up if you knock it by mistake.

5. Heart Shaped Mini Valentine's Day Cakes

If you're celebrating as a couple you can make viral Valentine's Day cakes for two like this. Bake a cake using whatever pan you have. I used my Perfect Chocolate Cake recipe. Cut out hearts with a cookie cutter which will be the layers of your cake. To make a naked heart-shaped cake, pipe swirls as the filling between the layers. Or to frost the cake, put it in the freezer for 15 minutes to firm up first. This mini heart cake is the perfect size for a couple to share!

6. Mini Cakes made with Cupcakes

Another shortcut to make a mini cake is with cupcakes. Cut them in half and then layer them using buttercream to stick the bottom layer down onto the cake board. This will hold the cake still as you frost it. Just like with the cookie cutter layers, chilling this cupcake cake in the freezer for 15 minutes will make it much easier to frost. I have a very detailed tutorial on making mini cakes for Valentine's Day for more details!

7. Tray Bake Cake

This cake is maybe the easiest cake in the world to make. Tint a few colours of buttercream and then bake and decorate the cake in the same dish. There's no need to layer the cake or to frost the sides, which are the time consuming parts! Put the coloured buttercream into piping bags with any piping tips. Pipe randomly onto the cake or create a heart, outlining it with a toothpick first as a piping guide. And serving this cake is just as easy as baking and decorating it! Just pick up the dish and take it wherever you're going. Then serve the cake right there in the dish!

8. Heart Stencil Cake

Here's another one of my easy viral Valentine's Day cakes. Tint spoonfuls of different coloured buttercream and then spread them over a heart-shaped stencil. When you peel the stencil off you'll have a gorgeous rainbow heart cake! To make the double stencil like mine, cut a heart out of parchment or wax paper to make your first stencil. Layer this over any patterned stencil to create a pattern within the heart shape. To use the stencil on a cake you'll need to hold it in place with one of these methods. The first option is to tape the two stencils together around a cake. This can be tricky because tape doesn't stick well to parchment or wax paper. The other option is to push pins through the corners of the stencils into the cake.

9. How to Travel with a Cake for Valentine's Day

If you're traveling for Valentine's Day, make a cake before you go and take it with you. Bake the layers, make the filling and assemble the cake at home. Then wrap it in plastic wrap and freeze it for at least an hour or for a few days. Make buttercream to frost the cake and freeze that in a big ziploc bag, pressing it flat.

Just before you travel, take the cake and frosting out of the freezer. Put them into a cooler with an ice pack and then put this into your suitcase. The cake and frosting will thaw gradually while you travel so that when you arrive, they're ready to use. Squeeze the buttercream out of the bag and use it to frost the cake. Instead of traveling with a turntable, use a plate and one of these 7 frosting techniques that don't require smooth frosting!

10. Viral Valentine's Day Cake with Carved Buttercream Heart

The last of these viral Valentine's Day cakes is another oldie but goodie from 2020. By covering a cake with two layers of frosting you can carve out colourful shapes and patterns! Chill the cake in the fridge after the first layer of frosting for at least an hour. Then spread on the next layer and it won't mix with the first layer. Chill again and then use clay modeling tools to carve out a heart or any shape you like. You'll scraping off the outer layer of frosting to reveal the colour or colours underneath.

I painted around the edge of my heart using edible gold paint to make it really pop. Carved buttercream cakes are very satisfying to make and they always get the best reaction!

So, which one of these viral Valentine's Day cakes are you going to make? Or which one would you like someone to make for you? Tell me in the comments and visit my cake school to learn hundreds of cake decorating techniques and designs!

You can also watch a video of this tutorial on viral Valentine's Day cakes: