Up next in 10
From fitting tall cakes into short boxes to piping perfect decorations without any fancy tools, these 10 cake decorating hacks will save you time and make your cakes look more professional.
🥣My Recommended Cake Decorating Tools: https://www.britishgirlbakes.com/my-recommended-tools-for-cake-decorating
💫Start your FREE 7 day trial on my cake school: https://britishgirlbakes.teachable.com/p/all-you-can-cake
🎂Take my FREE course on 10 Frosting Techniques: http://britishgirlbakes.com/free-course
👩🏼🍳My 4 Minute Buttercream recipe
https://www.britishgirlbakes.com/recipes/buttercream-frosting/
📄READ a written version of this tutorial (with photos!)
https://www.britishgirlbakes.com/10-cake-decorating-skills-for-beginners/
👍Please LIKE and SUBSCRIBE to my channel for a new cake decorating tutorial every week!
💬 SAY HI!
Website: https://www.britishgirlbakes.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/britishgirlbakes
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
Let's make cake decorating a lot easier.
0:03
From fitting tall cakes into short boxes
0:05
to piping perfect decorations without
0:07
any fancy tools, I'll show you the
0:09
clever fixes and shortcuts I use every
0:12
day to save time and make cakes look
0:14
more professional. If your cake is too
0:16
tall for your box, here's the hack you
0:18
need. This cake will be two tiers with
0:20
each cake made up of three layers, which
0:22
are about 1 and 1/2 in tall each, plus
0:25
filling and frosting. So, my cake will
0:27
end up about 11 in tall. My cake box is
0:29
10 in tall. To make the lid fit over the
0:32
tall cake, cut two diagonal slits into
0:35
the side of the lid. The shorter the
0:36
better. Do the same on the opposite
0:39
side. Now, push the middle flap inside
0:41
the box and leave the rest on the
0:43
outside of the box on both sides. And
0:45
this will raise the lid up high enough
0:46
to fit over your tall cake. No tools? No
0:50
problem. You can still practice your
0:51
cake decorating skills and get super
0:53
smooth frosting using a ruler by resting
0:56
the short end down on the cakeboard or
0:58
turntable and pushing very, very gently
1:00
as you spin the cake. This is so useful
1:02
if you don't have a cake scraper. Other
1:05
useful hacks are to use the wheel of a
1:06
microwave as a turntable if you don't
1:09
have a turntable or you're visiting
1:11
somewhere without one and use Ziploc
1:13
bags for piping if you don't have piping
1:15
bags. Cut off a corner and squeeze the
1:17
bag to pipe dots, lines, and messages.
1:20
Make your own cake stencils instead of
1:22
buying expensive ones that you'll
1:24
probably only use once. Draw your design
1:26
or message onto parchment paper or wax
1:29
paper and cut it out. Leaving the paper
1:31
around it in one piece to use as your
1:33
stencil. Wrap this around a cake after
1:36
the cake has been in the fridge for at
1:37
least an hour to set. Spread frosting
1:39
over the stencil, spreading towards the
1:41
middle of each shape rather than from
1:43
the middle outwards so that the frosting
1:45
doesn't get underneath the stencil.
1:47
Scrape over it a few times with an
1:49
offset spatula or angled pallet knife or
1:52
a cake scraper to take off the excess
1:54
frosting and leave a thin smooth layer
1:56
behind. Peel the homemade stencil off
1:58
and voila. Mini cakes are adorable and
2:01
trendy and you can make them without
2:03
special mini cake pans. Bake cupcakes
2:06
instead and peel the wrappers off. And
2:08
if you like, you can cut them in half
2:09
across the middle to make more layers to
2:11
make space for filling in between them.
2:14
The most important part of making a mini
2:16
cake is to spread some buttercream onto
2:18
the middle of a cake board to act as
2:19
glue to attach the first cupcake down to
2:22
the cake board and then to chill the
2:24
cake in the fridge for 30 minutes or the
2:26
freezer for 15 minutes before frosting
2:28
it. Since mini cakes are so tiny and
2:30
lightweight that you'll push them over
2:32
if you spread frosting onto a room
2:34
temperature mini cake. With a cold cake
2:36
you can get perfectly smooth frosting.
2:38
And you can use any cake decorating
2:39
hacks you'd use on a normalsized cake.
2:42
It's happened to everyone. Adding too
2:44
much milk or cream cheese to buttercream
2:46
and making it too runny. Smooth frosting
2:49
is really tricky when buttercream isn't
2:51
stiff enough. So instead, add gorgeous
2:54
texture by twisting your spoon gently
2:56
over the surface of the frosting,
2:57
leaving these pretty arc shapes behind.
3:00
Or hold the back of a spoon or a spatula
3:02
blade against the frosting and spin the
3:04
cake to leave grooves in the frosting.
3:06
And drag the spoon or spatula slowly
3:08
upwards to pull the texture all the way
3:10
up the sides of the cake. These pretty
3:13
textured frosting options are quick and
3:15
easy and look just as impressive as
3:17
smooth frosting. A secretly useful tool
3:20
for lots of cake decorating techniques
3:22
is a toothpick. Outline shapes in your
3:24
frosting before filling them in with
3:26
frozen buttercream tiles to create a
3:28
mosaic design. Or use the outline as a
3:31
guide to fill with piped dots using the
3:33
pointless technique with a small round
3:35
piping tip to create all sorts of shapes
3:37
and figures. For messages, score the
3:40
letters with a toothpick before piping
3:41
them to make sure they're centered on
3:43
the cake. Toothpicks are a great way to
3:46
make your cake designs neater. If you're
3:48
nervous about piping straight onto a
3:50
cake, pipe onto parchment paper or wax
3:52
paper instead. These swirls off of the
3:55
top of a cake. And by piping them onto
3:57
paper, I can freeze them for 10 minutes
3:59
to make them hard. And then choose only
4:01
my favorites, picking them up and
4:02
placing them on my cake wherever I want
4:04
them to go. to make individual portions
4:07
of cake without needing extra small cake
4:09
boards or packaging. Put your cake
4:11
together on a little piece of parchment
4:13
or wax paper. And then lift it up on the
4:15
paper and lower it into a takeout
4:17
container like this. Add some piping on
4:19
top and some sprinkles or frost the top
4:22
and pipe a pretty border. These are so
4:24
quick to make and easy to package for
4:26
someone to take to work or school as a
4:28
treat for lunch. Make your own custom
4:30
cake toppers with this easy but
4:32
effective technique. Melt chocolate and
4:35
spoon it into a sandwich bag, cutting
4:37
off one of the corners to pipe through.
4:39
Write a message or draw a shape onto
4:41
parchment paper or wax paper and then
4:43
push a toothpick into the bottom, piping
4:45
some more chocolate to cover it up. Pour
4:47
sprinkles or colored sugar on top,
4:49
pressing it gently into the melted
4:51
chocolate, and when it sets, you'll be
4:52
able to pick up your cake topper and
4:54
push it into your cake so that it stands
4:56
upright. So pretty. Tear cakes are
4:59
gorgeous, but not always practical if
5:01
you don't need that many portions from
5:03
your cake. If you want the height and
5:05
elegance of a tear cake without the
5:07
waste, that's where cake dummies come
5:09
in. Attach one of these styrofoam
5:11
cylinders to a cake board with some
5:13
buttercream so it sticks. And then frost
5:15
and decorate just like you would for a
5:17
normal cake, saving the time and cost of
5:20
baking the extra cake, and no one will
5:22
know the difference when they see it.
5:24
You can scrape and wash and reuse these
5:26
again and again and again, saving time
5:30
and money each time. So, now you know 10
5:33
cake decorating hacks that make your
5:35
life easier and your cakes look better,
5:37
even if you're a total beginner. Tell me
5:39
in the comments which one you're going
5:41
to try next, and visit my cake school on
5:43
britishgirlbakes.com to learn hundreds
5:45
more cake decorating techniques and
5:47
designs. See you there.