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In this cake decorating tutorial I'll show you 5 buttercream techniques for detailed designs that don't require special tools. I love these techniques because not only do they look great, they taste amazing, too!
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0:00
If you're looking for ways to create detailed designs on cakes without using fondant
0:04
you're in the right place. I'm going to show you five buttercream techniques to create characters and other designs
0:10
that are easy to do without fancy tools. To create a perfectly flat design, make your own stencils using parchment paper
0:21
Draw or trace the outline of your image and cut that out, leaving the surrounding parchment intact
0:27
Place this homemade stencil onto a chilled cake. positioning it in the middle or wherever you want the design to go on the top or side of the cake
0:34
Spread buttercream over it to cover the shape you cut out and then scrape over it a few times with your offset spatula or a cake comb
0:42
to take off any excess buttercream and leave a thin, flat, smooth layer on the parchment
0:47
Peel the paper off and voila! A design as flat and smooth as if you'd used fondant
0:53
You can tidy up the edges using a toothpick, which is probably my favourite cake decorating tool because it's useful for so many things
0:59
things. Now you have a flat design on your cake and if you want to add more details and colours you can
1:05
layer stencils. Chill this cake to set the first part of the design and once it's set, place another
1:11
parchment stencil on top and spread buttercream over that, scraping off the excess before peeling
1:17
the parchment off. Skip the stencil step and create flat designs on cakes by piping and spreading with this
1:23
next technique The trick here is to have a cold cake and to chill it after each colour you add to your design That way you can pipe the next colour onto the design without smudging or blending into the first colour
1:36
Pipe back and forth to fill an outline, and then spread the buttercream to flatten and smooth it
1:41
and use a toothpick to take off any buttercream that got outside of the outline
1:45
This is the beauty of buttercream. When it's cold, you can tidy it up by scraping without damaging either the frosted cake or the rest of the design
1:53
because buttercream gets so firm when it's cold that it holds its shape
1:57
You only need to chill the cake for five minutes in the freezer before adding the next detail
2:02
piping and spreading that for a neat flat design. To create 3D designs, you can pipe shapes onto your cakes
2:11
You can use piping tips for defined and dramatic textures or just use a piping bag with the end cut off, like for this aloe plant
2:19
Of course, buttercream doesn't harden to the extent fondant can, your texture can't stand up or come too far away from the cake or it will droop
2:28
But you can still create 3D designs that stick out from the cake like this
2:32
And you can pipe all sorts of textured patterns like this woven basket
2:36
using just a small round piping tip or a tiny hole cut off the end of a piping bag
2:41
The best bit about piping 3D designs is that instead of hard and super sweet fondant
2:47
which you typically pick off your slice of cake, You have a deliciously soft buttercream accent to enjoy
2:55
For this next technique use a cookie cutter to outline your design or use a toothpick to draw or trace it onto the cake All you need for this is a piping bag with a small round tip
3:06
like a number two, number three or number four. This is a number three
3:11
Pipe tiny dots to fill in the shape, squeezing the piping bag to let the buttercream bulge out
3:15
and then releasing your pressure on the bag as you lift it up so that you leave a neat peek on each dot
3:21
I have a few tips for this. Make sure your buttercream is a nice soft consistency
3:26
because it's difficult to pipe if it's too stiff. Also, piping in rows makes the neatest coverage
3:32
but for intricate parts like these spikes, it's best to outline the area first
3:36
to make sure the details are clear. Holding the piping bag at the same angle for the whole shape
3:41
will make the peaks of the dots all point in the same direction, which also makes the design neater
3:47
This is such a simple way to fill in a shape, using just one piping tip and one colour
3:52
but the texture of the dots makes the design really eye-catching. You could cut a shape out of fondant using this cookie cutter, but then you wouldn't have any of that fabulous texture
4:02
If you're enjoying this tutorial, be sure to subscribe to my channel for over 100 cake decorating tutorials and a new one every Tuesday
4:09
You can trace detailed designs with buttercream and transfer them onto your cake
4:14
Partiment paper is ideal for this because it's non-stick and you can see the design through it
4:20
Pipe and spread one colour at a time, freeze for five minutes and then repeat
4:25
By chilling the design you set each colour so that you don damage it with the next colour Save the biggest block of color until the end and spread that over the rest of the design too
4:37
to make it sticky and then immediately flip the design over and press it onto your cake
4:42
Chill it in the fridge or freezer to set the design and then peel the parchment off and voila
4:47
You can fill in any air pockets with more buttercream and I suggest saving the tiny details
4:53
like facial expressions until now, piping them straight onto the design. so that they don't warp and change shape at all during the transfer process
5:01
With this transfer method, you can trace super detailed designs like characters
5:05
to create precise and recognisable designs on your cakes. Check out my tutorial on 12 tips for writing on cakes
5:12
The link is in the video description. Now, full disclosure, when I first started decorating cakes, I used fondant
5:18
because I loved making figures with it. And there are definitely things you can do with fondant
5:23
that you can't do with butter cream. But as I started to experiment more with butter cream, I loved the challenge of finding ways to use butter cream to do things that are usually done with fondant
5:33
Like marbled frosting, perfect stripes, mosaics, animal cakes, cartoon cakes. You'll find these and hundreds of other cake designs and decorating techniques on my online cake school on Britishgirlbakes.com
5:45
You can take individual courses or join my Club Plus membership for access to every mini course, master course, live workshop and five minute Fridays
5:53
I hope to see you there. Thank you
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