0:00
Make 2022 the year to take your cakes to the next level with these eight tips for baking
0:04
frosting and decorating. If you struggle with domes on your cakes, meaning that they rise higher
0:10
in the middle than around the edges, your oven temperature is too high. Try decreasing the
0:14
temperature by 25 degrees Fahrenheit or 15 degrees Celsius to get perfectly flat cake tops and you'll
0:20
also find that by reducing the temperature your cake layers will be more evenly baked and more
0:26
moist. After baking your cake layers, when they've cooled completely, wrap them in cling film or
0:31
saran wrap and put them in the freezer for 15 minutes before you assemble your cake and frost
0:36
it. The cake layers will firm up and be more stable and less crumbly when you frost them
0:41
making your frosting much neater. 15 minutes in the freezer won't affect the taste or texture at
0:46
all. When the cake comes back to room temperature it'll taste just as good as when it was freshly
0:51
baked. Make this the year to perfect smooth frosting on your cakes. I have lots of tutorials
0:57
on this on my channel. The key points are to apply a crumb coat first, layer your frosting on thickly
1:04
and so that it sticks up above the top edge of your cake and do touch-ups to fill in indents as
1:09
you go after every few scrapes around the cake with your cake comb. Check out my video on 15
1:14
frosting mistakes you're making and how to fix them and the link is up here at the top of the
1:19
screen and in the video description. Invest in some gel colours to get really bright and bold
1:24
frosting. Gels are much more concentrated than liquid colours and with just a few drops you can
1:29
make colours like this fuchsia which would take probably a whole bottle of a liquid colour to
1:34
achieve. After mixing a coloured frosting, cover the bowl and leave it for an hour to allow the
1:39
colour to develop and get even darker and you'll blow everyone away with your brightly coloured cakes
1:44
Branch out and try different piping tips for different textures. Instead of always using a 1M
1:50
star tip to pipe swirls onto the top of a cake, try a 2D instead. A 2D tip makes wavier swirls
1:57
with more movement than the stiff lines of 1M swirls. If you struggle with sinking, leaning or
2:04
bulging cakes, refrigerate them after you frost and decorate them and that will keep everything
2:09
firm and stable. If the cake will be in the fridge for more than six hours, take it out after an hour
2:15
once the frosting is firm and wrap it in cling film or saran wrap to seal it from the moisture
2:20
in the fridge to prevent condensation and then put it back in the fridge for up to 24 hours
2:26
Take the cake out two to four hours before serving it and that will allow it to warm up to room
2:31
temperature when it tastes the best. Take a cake decorating course! I have lots on my online cake
2:37
school that you can take from the comfort of your own home. Watching the modules whenever it's
2:41
convenient for you and ask questions in the comments that I'll reply to straight away
2:45
Actually let me give you a code that you can use on any of my courses. I'm that confident they'll
2:50
improve your cake decorating. I'll put the discount code in the description right below this video
2:54
Finally, learn how to cut your cakes. Tall cakes can be cut into traditional slices but try this
3:00
technique to get more portions out of each cake with different ratios of cake and frosting so
3:05
each person can choose what they like best. You'll need a cutting board and a knife. Cut about an inch
3:11
off the side of the cake and lift up your cutting board and use your knife to tip the slice over
3:15
onto the cutting board. Cut this end slice into three pieces and these are perfect for people who
3:20
love frosting. Use the same technique again, cutting another inch off and tipping it over onto your
3:27
cutting board but for these wider slices from the middle of the cake, cut them in half and then half
3:32
again to make four portions and if you want smaller pieces you can cut across the middle too
3:37
to make eight pieces. The middle pieces have much more cake than filling or frosting so they're
3:42
great for people who don't like super sweet desserts but the edge pieces have a lot of frosting
3:47
so they're great if you have a sweet tooth. There's a piece for every kind of taste bud when you use
3:52
this method to slice your cake. I hope these tips have been useful. Check out my Online Cake School
3:57
for courses on hundreds of cake designs and techniques. Thank you for watching
