Up next in 10
5 Striped Cake Techniques - no comb required!
2K views
Sep 6, 2024
You can create beautiful stripes on cakes WITHOUT a striped cake comb using any of these 5 striped cake techniques! *Take my FREE course on 10 Frosting Techniques on my ONLINE CAKE SCHOOL https://www.britishgirlbakes.com/online-courses *LEARN 50 Easy Cake Decorating Techniques in my new online course https://britishgirlbakes.teachable.com/p/50-easy-cake-decorating-techniques-for-any-skill-level/ *My 4 Minute Buttercream recipe https://www.britishgirlbakes.com/recipes/buttercream-frosting/ *My tutorial on 4 Secrets for Perfect Stripes https://youtu.be/Vz6gsiIYkVs *READ a written version of this tutorial (with photos!) https://www.britishgirlbakes.com/5-striped-cake-hacks *Get 25% OFF my Buttercream Cake Carving Course https://britishgirlbakes.teachable.com/p/cake-carving?coupon_code=YTSTRIPEHACKS
View Video Transcript
0:00
You can create stripes on cakes using a striped cake comb, but if you're looking for a quicker
0:05
and easier way to achieve beautiful stripes, I've got you covered. In this tutorial, I'll share
0:11
five striped cake hacks, all requiring minimal tools and ingredients and minimal practice. For this first
0:17
technique, all you need are two piping bags, or three if you want three colors. Cut the ends off
0:23
together so that they're all the same size, however wide you want your stripes to be. Fill the piping
0:29
bags with butter cream or whatever frosting you want to use, like whipped cream or meringue butter
0:34
cream. Hold your first piping bag against the side of the cake, resting down on the cake board
0:40
and squeeze the bag to push the frosting out as you spin the cake on the turntable to pipe a strip
0:45
of frosting all around the cake. Switch colours and pipe another strip on top, aiming to pipe
0:50
it so that it's immediately above the first strip, with no gaps in between. Continue alternating
0:57
colors and the final colour should go up above the top edge of the cake, and that will prevent
1:02
indents or air pockets. And also give your cake a flat top instead of a domed top. Use a cake comb to
1:09
smooth the frosting and as you scrape around the cake again and again, your stripes will get
1:13
neater and neater and neater. If piping and smoothing stripes makes you nervous, this next
1:20
technique will give you a lot more control over your stripes. You can make your own striped stencil, with
1:26
parchment paper, a ruler, a pencil, and scissors. After you frost your cake, put it in the fridge
1:33
for at least an hour. Cut your parchment into strips, and I'm using the width of a ruler to draw my
1:39
lines and to cut pieces of equal widths. Glide your scissors along, or cut with sniffing motions
1:46
aiming for smooth, straight lines because that will give you smooth straight stripes on your cake
1:52
When your cake is cold, take it out of the fridge and press the parchment straight
1:56
strips onto the frosting Since the frosting is cold it will be firm and the parchment won damage the frosting and the pressure from your fingers won leave indents in the frosting The frosting will
2:07
have set so it won't be sticky anymore, but after a few minutes out of the fridge, some condensation
2:13
will start to form on the frosting, and that will act as glue to attach the parchment paper
2:19
Now make your paint, thinning out buttercream with milk to make it more of a paintable consistency
2:25
You only need a tiny amount for this. Add colour, and I love gels because they're so concentrated
2:33
but for just a few spoonfuls of buttercream you only need a teeny tiny bit of gel
2:38
So instead of squeezing out a drop, you can dip a toothpick into the bottle and drag that through the buttercream to tint it
2:46
You can use just one colour or several to make different colours of stripes going around the cake
2:52
or to blend the colours within each stripe. which I'll show you in a minute
2:57
I'm mixing pink with orange and red to make shades of pink, peach and coral
3:02
Next, you'll need a sponge or a paper towel. Dip it into a colour and wipe most of the buttercream off
3:09
so that there's just a thin layer left. Then dab it against the cake
3:13
into one of the gaps between parchment paper strips, holding the parchment strips in place
3:18
so that the buttercream paint only covers the stripe of exposed cake
3:22
If you have a lot of buttercream on the sponge, you'll leave globs of it on the cake
3:27
and you'll also be more likely to pull the parchment strips away with your sponge
3:32
Using just a small amount of butter cream on your sponge means you'll transfer colour to the cake without leaving dramatically raised texture behind
3:41
Instead of a sponge, you can use a paper towel, scrunching it up and dipping it into coloured butter cream
3:47
and then wiping most of the butter cream off before dabbing the paper towel against the cake
3:52
Dip and dab dip and dab alternating colours between stripes or within each stripe to blend the colours together When you covered up all of the gaps between the strips of parchment paper peel the parchment off and voila You leave neat stripes behind with colourful texture
4:14
Use sprinkles to create stripes by pouring a sprinkle mix into a bowl or cup
4:19
and taking out only the sprinkles you want to use. Tiny sprinkles will take you forever and huge sprinkles will bulge out of the cake
4:27
so these sizes are my favorite to use for this. Press the sprinkles into the frosting on the cake
4:33
I like to do this after the frosting sets, because if you've just frosted a cake
4:38
as you push the sprinkles in with just a tiny bit of pressure, the sprinkles will sink straight into the frosting
4:43
and can easily get buried in it. But after the frosting has set
4:47
you have to push quite firmly to attach the sprinkles, and that means the sprinkles will sit visibly on the surface of the frosting
4:54
This is really easy because you don't need any tools at all. and I love the texture that the sprinkles add to the cake
5:00
To create ruffle stripes, you'll need two petal piping tips so that you can pipe two colors
5:06
If you want three colors, you'll need three tips. Put each piping tip in a piping bag
5:11
and fill the piping bag with coloured buttercream or whatever frosting you're using
5:15
and push the frosting down to the tip of the piping bag. Outline your stripes on your crumb-coated cake with the straight edge of a cake comb
5:24
Spread frosting onto the top of the cake and smooth it. and then use your cake comb to scrape around the cake to take off the frosting that's sticking out
5:32
over the sides of the cake, so that the sides of the cake are straight
5:36
Hold your piping tip facing down, with the wide end of the piping tip pressed against the cake
5:41
and start wiggling the bag from side to side as you gradually lift it up the side of the cake
5:47
Using those lines you indented in the crumb coat to keep the ruffles directly over each other
5:52
and that will make your ruffle stripes straight and even. switch piping bags to the next colour and repeat the process beside the first stripe going right up to the edges of those first ruffles and up to the next line you indented on the other side If the crumb coat has set before you do this it easiest
6:12
because if you make a mistake, you can scrape it off the cake without damaging the crumb coat
6:15
frosting on the cake. I chill my cakes for about an hour in the fridge after crumb coating
6:21
but before applying the final coat of frosting, and that's why. Continue all the way around the
6:27
cake and at the top of each ruffle, finish it off in the same direction. So for this cake
6:33
I'm piping towards the right and then swiping away so that all of the ruffles match
6:38
When you finish the cake, you'll have ruffled stripes that add both colour and texture to the cake
6:44
Carving striped patterns is fun and unique and everyone will ask how you did it
6:50
After frosting your cake, chill it in the freezer for 15 minutes before spreading another colour of
6:55
frosting on top, and smooth that too. Freeze for another 15 minutes and then use clay modelling tools
7:01
to carve the frosting. You can buy these on Amazon and my favourites are this one for small dots
7:07
this one for large dots and this one for lines. Dip your tool into hot water, tap the water off
7:15
to leave the tool dry but warm, and then twist it into the frosting to scoop out a circle to make a dot
7:21
As soon as you see the colour underneath coming off onto your tool, you know you've gone through
7:27
the top layer of frosting, so the dot will be the colour of the frosting underneath
7:32
This is a quick and also satisfying and therapeutic way to create stripes
7:37
I love watching the carving come to life. I have an online course on buttercream carving, and I've put a discount code in the video description
7:45
I hope you've seen a striped cake hack that you'd like to try. If you want to use a striped cake comb instead, I have a very very very good
7:51
detailed tutorial on four secrets for perfect stripes and you can watch that by clicking up here
7:56
Visit my online cake school for hundreds of cake designs and techniques. Thank you so much for watching
#Desserts