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Cake decorating tips

In learning all the tricks of cake decorating can take a really long time and most old time cake  designers confess that they are never done discovering wonderful techniques or tricks to create better designs. Here are a few important tricks to help you in your cake decorating adventures.

 Royal Icing& Butter-cream Tips

• Most of the decorations you usually pipe using butter-cream can also be piped using royal icing.
• Butter-cream covered cakes that have been refrigerated  for long will in some occasion sweat when removed from the fridge. Don't panic at this point, simply leave the cake sitting at room temperature until the moisture is reabsorbed.
•  It is important to not use any utensils or piping bags that have been used for butter-cream for royal icing because it will definitely break down when exposed to any type of fat or grease. So to be on the safe side make sure you use a different Plastic piping bags 
• Never pipe royal icing on a butter-cream iced cake, it will definitely ruin it.

Piping Tips

• Make sure your icing is stiff enough for piping otherwise your design will collapse. Try a practice of basket weave or rosette and watch if the detail disappears and becomes smooth.
• When piping ruffles as a border at the bottom of a cake you should ensure the heavy part of the design is against the cake to hide it. The "ruffle" will be on the outside.
• When piping swags on an iced cake always take the time to measure around the cake with a flexible tape measure and mark exactly where each swag should begin and end to ensure even spacing.

Fondant  Tips

• To remove air pockets from a fondant covered cake use a pin or toothpick to prick the pocket and then gently smooth the air out using a fondant smoother. This is similar to removing air bubbles from wallpaper
• Coloring white fondant to black using black paste is impossible because the fondant will end up gray. Try creating dark green first, then add brown color and finally the black in stages. This will create a true black.
• If the  fondant is a too soft try adding  tylose or gum tragacath (cmc) to the fondant to make it strong, more elastic and less likely to tear when rolling or shaping designs.
• Always Store your  fondant cut outs in a sealed container or wrapped in plastic until you need them or they might dry out .
•  Knead a little vegetable shortening into fondant before covering a cake with the fondant to make sure that cracking at the shoulder or seams will be at a minimum.

Gum Paste Tips

• If your gum paste is too dry knead a little white vegetable shortening into it before using to soften the gum paste and make it easier to use.
• Use luster dust to make the pollen on the flower centers of lilies. Load a paint brush heavily with yellow lustre dust and apply liberally to the flower.
• Always make extra wired petals or leaves when creating gum paste flowers in case of breakage or color mishaps.

General Tips

Always practice your design element before trying it on the cake to ensure the flow and texture of the icing is perfect. When a top tier is placed on the bottom tiers it is important to cut the dowels so the cake will sink slightly into the top. This will eliminate the need to pipe a wide border to hide the cake board and gap.when applying colours to your fondant , it is safer to add colours in smaller amounts until you get the consistency you need. same also apply when creating icing colors , always add the paste or gel color in small amounts using a clean tooth pick. Stir to incorporate the color completely and then continue adding color until the icing is exactly the right shade. It is much easier to add color than remove it.

Okay friends do have fun decorating. You can add your comments also ...............

Valentine day's cake

Pretty decorated cake creations are a wonderful choice for Valentine's Day because this holiday is all about sensual treats and passion. What is more passionate than a great cake created with love and attention? There are no rules to making a Valentine's Day cake but there are definitely long established colors, shapes and flavors associated with this day that can be called upon to make a cake that is perfect for the occasion.

• Preferred Color: You cannot get away from red on Valentine's Day or pink either. This is true for cake decorating as well for the holiday associated with lovers. Red is supposed to reflect passion and can be used judiciously or with a heavy hand on your cake. If you are covering the entire creation with red icing or butter-cream it might be a good idea to accent with pretty white or pale pink to offset the richness of the background. Also, the cake flavor encased completely in red should probably be something other than red velvet. You don't want to overwhelm your Valentine with too much of a good thing!
• Hearts: Valentine's Day is all about heart shapes in cards, candies, and of course cakes and cupcakes. Heart shaped cakes are easy to create with the many pans available in kitchen and craft stores. Wedding cakes are often formed into hearts to reflect romantic themes so the most romantic of holidays also utilizes this shape. Do not attempt to cover this shape with fondant if you are a beginner at cake decorating because it can be very tricky to get the angles and curves perfect. Any desired cake decorating element looks pretty with a heart shaped cake or cupcake but be careful not to obscure the shape when adding your decorations.
• Chocolate:Chocolates are a tradition which cannot be avoided on Valentine's Day. This delectable flavor can be a perfect choice for a cake or cupcake. Nothing is more decadent than moist dense dark chocolate cake with swirls of  Chocolate ganache or a mound of chocolate curls. Finish the top with pretty candy red hearts or a full blown red rose accent and your presentation is complete. You can even push a scrumptious truffle into the center of your chocolate cupcake before icing it for a lovely surprise. 
• Flowers: Flowers are an entire industry on Valentine's Day and can be wonderful on cakes and cupcakes especially roses in red, white and pink. Roses are undeniably romantic but if your sweetheart has a bloom that has more meaning then accent the preferred flowers with pretty rose buds.  Try piping flowers in royal icing or creations made from gum paste or fondant.

Basic Chocolate Cake

This cake is easy to bake, and everyone loves it. With a little frosting it can make for a very nice birthday cake especially if you top it with special cake toppers or edible image. Enjoy!

Ingredients

150g	dark chocolate coarsely chopped
150g	butter, cut to cubes
1 cup	white sugar
3	eggs
140g	self-raising flour, sifted
100g	chopped hazel nuts
160g	chocolate chips
24 cm round cake pan, oiled

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Melt the chocolate, butter and sugar in Bain-marie. Remove from heat. Add the eggs one by one, and beat well after each egg. 2. Add the nuts, chocolate chips and flour, and stir into a smooth mixture. 3. Pour the mixture into the pan and bake for about 40 minutes, until toothpick stuck in center of cake comes out with moist crumbs. Cool on a rack.