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An Introduction to Cake Decorating
Published 08 March 2012 by Zoe Clark
Cake Decorating is an activity that can be enjoyed by people of any age and ability. Children, teenagers, grandparents - everyone can get involved. Some of my earliest childhood memories are of helping my mum bake and decorate cakes for family occasions. I remember smoothing royal icing over a marzipaned Christmas cake and sticking in little plastic shop-bought Christmas decorations. Other memorable cakes I made with my mum included a fairy castle with ice-cream cones for turrets; a big green buttercream iced football pitch with plastic figurines; a log cabin with chocolate fingers; a pirate ship with a blue jelly ocean; and a teddy bear's head decorated with sweets.
When planning my wedding many years later I decided to make my own cake because I thought it would make the day extra special to share something personal with my family and friends. I have certainly come a long way since then, but it's still the same principle: cake decorating allows you to be creative, make delicious treats to impress your friends and family - and have fun at the same time.
Apart from learning how to bake and decorate from your parents there are many ways to gain and further your skills in cake decorating. Today there are more and more schools and colleges offering diplomas which teach everything from traditional cake decorating techniques such as royal icing and piping to more modern styles using sugarpaste icing and stencils. Many well-established and experienced cake makers are also offering private classes either in small groups or individually which can be extremely useful. There are also hundreds of books widely available from sugarcraft suppliers, good book stores and online. Most books specialize in different areas of cake decorating, for example, cupcakes, modeling figures, sugar flowers but you will also find some are more general and cover cake decorating basics in general which are great if you are just starting out.
This brings me to Cake Decorating, a new magazine designed to teach how to bake and create delicious cakes and confectionary without being too daunting. The idea is that projects start off teaching basic techniques and skills with simple designs and they become gradually more difficult as the series continues. You get useful items of equipment with every issue so you can learn how to use each tool to decorate your cakes and cookies and gradually build up your collection. The projects within the magazines are fresh and very current and although traditional techniques and skills are often required, these are used to create beautiful modern designs.
I hope you enjoy learning the skills and techniques included in the magazine, skills I use every day as a professional cake designer. Most importantly, I hope that the ideas and advice in Cake Decorating inspire you and help to fire your own imagination - and impress the lucky people you share your creations with!
Zoe's books are available from sugarcraft suppliers, specialist bookshops, online or at her shop in Wimbledon The Cake Parlour Click here for more infromation.
Classes are also run at The Cake Parlour Click here for more information.