Learn How To Decorate A Cake

Announcement: Tiered Supports and Cake Stackers

April 5, 2017 Kathy

Wonderful "Topsy Turvy" Cake using the Cake Stackers Supports Systems! (Photo used by permission of Cake Stackers) Save 5% with Coupon Code ACC509

Click & Save 5% at Cake Stackers with coupon ACC509

A lot of cake decorators – both novice AND experienced alike – have concerns about how to get their tiered (aka stacked) cakes safely to their destination. I totally understand this frustration!

My sister-in-law, Ann has certainly had this issues! (I’ll show you another one of her creations when her brother, my husband’s youngest brother, sends me the photo of the wedding cake she made for him and his wife)

TRUE STORY: A few years ago, John’s folks celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, and the party that his sisters put on for his folks was nothing short of incredible (I regret to say that the BROTHERS didn’t do a whole lot in helping plan the day!)!

I’m away from home right now, but I have a photo of their original wedding cake. Well, Ann REPLICATED this cake from 50+ years ago, and did it only from looking at the Black & White photos of the day.

She did an incredible job. One tiny eensie-weensie issue though… While assembling (or transporting – I forget now) the cake, the UNTHINKABLE happened.

Yup. Dropped a layer.

Dropped a FULL layer of my in-laws surprise 50th anniversary replica of the cake.

Fortunately, my sister-in-law is a bastion of total CALM in situations like this. She merely decorated and displayed the cake without using the ruined layer.

I honestly don’t know how she did it, and I’m sure you can guess that NO ONE NOTICED. I wouldn’t have noticed if she hadn’t shown me the photo of the original and pointed out the missing layer.

Anyway, the point of my telling you about this story – because it really DOES happen in real life! – is that there are some pretty amazing cake supports systems out there these days.

I am definitely going to write more about this, but I wanted to get the word out in case some of you are either WORRYING about how to safely transport and assemble a cake or have ALREADY had a mishap that you would prefer didn’t happen again. 🙂

When I came across Cake Stackers, I had one of those “ah ha!” moments, and knew that THIS is a resource my readers probably want to know about.

In my correspondence with Stephanie over at Cake Stackers, she told me I could use the photos and videos to help you understand how their cake supports systems work.

All photos and videos of the Cake Stackers systems here on this site are used by their permission – and I promise to add more info on this resource very soon. So, if you would like to head over now, please CLICK HERE to view the best Cake Stacking System by Cake Stackers.

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Cake Supports Help Make Transporting Stacked Cakes Easy

April 9, 2017 Kathy

3-Tier Cake using Cake Stackers Support Systems (Photo courtesy of Cake Stackers)

Click & Save 5% w/ Coupon Code ACC509

The more I look at Cake Stackers and their cake supports system for making and stabilizing tiered cakes, the more I like them.

This system is pure genius! I wish I had invented it myself. Ahhh… I actually say that a lot. I often see things that I feel are absolutely amazing, and wonder, “Why couldn’t I have thought of that?”

For example, take “Bake Pops” – the little gizmo you see here. This is absolutely BRILLIANT! I’m going to be writing more about these little gems, but it’s so simple, I cannot believe these aren’t EVERYWHERE now!

All you do is fill the special little “Bake Pop” pan with any cake batter, and put the stick in, decorate or dip it, and voila! Bake Pops! I mean, how incredible is that?

Talk about a GREAT party activity too… Decorate your own Bake Pop. So you get the kids to actually decorate them. Perfect! Easy! (You can buy a set of “Bake Pops” here…)

But as usual, I digress. Sorry ’bout that! 🙂

What the folks over at Cake Stackers have done is nothing short of amazing. If you are even remotely considering running a cake business, I truly believe that the tools the group over at Cake Stackers offers is a must.

I don’t know if you read my introduction to Cake Stackers earlier, where my sister-in-law Ann had made a replica of my Mother and Father-in-law’s original wedding cake for their 50th anniversary. But, to make a long story short, what happened is that in transporting the cake, she lost a layer. Fortunately, my sister-in-law is very quick on her feet, and even though the cake wasn’t exactly the same with the lost layer, no one outside of a few people ever noticed.

This just would NOT have happened if Ann had a cake stacking system like these.

3 Tiered Cake using Cake Stackers Genesis Cake Support System and Topsy Turvy Kit (photo courtesy of Cake Stackers)

I realize that this is not a cheapo piece of equipment people. But, if you are serious about making multi-tiered cakes, this can improve your productivity, increase your confidence, and once you start getting creative with the different stands and supports, along with some of the more “crazy” designs like the “Topsy Turvy Stand,” I can’t imagine that you wouldn’t be getting oodles of orders!

The kind people at Cake Stackers has actually made it pretty easy to get started with a basic “Genesis Cake Support Set” which is for making a 3-tiered cake. And it’s only about $70.

This picture (I have permission from Stephanie at Cake Stackers to use these photos) of the small “Topsy Turvy” cake shows the use of the Genesis Cake Support Set AND the “Topsy Turvy Stand Kit” (which you can get for 3 Tiers for only about $40). So, for less than $125 or so, you can have some exceptionally professional and creative tools to start with.

CLICK HERE to Shop Now & Use Coupon Code ACC509 to Save 5%!

Take a look at the videos I show, below, of the Cake Stackers in action. I think you’ll agree that this is one tool you’re going to enjoy a great deal!
VIDEO 2: DEMONSTRATION OF HOW THE CAKE STACKERS CAKE SUPPORT SYSTEM IS PUT TOGETHER:

VIDEO 2: DEMONSTRATION OF ACTUALLY PLACING A TOP LAYER ONTO A CAKE STACKERS CAKE SUPPORT SYSTEM:

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Your Cupcake or Cake Decorating Business Plan and Market Research

February 15, 2012 Kathy

Who hasn’t heard of TV shows like “Cake Boss” or “Cupcake Wars?” (Actually, “Cupcake Wars” just sounds so… so… wrong. WARS over CUPCAKES??)

I’m guessing most of us won’t be entering into the cake business in such a cutthroat manner. Most of the folks I know who have cake and cupcake decorating businesses are pretty content to fulfill orders at the local rather than national level. 🙂

If you are one of the ones who would pretty much like to have a cake or cupcake decorating business on the “home-business” level, then here are a few tips and ideas I’ve come across that can help you get started. (more…)

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More Character Cake Pans – No Coincidence!

February 9, 2012 Kathy

Here’s a really fun (and unlikely) post about those Sesame Street cake pans I mentioned in a recent post!

In fact, I was so excited about this I had to get back here and tell you what just happened… I think you’ll get a kick out of it!

If you recall from the post “A Character Cake Is Perfect For Kids,” I talked about how you can sometimes find “retired” designs, or simply used contour cake pans at yard sales or thrift stores. (more…)

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Sticky: Welcome to Our Cake Decorating Resources Site!

February 6, 2012 Kathy

Hello! I started this small site because I have some very special people in my life (you’ll meet some of them here) who are really into cake decorating.

They also want to pursue cake decorating as a serious business – and run a serious business from home -but resources are sometimes a little difficult to locate.

So, I began doing a little research of my own, and found (and did my best to categorize) information and resources, supplies, and instructions… Well, one thing led to another and I got a little carried away! 🙂

One of the very best I’ve ever seen – anywhere – is what is widely known to be the best cake stacking system, and it’s also very artistic. It’s called Cake Stackers – and the photo of the “Topsy Turvey” cake you see to the left is created using their system! Click Here to check them out!

If you are into cake decorating and want some easy-to-locate and easy-to-use resources and supplies – I have done my best to find the best cake decorating techniques, tools, videos, supplies, courses, and books that I could.

Here is what you will find here – in no particular order of importance (click on any of these categories to be brought to a page where you’ll find the related posts):

This is just the “tip of the icing!” 🙂 (little pun…) – Seriously, as I locate additional resources and categories, I will add them here! In the meantime, enjoy the posts, and again, Welcome! 🙂

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A Character Cake Is Perfect For Kids

February 6, 2012 Kathy

Cookie Monster Cake What little kid wouldn’t want a cake shaped like “Elmo” or “Cookie Monster” (as seen here) or – as also seen here – a “Mutant Ninja Turtle” for his or her birthday?

The nice thing about making a character cake is you don’t need a year’s worth of decorating experience in order to pull this off!

Once you have some of the basics in your decorating supply closet, you could not only be making cute cakes easily for the little ones in your own life, but you could most likely hire yourself out to deliver them to your childrens’ friends parties too!

(Of course, there is a lot involved in starting and running a cake decorating business from home, but even if you just made them occasionally as a gift, that would also be amazing!)

So, last week, “Honorary Daughter Maddie” made the “Cookie Monster” cake that you see at the top, and “Honorary Daughter Kim” made the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle” cake you also see here… (more…)

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Hints and Tips For Writing On Cakes – With VIDEO!

January 4, 2012 Kathy

CLICK TO ENLARGE - Center your letters from the left and right of a pre-determined "Center Point" Here are a few tips for writing on cakes.

At some point in your cake decorating hobby (or business, if you should decide to start a cake decorating business, that is), you’re going to be asked to put a name or message on a cake.

I addressed this briefly in the post “Piping a Message Onto a Cake” which you can read here, but it looks like a few more hints are in order!

In that post I just mentioned, I had explained that you DO NOT have to have the handwriting of an expert calligrapher. BUT, you do need to practice.

But for starters… (more…)

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How To Fill A Pastry Or Icing Bag – VIDEOS!

January 2, 2012 Kathy

Learning how to fill a pastry bag or icing bag is one of the very basics of learning how to decorate a cake, wouldn’t you agree?

I’m also aware that HEARING someone TELL you how to do it is just not the same as SEEING someone SHOW you how to do it! 🙂

I can almost hear it… “Ok, Kathy, it’s SO EASY! All you gotta do is put your tip into the bottom of the bag, scoot the bag over your hand and put the icing in. Simple!”

Uh huh. (more…)

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Piping a Message Onto the Cake

December 13, 2011 Kathy

Piping Messages on Cakes

Ooh boy… This arguably MUST be one of the more “scary” things to do! I say this ONLY because my handwriting is not so hot to begin with, and doing this type of piping would give me a serious case of “performance anxiety!” 🙂

BUT… (of course) the people I know in the business simply say, “It’s just practice!” And I KNOW that… But I also know that some of you who might be doing this for the first time might feel a little nervous about it. (more…)

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Basketweave Technique, Tips and Video

December 9, 2011 Kathy

The Basketweave Piping Technique

One of the coolest “illusions” I’ve seen on cakes is the “Basketweave” piping technique. I love it because, done right, it honestly does look like the icing or frosting has been woven!

As you can see from the Amazon image of a typical basketweave tip (a generic brand, Size 2B tip) at the left, the edge on at least one side of the tip has a striated or serrated type of edge to give it a “ribbed” look. If you apply the icing with the SMOOTH side up, you will have a smooth, rather than ribbed look. (more…)

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