Decorating a Cake – Tiffi

_Elsa_

Tiffi has enough confidence in herself that she could share some with her friends. Rancid gives her a quick hug and a gentle push towards the stage.

The judges look at her and one of them asks her to introduce herself by giving her name and where she lives.

“My name is Tiffi and I am 6 years old. I live in the Candy Kingdom.” 

“And what are you going to do for us today,” the judge asks. 

“I am going to decorate a cake and offer some helpful tips at the same time.”

‘Freeze Your Cakes

First thing's first, since making and decorating a cake can be quite a bit of work, it's not a bad idea to split the job into stages. For example, bake it on a Monday and freeze it, then take it out and decorate it on Friday. Baking cakes in advance and freezing them also makes frosting them easier. Frozen cakes don't crumble as much when you frost them, and it makes it much easier to apply your crumb coat (see below).Likewise, leveling your cakes is easier with frozen cakes. Cakes will stay fresh in the freezer for up to a week. Indeed, you can also make buttercream in advance and store it in the fridge, in an airtight container, for up to a week.

Cake turntable

A cake turntable is literally a rotating platter that you use to turn the cake while leveling and frosting it. Turning the cake rather than having to walk all around the cake makes the whole process much easier. 

Level your cakes

Leveling your cakes is important because the tops of the layers need to be completely flat, otherwise, they can lean or wobble when you stack them. This is where your serrated knife comes in. There are serrated cake knives, which work well, but any serrated bread knife will work. Just make sure that the blade of your knife is longer than the diameter of your cake. 

Apply a Crumb Coat

The next step is to frost the cake, which starts with applying a crumb coat. A crumb coat is an initial, light coat of frosting that seals and suspends any crumbs, so that when you go to apply the final coat, you won't see any crumbs in the frosting. 

If you're making a layer cake, position the bottom layer on your turntable, spread a layer of frosting to the bottom layer, then place the top layer on top (bottom side up). Now apply the crumb coat to the whole cake, then chill the cake for 15 to 30 minutes. This allows the crumb coat to fully set before you apply the final coat of frosting.

Applying the Frosting

Place the assembled layers on the turntable and apply a mound of frosting to the top, spreading it around with your palette knife while you rotate the cake. Do the sides next. It's best to work quickly so that everything stays cool. But when you're still learning, this may not be possible. So, it might help to take a break between doing the top and the sides, return the cake to the fridge in the meantime. 

Practice Piping

Making decorative flowers and other shapes using a piping bag with various tips is something that takes practice. And the same goes for writing with royal icing. Of course, there's no substitute for actual cake-decorating experience, but a great way to practice is on a sheet of wax paper instead of the cake itself. 

Small individual flowers can sometimes be transferred from the wax paper onto the cake, although this won't work with edging or writing. Still, it's a good way to practice until you get the hang of it.’ (Info here) 

“And don’t forget to add your favorite candy crush candies and lollipops. My favorite is the color bomb as you can tell from the completed cake.” 

The judges are impressed with how much knowledge Tiffi has offered. 

“Thank you,” says Tiffi as she walks off the stage. 

Let’s continue here - The wiggle and jiggle dance – Rachel and Jelly Queen

Start at the beginning – Welcome to the Friends’ Got Talent show!

If you haven’t read the first part of this 2-part story you can read it here – Friends’ Got Talent