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0 - Tips - (Icing) Cake Decorating Tips

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Recipe

ICING

*Icing - Smooth texture tip*

Do you know how to make buttercream icing completely smooth on a cake (especially a wedding cake)? It's a technique so INGENIOUS, it may completely change the way you decorate cakes forever! This method will allow you to quickly and easily make your buttercream icing so smooth, you'd swear it was fondant!


"The Paper Towel Method"

First, use buttercream icing & smooth out what you can with icing spatula. Let dry for about 15 mins. to form a crust. (This won't work with icing that won't crust)
Lightly place plain paper towel (like “Viva”) on area to be smoothed & gently rub with the palm of your hand. The warmth of your hand will soften icing just enough to smooth out any bumps ridges. You can also use “fondant smoother” (baker's equivalent to drywaller's trowel) on top of paper towel. You'll be pleasantly surprised at how smooth the surface gets!

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*Handling Icing Bags*


Continuing with the basics of decorating with icing, today we'll go over handling the icing bags and icing consistency...

The most important thing to remember is not to overfill the bag, or icing may squeeze out the wrong end. The right amount of icing to start with is about 1/2 cup. Fold down the top to form a generous cuff, and hold the bag beneath the cuff. Use your spatula to fill the bag with approximately three tablespoons of icing at a time.

To remove icing from the spatula, hold the bag on the outside between the thumb and fingers. Then pull the spatula out of the bag, using the bag and your fingers to squeeze the icing off.

To close the bag, twist the icing bag tightly closed, forcing the icing down into the bag.
You can make sure you've released any air trapped in the bag by squeezing some of the icing out of tip into the bowl. This is called "burping" the bag.

To hold the bag, place the twist in the "V" between your thumb and forefinger.
Remember that it's important to be able to apply pressure with all your hand.

The size and uniformity of your icing design are affected by the amount of pressure you apply to the bag and the steadiness of the pressure as you squeeze and relax your grip.
Practice makes perfect when it comes to this which is why it is a good idea to practice your design on a piece of cardboard, or the bottom of an upside-down cake pan, before you begin decorating your cake.

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*Icing Consistency *

If the consistency of your decorating icing isn't just right, your decorations make collapse. Often just a few drops of corn syrup can make your icing the right consistency so that it squeezes out of the decorating tip properly.

Stiff Icing holds a 3/4 in. peak on the spatula. Use it for flowers with upright petals - if icing is not stiff enough, petals will droop.

Medium Icing is used for flowers with flat petals and for borders - when the icing is too stiff or too thin, you can't get the uniform designs that characterize a perfect border.

Thin Icing is used for writing, stems, leaves and for frosting a cake.

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*The Basics Of Decorating With Icing*


Today we'll touch on the basics of how to use decorating bags and couplers.

Decorating bags are simply pastry bags that are filled with icing. However, you should not use bags that have been filled with batter as grease can cause your icing to become lumpy and affect the pressure of the flow of icing out through the bag.

There are two types of bags: Disposable, and Re-useable.

If you don't plan to decorate often and/or you don't want to fuss with clean up, a disposable bag might be the most convenient.

Plastic - ready-to-use disposable bags are usually made of strong and flexible plastic and can even be reused if hand washed. However, some people find that the plastic bags can get slippery and difficult to handle.

Paper - makes for a less slippery alternative. Paper bags come in the form of either pre-formed parchment triangles or a roll of parchment paper, which you would use to
cut and shape your own.

Re-useable bags are made from plastic, canvas, rubber and other materials.
Some are dishwasher safe or can be boiled to sterilize.

Many of them have a cloth outer layer, making for a more secure grip.

The coupler is a two-part device that screws on to the icing bag. This allows you to change the decorating tip without changing the bag. The two parts of the coupler are the base and the ring. The base fits inside the bag, and then you put the decorating tip of your choice over the portion of the coupler that sticks out of the bag. When you screw the ring on, you've locked the decorating tip onto the coupler and bag.

To change decorating tips, unscrew ring, replace decorating tip and screw ring back on.

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"How do I make whipped cream icing stand up and not run?"

Here's a recipe:

*Stabilized Whipped Cream Icing*

1/2 pint (1 cup) heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons Piping Gel (Wilton brand works well)
1/2 teaspoon White Vanilla Extract

Combine sugar and whipping cream in your mixing bowl. Whip 'em to the soft peak stage. Add your piping gel and vanilla, then continue to whip stiff peaks.
Do not overbeat.

As an alternative, you can use Frozen Non-Dairy Whipped Topping or Packaged
Topping Mix. Thaw frozen whipped topping in refrigerator before coloring or using for decorating. Use packaged topping mix immediately after preparing.

Do not allow either to stay at room temperature, as it becomes too soft for decorating. Store decorated cake in refrigerator until ready to serve.



*Crumbs In Your Icing*


The crumb. Such an itty bitty piece of cake and such a big, HUGE, nuisance when it comes time to ice a cake.

The crumb will come with a million of his closest friends to invade your beautiful white and smooth icing. It's enough to drive a baker crazy!

Luckily there is a fool proof way to protect your sanity. You can simply apply what is known as a "crumb coat."

A crumb coat is a thin layer of icing or glaze that you apply to your assembled cake to seal the cake and cement any crumbs to the cake's surface. Once the crumb coat has set and dried (a few minutes), you won't have to worry about any crumbs sticking to your final icing.

To apply a crumb coat, take some of your icing and thin it with extra of whatever liquid is part of the recipe - water, milk, or cream, until you get an almost runny consistency.
Spread the thinned icing over the entire cake, covering it completely.

Don't worry about crumbs getting mixed into the icing or how the cake looks (it won't look too beautiful at this point).

Once the crumb coat of icing has dried, all your crumbs will become glued to the surface and the cake will have a protective shell holding it all together.

You can speed up the drying process by placing your cake in the refrigerator.


Applying the crumb coat obviously adds a little time to your cake decorating, but it's always time well spent. It significantly reduces the frustration of having crumbs mix into the final icing and does a great job of firming up the cake base.

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*Pure White Icing*

To achieve pure white icing, use white shortening, and clear vanilla extract, instead of the brown, pure vanilla. Clear vanilla extract is available at most cake decorating stores including online.

Here's a great recipe for pure white Buttercream Icing (Feel free to double this recipe when needed.)

Ingredients:

2 lbs. sifted powdered sugar
1 ¼ C of vegetable shortening
½ C cool water
2 tbsp. corn syrup
2 tsp. clear vanilla flavoring
2 tsp. butter flavoring
1 tsp. salt

Cream salt & shortening. Add sugar & flavoring.
Beat on high speed 20 mins. until smooth & creamy.
Beat at low speed 2 more mins.

Keep in mind, the slow beating time is crucial. (It'll reduce air bubbles created by high speed beating & produce smoother mix.)

To use same icing for decorations or flowers, put some icing in different bowl & add food coloring, etc. Add small amount sifted powdered sugar to firm icing for decorating. This icing should come out snow white.

If you use unsalted stick butter or margarine & you'll have buttercream icing - but it'll be an off-white color. (If you've got it in your area, try "Land O Lakes" brand butter to keep your icing white.)

If you use one stick of butter, reduce shortening by same amount.

Also, to keep pure white Buttercream Icing from wilting in warm weather,
add 1 Tablespoon "Meringue Powder" to stabilize frosting.



*Favorite Decorating Frosting*

I decorate cakes and haven't found a better recipe yet. It's Wilton's buttercream.

1c. Crisco
4c. powdered sugar
1t. vanilla extract
1t. butter flavoring (optional)
3-4 T. milk

Cream Crisco and extracts together.
Add powdered sugar. (Mixture will be stiff).
Add milk 1 tablespoon at a time until you reach the desired spreading consistency.

Makes approx. 3 cups frosting.

You can use 1 stick of butter and 1/2c. Crisco in place of the 1c. Crisco.
Make sure you don't use the butter flavoring.
You can also use water in place of the milk.
I usually make a double batch to ice a two layer cake.

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Before I ice a layered cake, I put a crumb coating on it. This prevents your crumbs from getting into the thicker icing. Take 1 cup of butter cream icing and add 1 1/2 tsp. of water to it. Spread a thin layer on your cake and allow to dry, approximately 20 minutes.

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*Are you making a character cake?*

A character cake is the pan you bake the cake in that is shaped like whichever character (bears, cars, etc) and you decorate according to the cake lines. If you are, you should put a sealer on it before decorating. This sealer recipe is used only on character cakes.

Sealer:

1 2/3 c. confectioner's sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 c. of water (more or less)

Mix ingredients to a spreading consistency. It should have the thickness of Karo syrup. Brush on sides and top of cake with a pastry brush. Allow to sit approx. 20 minutes before decorating.