We don’t all have the talent and creativity necessary to make professional looking cakes, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t make beautiful ones! Over the years, I’ve acquired a few easy cake decorating ideas, and have created impressive looking birthday cakes for my children. Anyone, and I do mean ANYONE can bake and decorate beautiful cakes for any occasion by using any of these easy cake decorating ideas.
First and foremost, let me stress that you do NOT have to be a master baker to bake a delicious birthday cake, or other special important cake. Use a box cake, preferably one that has pudding in the mix. Follow the directions, and add just a smidgen more oil than called for. (By a smidgen, I mean two tablespoons. Then omit that much water from what is required) Be careful not to over bake, and then allow to cool completely. Before you decorate your cake, place it in the freezer for 15 – 30 minutes. It makes decorating much easier.
Now, before you start spreading on the icing, brush off any excess crumbs on the cake. You can use a basting or pastry brush for this. Just brush the cake gently, and the crumbs will fall right off. This will prevent the crumbs from getting stuck in the cake icing.
Your cake is now ready to decorate. There are several easy cake decorating ideas that you can use to create an impressive birthday cake, or special occasion cake, and you don’t have to be familiar with any fancy icing techniques. Here are some recommended easy cake decorating ideas you can use to give your cake a fun look.
M & M candies. Instead of piping icing where two round cakes meet, place M & M candies around the area. The color of the candies can depend on the occasion. For a birthday, use regular colored M & M candies. For the 4th of July, use red, white and blue candies. For Halloween, use orange candies, etc. These are also useful for sheet cake borders, spelling out names, or creating simple images.
Sugar cubes. Sugar cubes are a unique cake decorating idea because they can be used to build structures on cakes. Tint the sugar cubes the color of your choice, and then assemble them to the shape of your choice, using tiny bits of icing as the glue.
Chocolate covered pretzel sticks. Dip pretzel sticks in melted chocolate, and then roll them in sprinkles. These can then be inserted in the finished cake. This is a great cake decorating idea for a 4th of July cake, because they mimic sparkler fireworks!
Licorice whips. Licorice whips are versatile because they can easily be bent, and are flexible enough to create lines, circles, or other shapes. Licorice whips are fun to use on sports themed cakes, birthday cakes, and other special occasion cakes.
Gumdrops. Gumdrops are colorful, and are excellent for cake decorating. They can be used as they are, or flattened and shaped with kitchen shears to make impressive flowers, flower petals, etc.
Oreo cookies. Finely crush Oreo cookies to create “dirt”. This is an easy cake decorating idea for cakes involving cars, motorcycles, or even a garden or flower themed cake. Whole Oreo cookies make great wheels on cars, flower bases, and much more. Use your imagination and come up with some of your own easy cake decorating ideas!
Graham Crackers. Again, finely crush the graham crackers. I once created a golf themed cake, and used the crushed graham crackers as the “sand”. IT LOOKED GREAT! The graham crackers are totally edible and look great on the cake. Another idea is to use chocolate covered graham crackers as tombstones for a fun Halloween cake. Write fun epitaphs on the “tombstones”, using icing ,for a really unique look.
Candy sprinkles. If you are terrified of trying to decorate a cake, then you absolutely CANNOT go wrong with candy sprinkles. Ice the cake, and then toss colorful candy sprinkles all around it. It looks festive and fun, and is probably the easiest cake decorating idea of all!
Candle decorating sets. Wilton supplies a wide variety of candle decorating kits that make cake decorating easy. These candles come in themed shapes for things like birthday cakes, baby shower cakes, holiday cakes, sports themed cakes or pretty much any special occasion. Go to the Wilton website to see their selection of great candle decorating sets. This is a great idea for beginners.
Edible cake decoration sets. Also available at Wilton, are edible cake decoration sets. I have used these for several birthday cakes, and they look SPECTACULAR! All you have to do is peel them off the paper and place them right on the cake. Then, you can use sprinkles around the rest of the cake to make it “pop”. You don’t have to worry about removing the decorations because it’s completely edible. See the collection of Wilton edible cake decoration sets HERE.
Want to see some truly INSANE CAKES? These cakes aren’t for the faint of heart, but they are fun and may give you a few ideas. Check out the photos on my online blog, Random Thoughts From the Mind Of Me. They’re very unique. (You’ve been warned!)
