Daily Loaf

I get paid to decorate cakes. Or, rather, I get paid to teach other people how to decorate cakes.

A sweet deal, no pun intended. Helping others do what I love is a real hoot, and this summer’s class really churned out some nice ones.

Cake decorating is simple:

You need desire. You need drive. You must be able to focus. And your short term memory must be somewhat intact.

If you have all of the above, you’re good to go. Find yourself a book, a teacher, the necessary equipment, and get started. What you don’t already know, you’ll learn along the way.

You can start with this, the basic white cake recipe for the cakes we decorate in my class. Read the rest of this entry »

Who says old-fashioned cake decorating with the most wildly decorated concoctions of today?

Not I. Buttercream basics, provided you have a ten dollar cake decorating kit, can go a long way toward producing an awesomely decorated cake. Read the rest of this entry »

The author furiously at work decorating cakes for class

 With the rise of all-things-cooking has come a slew of television shows, celebrity chefs, designer cookbooks, and yes, that one-time silly-frillyness formerly relegated to weddings and 3rd grade birthday parties: cake decorating. The cake decorating movement, in line with the new consciousness about cooking (see: slow food, organic food, food competitions, gourmet food, Top Chef, and more), is breaking boundaries and setting new artistic standards as the general public gets excited about everything food-related. Programs such as The Food Network’s Ace of Cakes highlight the possibilities (due in large parts to the liberal use of rolled icing, or fondant) that cake bakers, caterers, and decorators have these days. And possibilities are in abundance! The imagination is truly the only limiting factor as cakes take the shape of buildings, airplanes, dirt-bike racing courses, designer purses, and more. Read the rest of this entry »

Fondant, or rolled icing, is largely responsible for the “can-do” in the wild world of cake decorating. No longer limited to a whipped, or fluffy buttercream frosting, cake decorators now use a rolled icing similar to regular flour dough, which can be kneaded, colored, formed, and pressed onto a cake which has had a light layer of buttercream frosting added to it for flavor and adhesion.

While fondant’s silky smooth surface looks great, the taste gets mixed reviews. Keep in mind that while loaded with sugar, this gum-stabilized product will stay “edible” when properly sealed at room temperature for years. If fresher is better, fondant will not be winning any taste competitions soon. But it looks fabulous and has created endless possibilities for cake afficionados. What follows are some fondant tips for the just-getting-started cake decorator.  Read the rest of this entry »