Homepage/Articles/How to Frost a Cake Like a True Baker: Our Top Tips
How to Frost a Cake Like a True Baker: Our Top Tips
How to Frost a Cake Like a True Baker: Our Top Tips
How to Frost a Cake Like a True Baker: Our Top Tips
When it comes to making a perfectly baked treat, no cake recipe is complete without a bit of frosting. A beautifully frosted cake will light up a dessert table and leave everyone talking about the fantastic baker who created it. If you're ready to be the talk of the town and your friend's "go-to" when they need baking advice, then it's time to learn how to frost a cake like a true baker. Let's get started!
Frosting a Cake Like a True Baker
If you think frosting a cake is a difficult task, think again. While there are many advanced ways to frost a cake, if you're new to it, we suggest going with something simple yet elegant. This means that those fancy tools of yours can stay put in the drawers. Instead, round up a few kitchen basics and start frosting!
Step 1: Choose a Good Cake Recipe
Before frosting a cake, you'll need to choose a layer cake recipe to start with. We recommend selecting a recipe that's sturdy enough to hold up when frosting it. While light and airy cakes like angel food cake taste delicious, they're not ideal for frosting. Instead, choose a classic like this White Cake, or surprise guests and make this Gluten Free Confetti Cake. Each of these cake recipes is easy to make and will provide you with the perfect base for all of your decorating fun.
Step 2: Make Delicious Frosting
This next step may be the most important. Choosing the right frosting to decorate your cake is imperative to decorating success. When decorating a cake, there are many recipes to choose from. First, think about what you want the result to look like, and choose a frosting recipe that will give you those results.A few of our favorite frostings are:
Easy Buttercream Frosting
Buttercream frosting is a classic. Easy to make, buttercream frosting can be flavored and colored to your unique baking needs. To make the perfect buttercream, start with a simple recipe like this Easy Buttercream Frosting and customize it as needed. Heres how to make buttercream frosting. After youve mastered our recipe, swap the vanilla flavoring out for peppermint, or use gel food coloring to give it an entirely new color. Light, fluffy and ideal for decorating, we're confident you'll love the result.
Cream Cheese Frosting
Cream cheese frosting is similar to buttercream frosting. However, instead of combining milk or cream with butter, this frosting calls for cream cheese! Loaded with flavor and texture, Cream Cheese Frosting is best when combined with rich cake and cupcake recipes like red velvet.
Nutella Frosting
Take your frosting to the next flavor level by adding Nutella into the mix! Nutella frosting will add flavor, texture and color to your favorite cake recipes. A chocolate lover's go-to, this nutty-flavored frosting will mix perfectly with your favorite chocolate cake recipe. Or, take the sweetness up a notch and use it to top delicious brownie bites.
Step 3: Gather the Right Tools
Frosting a cake like a pro doesn't mean you need to invest in professional tools. In fact, it's easy to frost a cake with just a few kitchen essentials. To frost a cake like a true baker, we recommended having these tools prepped and ready to go.
Offset spatula
Waxed paperor parchment paper
Long serrated knife
Serving plate or cake stand
Step 4: Level Your Cake
To ensure that your frosting goes on perfectly and doesn't slide off the edges, you must start with a stable and flat cake. Leveling a cake before frosting it will allow layers to stack more easily. Plus, it will make sure everything sticks! While there are many methods to leveling a cake, here's a simple guide to get started:
Bake your cake and allow all cake layer levels to cool.
Next, place the cooled cake on a flat surface and, using a long serrated knife, carefully cut off the dome of the cake.
Continue to cut until the cake is fully leveled.
For more thorough instructions, review our guide on how to level a cake.
Step 5: Stack the Cakes
Now that the cake is leveled, it's time to start stacking it on a cake plate. When stacking cake layers, use the correct amount of frosting. You'll want to use enough frosting in between layers so that they stick together, but not too much to where they begin slipping away from each other. That being said, start stacking your cake layers by first prepping a serving dish or cake stand. Line the stand with strips of waxed paper, and set the first layer in place. Next, add a thin layer of frosting to the top of the cake layer and put the next layer on top. Continue doing this until all layers are appropriately stacked, and your cake stands tall.
Step 6: Apply a Crumb Coat
Once all the layers are stacked, and your cake is even, seal in the cake's moisture and texture by adding a crumb coat. A crumb coat is a thin layer of frosting that is spread over the cake's entirety. It works to trap in crumbs, mend cracks and provide a level and smooth base for the frosting.When applying a crumb coat, you must make it as light as possible. You want to add enough icing so that the crumbs are fully sealed. However, be sure not to add excess frosting, as it can create an uneven coat and make decorating the cake harder later on. Once you've applied a crumb coat over the entire cake, place it in the refrigerator to chill for at least thirty minutes. Doing so will help the crumb coat harder and make frosting the cake much more manageable.
Step 7: Apply Frosting
After the crumb coat is applied and has cooled properly, begin preparing the rest of the frosting, and take your freshly coated crumb cake out of the fridge. Next, use the same offset spatula to frost the cake. Begin frosting the top of the cake, starting from the center and working your way towards the edges. Once the top of the cake is fully frosted, apply frosting to the sides of the cake. Stop and clean off your icing spatula every so often while frosting to ensure a smooth finish. Using a cake turntable allows you to turn the cake and cover all the sides of the cake easily. You can then use a cake scraper to even out the sides and top. If you're satisfied with how the frosted cake looks, you can stop the decorating process right here. Or, you can continue decorating your cake with fun designs and add-ons. Use a pastry bag and piping tips to pipe swirls and rosettes on top of the cake.
Step 8: Add Fun Decorations
Want to take your cake to the next level? Finish it off with some style. Continue decorating your cake by adding designs with the frosting. Or, take it up a notch and use chocolate chips, sprinkles, fresh fruit, or edible flowers to top the cake. Not only will this help you design a beautiful cake, but it will also add a splash of fun flavor. Hone your cake decorating skills with our beginners guide to cake decorating.
Cake Recipes We Love
Ready to make the cake of your dreams? Check out a few of our favorite recipes below to get started!
Healthy Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
If you're seeking a moist cake with a lot of flavor, make this Healthy Banana Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting. This cake recipe makes a cake that is sweet, moist, fluffy and delicious. It's everything you'd want out of a baked dessert. To make this cake even more remarkable, it's entirely refined sugar free, gluten free and high in protein and fiber. Adults will love this light version of their favorite treat, and kids won't be able to tell the difference.
Vegan Black Forest Cake
Following a vegan diet or cooking for someone who is? We recommend giving this Vegan Black Forest Cake a try! In this recipe, rich layers of chocolate cake are combined with whipped cream frosting and a sweet homemade cherry pie filling that takes this dessert to the next level. While this cake may be free of animal products, it's not free of flavor. In fact, most people won't know that it's vegan without being told!
Yellow Cake with Raspberry and Chocolate Frosting
A cake that will leave everyone who tries it speechless, this Yellow Cake with Raspberry and Chocolate Frosting is just as flavorful as it looks. Dress this cake up by adding fun toppings like edible glitter, sprinkles or chocolate shavings. Guests will love how much thought you put into it, and you'll enjoy how easy it is to make.We hope you use these cake frosting tips on your next baking adventure. From cream cheese frosting to vegan black forest cake, when baking desserts, the options are endless! We're excited to see what you come up with. From everyone at Bob's Red Mill, happy baking!