Birthday Cake Decorating Tips

Hi and welcome to our Birthday Cake Decorating Tips.

Quick and Easy Cake Decorating Tips

Before you ice your birthday cake, put it in the freezer for a couple of hours. This will stop the cake from crumbing while you are icing.

Cover a bread board or even a strong piece of cardboard of alfoil to present the cake on.

Icing Piping Bags are a good little investment to make for your birthday cake decorating. You can buy these at most supermarkets. The advantage of buying a piping bag is that they normally come with different sized nozzle attachments, for example making roses, or 'drawing' a name. If you're not creating an elaborate design on your birthday cake, an alternative is to use a snap-lock plastic bag. Cut a hole in the corner of the bag, fill with icing, and you're off and running! Hint: To fill the bag without it coming out the other end all over your bench, place it in a glass while you fill the bag with icing.

Tubes of icing can be bought from your local supermarket which make it so easy to 'write' or design whatever you like on your child's birthday cake.

Natural food colourings (such as annatto, riboflavin, cochineal and beetroot red) are generally better to use than the commercial colourings available (try to avoid to many E additives) however be careful to read the ingredients as some of the natural colourings contain alcohol.

Plastic Toys that curently interest your child can easily be used to decorate your birthday cake. Use a miniature train on an icing or licorice whip track or cars on a colored sugar road. Or, use plastic minature dinosaurs to create a pre-historic world. Small plastic toys present almost endless possibilities.

Stencils are great for making designs or 'writing' when cake decorating. Buy or cut out a stencil and sprinkle colored sugar or dry icing sugar through the stencil to make a design or words. On a chocolate cake, use white icing powder to stencil the design; on light colored icing, use cocoa powder.

Lollies and sweets come in such a huge variety of shapes and colours. The possibilities for designing a birthday cake with lollie decorations are almost endless. Both black and red licorice whips are great for wording on a cake.

Cup Cakes or Swiss Rolls can be arranged into the age or initials of your birthday child. Or into the shape of a caterpillar or train. Use icing to 'stick' the shapes in place then smooth over your icing and decorate. Use your imagination!