Decoring a cake. What do i need?

[heber_1]

hello, i want to make a cake 4 my parents 28th aniversary party, can anyone tell me what i need and how to do it?

[kuan]

THere's no way we can tell you exactly how. The best way to do it is stabilized chantilly cream and a star tip. Use gelatin in the chantilly and spread it on the cake with a spatula. Then pipe rosettes around the base. That should be good to start.

[momoreg]

First bake a cake, then fill it, ice it, and decorate it.

Which part do you need help with?

[heber_1]

Originally Posted by kuan

THere's no way we can tell you exactly how. The best way to do it is stabilized chantilly cream and a star tip. Use gelatin in the chantilly and spread it on the cake with a spatula. Then pipe rosettes around the base. That should be good to start.

Can you explain me the parts "stabilized chantilly cream" and "Use gelatin in the chantilly and spread it on the cake with a spatula" ? im not that good at the english, what kind of gelatin? whats a chantilly?
sorry for that, im not related with those terms.

[heber_1]

Originally Posted by momoreg

First bake a cake, then fill it, ice it, and decorate it.

Which part do you need help with?

i know the basics for baking a cake, but what does it mean to fill it and ice it? and how do i decorate it?

[Joyfull]

Originally Posted by heber_1

i know the basics for baking a cake, but what does it mean to fill it and ice it? and how do i decorate it?

Some basic how to's for you to watch.. One of these should answer some of your questions..
Good luck on your cake!!

Icing a Cake - How To Frost a Cake - Cake Icing Video - About.com

Make Cake Borders - How to Decorate Cake Borders Video - About.com

Video: How to Ice the Sides of a Wedding Cake from ExpertVillage

How To Make Sponge Cake (Food: Classic)

This one's pretty helpful too. The video's are a little fuzzy tho..

Lesson No. 2: Cake decorating

[heber_1]

Thanx alot for your help everybody

i'll try it and later i tell you guys how i did.

[Eeyore]

this has to be the funniest thread Ive read in a long time.

Please let us know what happens.
eeyore

[nofifi]

Since Panini lost the bet to me regarding Diaper Dog, don't you all think that he should volunteer to send this person one of his cakes? Let me know what you think, lol.

[heber_1]

im having a hard time doing it but i still practicing. the big day is may 14, i hope to improve by that time.

[Eeyore]

Good for you.

It takes awhile to get the hang of it. Ive been doing it for alot of years now and occasionally I get the chance to help a beginner and at first I think: "wow, they really aren't getting it" Then I start to remember how long it took me to get good at doing certain things. I can remember thinking: "I'll never be able to ice a cake smooth." And the same thing with splitting a cake, piping roses, icing a cake without crumbs in it, piping borders straight, .... I could go on and on. Now doing these things is like riding a bike. Just keep at it and feel free to ask us anything.

eeyore

[heber_1]

Originally Posted by Eeyore

Good for you.

It takes awhile to get the hang of it. Ive been doing it for alot of years now and occasionally I get the chance to help a beginner and at first I think: "wow, they really aren't getting it" Then I start to remember how long it took me to get good at doing certain things. I can remember thinking: "I'll never be able to ice a cake smooth." And the same thing with splitting a cake, piping roses, icing a cake without crumbs in it, piping borders straight, .... I could go on and on. Now doing these things is like riding a bike. Just keep at it and feel free to ask us anything.

eeyore

I would like to ask some questions (i don't tink i can ask answers, do i?)
how can you ice a cake without crumbs in it?
and How can i add some color to the cake?

[Eeyore]

Good questions.

It is really hard to ice a cake without getting crumbs in it. It takes alot of practice.

But, do not dispair: there is a trick. You can do what is called a "crumb coat" before you ice your cake. What you do is put a VERY thin coat of icing on the cake. I mean THIN. Don't worry about crumbs. It should be thin enough that you can see the cake through the icing in many places. What this does is make a seal. All the crumbs will now be stuck to the cake with the icing. It is very important that you do not get crumbs in the icing you dont use. So be SURE that there are no crumbs on your spatula EVERY TIME you get more icing out. A good way to do this is to have an extra small bowl and scrape the icing off of your spatula in it before you put the spatula back in the icing.

OK, now, allow the icing on the cake to dry. Or better yet: put the cake in the refrigerator for about 5 minutes or in the freezer for 1 or 2 minutes.

Then take the cake out and ice it like normal. You will have no problems with crumbs as long as there aren't any in the icing you are using.

As far as color, Im not quite sure exactly what you are asking. but you can buy food colors at many art supply stores (like Michaels) or cake decorating stores. Be sure they say "paste" on them somewhere. Take a toothpick and put a little in your icing and mix it well. A tiny bit goes a long way so go easy with it.

As far as how to decorate it with colors there are thousands of ways to decorate a cake. what you need to decide is how much time and effort you want to put into it, and what style cake you want.

hope this helps
eeyore

[Frayedknot]

Originally Posted by Eeyore

Good questions.

Take a toothpick and put a little in your icing and mix it well. A tiny bit goes a long way so go easy with it.

eeyore

Wow...now there is an understatement... eeyore is right keep tools work space clean and free of crumbs.

I use a LOT of empty foil pie pans when doing the crumb coat AND searching for the color. It keeps from ruining a whole batch of icing. It may be a bit easier for you to use a light/dark color cake, with a similar light/dark icing. The contrasting colors are less forgiving ie: chocolate/red velvet with a white icing...Crumbs show up and the cake can actually show through the icing.

The biggest lesson here is practice, make/buy the icing and practice using the piping bag on some cardboard or something then scrape it all off and start again, if using a butter cream icing, it is easier to work with when cold. I am sure you want to do a great job, but I am positive your parents will think it is "perfect" regardless of the outcome..generally family is more foregiving as well.
You will do fine.

[heber_1]

Thanx all you guys, i've never resive help like these before. You guys really help me. THANX ALOT.