Frosting Recipes

Let’s face it.  Kids like the frosting the best, so try having your kids make this simple frosting recipe.  It doesn’t involve eggs or the stove, so kids just measure and mix the ingredients and start cookie or cake decorating.  You can split the recipe into several batches to make different colors.   If they’re ready, you may have them try using a pastry bag.  Otherwise, an offset spatula or butter knife works great for spreading.

Ingredients

1 stick butter
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 tbsp. milk
Food coloring

Directions

Cream 1 stick of softened butter and 3 cups of confectioners’ sugar.

Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and 3 tablespoons of milk, then cream until smooth. Add desired food coloring.

Recipe from:

Cookie Frosting Kids Can Make – and More Great Family Fun Recipe Ideas.

Deep down, I sometimes get a little irritated with other people’s perfect birthday cake decorations.  But cake decorating doesn’t have to be all fondant and roses.  We loved this cake from Melbourne, Australia that is designed to look like a discarded pizza box with an ashtray of cigarette butts and a remote control.   Everything including the chewed pizza crusts are actually made with fondant!

While the pizza box cake stood out among other more traditionally decorated cakes, we thought it was a creative, inspired contribution that pushes the boundaries of cake decoration.

Show-stealing pizza cake a matter of taste.

If you can’t make it to the Wilton School in Darien, Illinois for their cake decorating courses and workshops, you’ll also find their four session cake decorating class taught locally.  Here’s an overview of the four-course program.  Each course consists of four sessions and sound like great fun.

Course 1: Discover Cake Decorating

Your Instructor will show you the right way to decorate, step by step. You will share the fun with other students, who encourage you along the way. As you learn each new decorating skill, you will gain a sense of pride in your accomplishments. Plus, you will be able to share your delicious results with family and friends!

Course 2: Flowers and Borders

Create lovely new flowers like rosebuds, daisies, daffodils, mums and more. Use these flowers in a grand finale — an impressive flower basket cake using the interwoven basketweave technique.

Course 3: Fondant and Tiered Cakes

Begin with intricate accents such as embroidery and lace, stringwork, garland and ruffle borders. Discover the beauty of decorating with rolled fondant — for covering cakes with an immaculate smooth surface and shaping fun figures and elegant flowers.

Course 4: Fondant and Gum Paste

You will see how to use tools to cut and shape amazing textured ribbons and borders. Each new technique will prepare you to decorate a Grand Finale cake you will be proud to take home.

Check the Wilton site for a class location near you.

Standard cupcake trees hold around sixteen cupcakes.  Some, like the Martha Stewart cupcake tree is collapsible, making it easy to store.  For big occasions such as weddings or engagement parties, cupcakes are becoming quite popular.   For a big event, cupcake trees can be seven levels or more and hold well over 100 cupcakes.

When you’re looking for a cupcake tree, keep in mind the number and size of your cupcakes.  Some cupcakes are dense, extremely large in diameter, and can place quite a strain on a cupcake tree.  This means you should be careful to adhere to any weight limits and not overload the tree. Ordering from certain bakeries or caterers, you might be provided with a cupcake tree, rather than having to find your own.  Otherwise any store with cake decorating supplies will have them.

Many cupcake trees look quite plain in order to showcase the cupcakes. But you can decorate your cupcake tree to match your theme.  Adding ribbon trim, colorful papers on each level and alternating cupcake flavors will make a stunning cupcake presentation.

It’s not just bakeries that can transfer the image of your choice to the top of your birthday cake.   You can convert almost any printer to one that uses edible ink and print your own edible cake decorations.   This is a fabulous way to personalize a birthday cake and bring a smile to everyone.

In addition to the customized printer, you need edible paper which is typically made from starch and dissolves into moist frosting or water.  It comes in a variety of shapes and sizes so you can print on rectangular sheet cakes, round cakes or cupcakes.  Simply load edible ink into the printer. You can then print any image from your computer and set it on top of your birthday cake.  Edible inks and papers are safe and fully digestible.

The article also helpfully includes printers like Canon and Epson that accept edible ink cartridges.

cake decorating | decorated cake: cake edible.