Hi! I'm Emily of British Girl Bakes and
I'm going to show you ten hacks for cake decorating to make professional-looking
and tasting cakes! [Hack #1: Bake Even Layers] This first hack is a bit mathematical but none of the rest
are. When you've made your cake batter, prepare even cake layers by weighing
your batter as you divide it between your pans. Place each pan on your scale,
reset the weight to zero, and then weigh the batter as you spoon it into the pan.
My recipes include the total batter weight, which you can divide by the
number of pans you're using or if your recipe doesn't include a weight you can
weigh the mixing bowl before you start and then subtract that number from the
weight of the bowl with the batter to get the weight of just the batter and
divide that by the number of pans you're using. Here I'm making six layers of 80 grams
each so I keep spooning batter into the pans until I reach that weight or take a
bit out if I go over that weight. A few grams on each side of your target weight
is fine. Then spread your batter flat in the pans, tap them a few times on the
counter to get rid of air bubbles and bake them. You'll probably need to level
your layers after baking and optionally divide them and I cover these techniques
in my online course on the Basics of Bake and I've put the link for more
information in the top of the screen and in the description below this video. [Hack #2: Keep Cakes Moist] After baking your layers but before assembling your cake you can drizzle
them with simple syrup to keep them moist. Simple syrup is ridiculously easy
to make: just put equal amounts of water and sugar into a saucepan (and this is
one cup of each here) and turn the heat to medium and stir occasionally until
all of the sugar has dissolved, which will happen by the time the mixture
starts bubbling. You can include other ingredients to
make flavored syrups like an orange peel if you like. Let the mixture cool and
then drizzle your cake layers, going right up to the edges because that's
where they're most likely to dry out. [Hack #3: Fill Piping Bags] If you pipe buttercream onto your cake,
either as a filling or for the frosting on the outside of the cake, you'll need
to put your buttercream into a piping bag. An easy way to do this that avoids
mess is to fold the top of your piping bag over a glass and then spoon the
buttercream into the bag, pushing it all the way down to the bottom. Then you can
unfold the piping bag and you'll have space to twist the bag to stop the
buttercream oozing out at the top of the bag and making a mess on the bag and
your hands. If you need to refill the bag you'll get air pockets between the old
buttercream at the bottom of the bag and the new buttercream at the top of the
bag so before you start piping, squeeze the bag into a bowl, pushing the old
buttercream out and wait for the squirt of air which will spray out some
buttercream with it, before you use the piping bag again. [Hack #4: Stop Cakes Sliding Around] When you assemble your
cake on a cake board, start by spreading or piping a dollop of buttercream on to
the middle of the cake board to secure the first layer of
cake, pressing the cake firmly down so that it sticks to the buttercream. This
will prevent the cake from sliding around while you assemble it but before
you frost it you should chill the cake in the fridge for 30 minutes or in the
freezer for 15 minutes, which will chill and set the buttercream dollop on the
cake board, causing it to stick more securely to that first layer of cake so
that it doesn't move when you spread frosting onto the outside of the cake. [Hack #5: Prevent Bulges In Your Frosting] If your fillings are more liquid than buttercream like fruit sauces or dulce
de leche you should use a buttercream dam on each layer of cake to contain the
filling. This is just a ring of buttercream piped around the outer edge
of the cake and then you can spoon the filling into the middle and spread it
right up to the dam. The filling shouldn't go any higher than the dam.
Place your next layer on top and push down to make sure that the filling
doesn't ooze out. This will prevent a bulge in the frosting on the side of
your cake where filling oozes out under the weight of the cake and fillings and
frosting on top of it. [Hack #6: keep Cakes Steady On The Turntable] Before placing your cake board onto a turntable, place a
ring of masking tape in the center of the turntable and press your cake board
down onto it to secure it in the middle of the turntable so that it doesn't
slide around while you're frosting or decorating it. You can use masking tape
or a non-slip mat for this and you can buy these non-slip mats as drawer liners
on Amazon or at grocery stores. You can see that even though this cake is really
tall, with a non-slip mat underneath the cake board and a dollop of buttercream
securing the bottom layer of cake to the cake board,
it isn't wobbling around as I frost it. [Hack #7: Prevent Crumbs In Your Frosting] This frosting is the next hack. It's
called a crumb coat and it's a thin layer of frosting that completely covers
the cake from the very top of the sides all the way down to the cake board at
the bottom, and the top surface of the cake as well. Its purpose is exactly what
the name suggests: a crumb coat is a coat of frosting to trap any crumbs that come
off the cake. It doesn't need to be pretty - it's fine if you can see the cake
layers through it and it will probably have visible crumbs in it but you're
going to let it set before applying the final coat of frosting,
which will sit on top of this and the crumb coat will act as a barrier between
the cake and the final coat so that crumbs can't get into the final coat of
frosting. If you're enjoying this tutorial please click the thumbs up
button! [Hack #8: Create Neat, Even Borders] A quick, easy, and therefore popular way to add a border to the
bottom of a cake is to use sprinkles. Place your cake on a tray for this, to
catch any falling sprinkles so they don't go all over your kitchen and
you'll need parchment paper for this hack. Fold a piece of parchment paper in
half and cut along the seam to make two strips of parchment paper and tape them
together to make one long strip. Wrap the strip around a chilled cake, covering up
the top section of the cake but leaving the bottom exposed where you want the
sprinkles to go. It's fine if the parchment strip doesn't go all the way
up to the top of the cake, just a few inches above the exposed area
where you're going to press the sprinkles is fine. The cake needs to be
chilled so that the frosting sets and gets cold and hard so it holds its shape
and doesn't get damaged by the parchment paper wrapped around it. Now just press
your sprinkles into the exposed frosting below the parchment strip using an
offset spatula or a spoon or your hands and when you peel the parchment paper
away, you'll leave a perfectly neat sprinkle border around the base of the
cake. [Hack #9: Decorate Cakes A Month In Advance!] After you frost and decorate your cake,
you can refrigerate it until the next day or if you want to store it for
longer you can freeze it, fully decorated. To do this, place your cake in the
freezer for 30 minutes to an hour to set the frosting and the decorations so that
they get hard and hold their shape for the next step. Then take the cake out and
wrap the whole thing (the cake and the cake board and any decorations on top) in
cling film or saran wrap. You'll need at least two layers to completely cover the
cake and the point of this is to prevent any condensation in the freezer getting
to the cake because any drops of condensation will stick to the outside
of the cake and can damage the decorations. Then put the wrapped cake
back in the freezer for up to a month, moving it to the fridge 24 hours before
serving it to defrost gradually. Unwrap the cake as soon as you take it out of
the fridge, while the frosting is still cold and hard and won't get damaged
while unwrapping it. [Hack #10: Beautify Cardboard Cake Boards] A quick hack to make even these cheap cardboard cake boards
look pretty is to wrap them in fabric ribbon. Squeeze clear craft glue all
around the edge of the cake board and the easiest way to do this is to hold
your hands still with the tip of the glue bottle against the side of the cake
board and then spin the turntable to apply the glue all the way around. Then
choose where the back of your cake will be and press the end of the ribbon into
that point on the cake board. Spin the turntable again, pressing your finger
against the ribbon as you go to keep it taut and to stick it to the glue. Fabric
ribbon works best for this because it's flexible and sticks easily and it also
looks pretty, especially if you choose a color that matches or complements the
colors of the frosting or decorations on the cake. When you get to the end, cut the
ribbon so that it will overlap the beginning of the ribbon by a little bit,
maybe half a centimeter, and then squeeze a dot of glue onto the beginning of the
ribbon and press the end against it. Make sure the width of the ribbon is the same
as the height of the cake board so that it completely covers the cardboard
edging but doesn't stick up above the top of the cake board. Don't
move the cake from the surface you did this on for about an hour, until the glue
has dried and the ribbon has stuck to the cake board, so if the cake is on a
turntable and you want to refrigerate it, put it in the fridge on the turntable.
And that's it! I hope you found these hacks useful.
Please click the thumbs up button and subscribe to my channel to see a new
cake decorating tutorials every week!
