8 Reasons Why Your Cakes Still Look Amateur

in this video I'm giving you eight  reasons why your cakes still look amateur hi it's Karolyn if you want to learn how  to make and decorate amazing amazing cakes   then I would love for you to join me by hitting  subscribe and the Bell so today I want to talk   about well first of all before we get started  I have a new microphone and it is driving me   insane I'm trying to figure out how to work  this rode and I don't know if it's working so   apologize if there is an echo or if if the sound  doesn't doesn't sound right um it's just like a   learning curve that I have with this and I'm just  trying to figure everything out but in this video like I said I want to give you eight reasons  why your cakes still look amateur and not   professional and I just want to put a disclaimer  out there that I am not the best cake decorator   ever but I have improved and these are the  things over the past 20 years that I have   improved upon that I have noticed have taken my  cakes to another level and when I first started   I was just like everyone else I was a beginner my  cakes weren't always as good as they are today I   do have a video showing you my cakes from the  beginning and how they've progressed over the   years and I will link that in the description so I  am going to give you pictures of cakes that I did   years ago versus cakes that I did once I learned  these techniques so you can see the difference all right number one the most important  thing that I feel is most important   is to start with a smooth surface so you want  to be able to get to get your buttercream and   your fondant very smooth because if you  have a crisp clean surface to work with   then everything is just going to look so much  better so let's start with this Handy Manny cake   but many of my other videos but first of  all look at Manny and this is why I don't   want to 3D figures his legs are like he  only has thighs he has no calves no knees   but anyway we're not looking at Manny look at how  this cake is iced in buttercream how the the edges   are rounded and the buttercream just isn't as  smooth versus this Handy Mandy cake that I did   a couple years later where I have sharp edges on  the top and the buttercream is really smooth so   it really makes a big difference in how the cake  would look and I do have videos showing you how I   get sharp edges and how I ice smooth buttercream  cakes and those will be listed in the description and to show you an example of fondant this  topsy-turvy cake that I made and I was so proud   of it when I did it but looking back I'm like yeee  the um the fondant is not smooth at all because I   didn't have a smooth surface underneath to cover  the fondant with and I covered it when the cake   was warm and it's just bumpy and lumpy and it  it just looks amateur versus this topsy-turvy   cake that I did a couple years later where  the edges are sharp and everything looks so   much better so you can see the different  that a smooth surface makes in your cakes all right number two is to have level tiers and  I think I've shown this cake in other videos   but this cake do you see how the front corner is  just kind of drooping down a little bit and it's   not even the tears aren't level aren't straight  across and they droop or on a round cake if it   isn't level basically you want it to be level  it's just gonna look a little off versus when   I did this cake and this was a wedding cake  and it's a square cake and let me tell you I   did this there's a black background on here so  this was probably like 10 years ago that I did   and it's probably probably the last Square  cake that I made because it drives me crazy   and that's because doing square cakes involves  an entire labor-intensive practice if you will   that I just ain't nobody got time for that but you  just wedding cake everything is sharp and square   and level so you have to be able to take the time  to make everything level and it's just going to   look so much better and I'm sorry I don't have  any videos why am I going like this showing you   how I do square cakes just because I haven't made  one in forever because it makes me a little crazy   but if I do make a square cake in the future I  will film how I make it and I show you how to   ice smooth level cakes in my buttercream icing  cakes video it'll be linked in the description the third thing that is keeping your cakes looking  amateur is not thinking outside of the box when   it comes to serving sizes and I have a video  talking about this how I use different size   cake pans and different heights to get visual  interest out of my cakes and I will link that   in the description but if somebody asked for  a cake to feed 30 people do you automatically   just do a six inch and an eight inch I want you  guys to start to think outside of the box and   get different heights of your cakes and different  sizes to to build a little more visual interest   so I have two examples for this the first one  are cakes to feed 60 people so this this very   first cake is one that has a little pram on the  top and this is a 12 inch on the bottom and an   eight inch on the top and this is one of those  examples of those cakes that I say I don't do   anymore because they're short and wide and they  just don't look great right so what I like to do   instead is build a little build it a little taller  so it's not so short and wide like I did in this   cake the bottom tier is 10 inch the middle tier  is a one layer eight inch and the top tier is a   six inch and this cake feeds 60 as well and again  I do explain in that video how I do like shorter   tears and taller tears to get different serving  sizes and that is linked in the description and   just to give you another example of this uh cakes  to feed 40 people so this little black dress cake   is 9 inches and seven inches and this was still  again back in the day where I made cakes that   were short and wide and you can see there's so  much space on that top tier I just feel like it   doesn't look right versus doing this cake which  also feeds 40 but do you see how the bottom tier   is a tall tier so it's a double barrel cake and  I actually have a video showing you how I make   a double barrel cake and that will be linked in  the description but this is a double barrel seven   inch cake and a five inch cake on top and it just  I just feel like narrow tall cakes look so much   better than short and wide ones does anyone else  agree with me I think people have to agree I just   feel like those short and wide cakes are just an  old school way of doing it so try to think outside   of the box when you are creating your cakes  to get different heights and different sizes number four that is keeping your cakes looking  amateur is not having clean crisp decorations on   your cakes and I'm going to show you examples  of Casino themed cakes and you could see this   one I'm gonna try to zoom in do you see how  there's cornstarch on the chips on the top like   I seriously Karolyn you couldn't take a brush and  just dust that excess cornstarch off and also I   use buttercream and wrote on the roulette number  why is it so hard to say I wrote the roulette   numbers on which it looks okay but it still just  looks a little too amateur and also I did that Las   Vegas sign with edible markers I did not have an  edible printer at the time so that's what worked   best for me however it's not perfect right like  it just doesn't look right versus this casino   themed cake where I did the Vegas sign I printed  out an edible image of it it looks so much more   crisp and clean and the numbers on the roulette  wheel on the cake board I use tappets and I have   a video showing you how I use tappets they can be  a little bit a little bit of a pain in the butt if   you don't know how to use them correctly but the  tappets look so much better than the buttercream   numbers and also I clean the decorations I I  don't let the cornstarch stay on there I wipe it   off with a dry brush or you can steam the cakes or  use a little bit of shortening to get rid of any   excess cornstarch or imperfections that would  be on the cake so make sure you take the time   to make the decorations look crisp and clean and  that will make your cakes look more professional all right the fifth thing that you may be doing  that keep your cakes looking a little amateur   is writing on them instead of doing fondant  decorations now now I do still write on my   cakes from time to time I guess it all depends  on the design but I'm going to show you two very   similar cakes that one has writing and one has  fondant so you can see the difference so this   was a cake a candy themed cake that I did so  many years ago and it was one of my favorite   cakes at the time I was so proud of this one but  can you see the number one and the name I wrote   on there so I did a pattern transfer basically  I can show you how I do that I'll link a video   below showing you how I do that I transferred  the letters on the cake and then I trace them   with buttercream versus this cake which is very  similar but for the number one and for the name   I cut the letters and the numbers out of fondant  and it just looks so much more crisp and clean   and I have videos showing you how I do  fondant names and numbers and that will   be linked in the description so it does  take a little bit more time to hand cut   all the letters but it's totally worth it  it makes your cakes look so much better so the sixth thing that could be keeping  your cakes looking amateur is not adding   any depth to your decorations by using dusts  and airbrushing so to show you an example this   little rubber ducky in a in a wooden barrel  I did this years ago this was probably in   2008 2007 something like that but it's before  I had an airbrush machine before I knew about   dust and you see the wooden panels it the cake  is nice but it just doesn't look very exciting   right versus this wooden barrel cake that I did  and I actually have a video showing you how I   do that and that will be linked below and this  one I put more detail in the wood and I use my   airbrush on there to get more depth and more  interest do you see how it just looks a lot   better having different shades of coloring  in there and also another example showing   you this little fortnite hamburger thing I've  never played fortnite I don't know what it is   but anyway do you see on the left so I made it  just the fondant and then I shaded it in with   petal dust and you see how it brings the piece  to life it just makes your pieces and your cakes   look so much better if you take the time to use  dust and airbrush machines to color them in and   an airbrush machine is a little pricey but once  you have it it's totally worth it you're going   to use it all the time so I will find the one  that I I have and Link it in the description the seventh thing that you are doing that could  be keeping your cakes looking amateur is doing   predictable designs and I hope I can explain this  correctly I will use pictures to show what I mean   so I did this Superman cake years ago and it  was a very popular design back in the day just   a Superman and the cape and it's a nice cake but  it needs to be a little bit more exciting right so   fast forward many years later I have the topper  standing up and I have a little edible image   Superman on there and I have some fun and  decorations it's just brought to another level   it just looks a little bit more exciting than that  plain Superman cape and this example this bowling   cake so this one is nice I feel like it's a plain  simple design and I feel like it's predictable   because the topper with the ball and the pins  why'd I do that the pins on top and the ball   right like I use the I in the name as as a pen and  that's a little creative but I feel like it could   be taken to another level so a recent bowling  cake that I did I did some splatter paint in the   background we have the little bowling ball with  a birthday hat on it and I made the name a little   bigger and I have like bowl and strike I think  there's like other words on there so I tried to do   like when I'm doing something like this I  I would Google something like bowling clip   art and just see what kind of pictures come  up to help give me some ideas of what I can   put on the cake but do you see how doing the  splatter paint in the background versus just   having the plain ice cake it just takes it up to  another level and side note I found this bowling   picture I did a bowling cake years ago for  my friend's grandfather and look at the ball   this isn't why is it flat and then kind of  round like oh geez so if I did this today I   would use a Styrofoam ball rather than trying  to use rice krispies or cake I don't even know   what I did with that but you see how I put a  border around it like maybe that'll hide it   anyway I just wanted to put that in there and  show you and one more example of a predictable   design is polka dots and Stripes so I found this  cake that I did years ago that has polka dots and   stripes on it and it's all right it's cute but  look at the stripes and the polka dots while I   did try to be a little different with it I  lined up the polka dots in a row right and   I did different colors of the stripes and I put  like a little stitching detail on there I I feel   like it just doesn't look like a wow cake like  it could look so much better and I also don't   like how the stripes come all the way up the  bottom tier and then on the top okay I just I   don't know it's just a way that we used to do them  but I don't do it like that anymore instead I do   something like this and I have a video showing  you how I make this cake and that'll be linked   below but do you see how the stripes they stop at  the very top and they're all next to each other I   just feel like it looks so much better when the  stripes are touching and in the silver Stripes   I did a little bit of texture on it and the polka  dots as well I did different colors and different   sizes and I kind of pushed them all together  I just I know so you can think outside of the   box and do stripes and polka dots a different way  that doesn't make it look so plain and predictable and numeral eight wait numero eight numeral the  final thing that I feel like I used to do that   kept my cakes looking really amateur and maybe  you're doing it as well is doing things that   you don't like to do and I always go back to if  you watch my videos you know I don't like doing   3D figures because we saw what Handy Manny looked  like and that big fat monkey that I made I just I   I don't like doing them and when I first started  making cakes I thought that's what you had to do   you have to make 3D so I found two dimensional  figures which I feel like I'm so much better at   and maybe you hate doing two-dimensional and  you love doing 3D you find the thing that you   like to do and you get really good at it and  it just makes your cakes look so much better   so look at this 3D elephant that I did and he's  okay like it's it's not bad it's not great he's   just an elephant versus the elephant I did on  this circus cake and he's two-dimensional and   he's adorable right and I do have a video showing  you how I make why do I always do this like I'm   whispering I don't know I have a video showing  you how I do that circus themed cake and that'll   be linked in the description so no shame in my  two-dimensional character game right it's just   something that I found that I like to do and in  turn my cakes look more professional because I'm   much better at doing the two-dimensional figures  and also I don't like making sculpted cakes and   the other I think last week I posted a video on  how I do a sculpted hat cake that's pretty easy   versus doing this stupid car and I'm still mad  at Colleen for making me make this cake for her   um and she I saw her not too long ago and  she's like we loved that cake I mean it's   it's not horrible again it's not great it's  not horrible I've seen car cakes that look   so much better but now if somebody asked me to  make a car themed cake I do something like this   for the car again it's two-dimensional  and it's it's not a 3D car but it still   looks nice and I feel like the cake looks  much more professional doing it this way so there you go there are my eight reasons  why your cakes might still look amateur and   I encourage you guys just to practice it doesn't  come immediately I've been doing this for 20 years   and every cake that I make I didn't love but it's  a lesson learned if something didn't turn out the   way that I liked it I knew to do it differently  the next time and again I have tons of videos   showing you how I do all of these techniques  that I went over and they will be linked in   the description so I think that's it if you guys  have any questions or comments leave them below   and you can keep in touch on socials and check  out my website it's listed in the description   if you want to stick around you can watch  this video next and hit subscribe in the   Bell if you haven't already please like  this video if you liked it thank you so   much for watching and remember it's cake  have fun I will see you on the next one bye

Channel: Karolyns Kakes

Views: 48,486

Keywords: cake, cakes, amateur cakes, how to make cakes look professional, professional cakes, beginner cakes, how to make cakes look better, make better looking cakes, making the best cakes, how to bake a cake professionally, how to make cake professionally at home, making cake professional, how to ice a cake professionally, cake professionals, cake pro, expert cake decorating, how to be a better cake decorator, how to bake a professional cake, how to, bake, fondant, icing, karolyns kakes

Id: 6uKdMQHRM8k

Length: 18min 8sec (1088 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 27 2022