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| Use star tip No. 22 to pipe shell top and bottom borders in alternating colors. |
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| Along the bottom border of the cake, extend the border onto the sides of the cake by piping a repeating 'el' with star tip No. 16. |
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| Use an airbrush to extend the sky and sand to the cake top and sides. |
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| After applying the edible design, airbrush the cake top yellow, with the color getting darker closer to the edge. Outline the borders in lavender. |
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| Pipe bunches of grapes with open tip No. 10. Begin with a single grape, then add rows of two, three, four, three and two to complete the bunch. |
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| A cake and cupcake platter is ideal for any team celebration. Decorate the cake and cupcake in corresponding colors with the edible design. |
An advantage of working in a bakery in 2005 is the labor saving products that have been developed through out the past few decades. This is readily apparent in the decorating department. Creative and innovative edible and non-edible products are constantly being developed to help attractively finish cakes and desserts and appeal to customers of any age. However, to make your cakes stand out from your competitors, you need to enhance the suppliers' edible designs and make them truly your own.
When placing the edible design on the cake, remember that it is delicate and handled carefully. To apply, start with clean, dry hands, and carefully remove the design from the backing. Use it immediately after removing the backing, so it will not dry out. Apply the design to an iced cake, and press lightly with your fingertips to gently smooth the design. Decorative edible designs may be applied to traditional buttercream icings, non-dairy icings, royal icing or fondant. If the buttercream has formed a crust, spray the icing with a fine mist of water before applying the design. Non-dairy icings need no additional misting, but royal icing and fondant need a generous misting. Some of the designs are licensed, but the copyright fee was paid when you purchased it, and other designs are generic. The licensed designs are more expensive, so consider that when pricing your cakes.
However, if you purchase licensed cake kits with design cards, cakes must be decorated according to the card. For more information on licensed decorations, turn to RBA's show coverage on page 68.
For birthdays, a simple and colorful Happy Birthday image works well. Base ice a quarter sheet cake with white icing, and apply the design. Then, airbrush the cake top and sides with splashes of vivid color. Finish with top and bottom shell borders piped using star tip No. 22 in bright colors to match the airbrushed pattern. This cake will appeal to children and adults of any age.
For a man's birthday or other event, design a cake to highlight his hobbies or career. This tool belt design works well for a variety of hobbies and careers. Base ice a quarter sheet cake with white icing, and airbrush it brown before applying the design. Use star tip No. 16 to pipe a blue reverse shell top border. Along the bottom border, use the same tip to pipe a repeating 'el' pattern that goes up the side of the cake. Add an inscription with open tip No. 3 and red icing. Place colorful tool-shaped sugar decorations to help enhance the tool belt design.
Summer fun
With summer right around the corner, an inviting beach landscape is sure to be a hit with customers. After applying the edible beach design, airbrush the background by extending the sand and sky and adding some wave shapes. Also, airbrush the sides of the cake as if they were the ocean floor. Add some seaweed along the edges of the cake using dark green icing and leaf tip No. 352, and light green and brown icing with open tip No. 3. Pipe white puffy clouds using open tip No. 10 in the sky. Complete the scene and add dimension and color by incorporating sugar ornaments, such as fish, seashells, pail, shovel and ball.
Help a little leaguer celebrate his first home run by offering a baseball theme cake and cupcake platter. I used an 8-in. single layer cake and six cupcakes, but more may be added as requested. Base ice the cake with white icing and comb the sides. Ice the cupcakes to match using a large star tip. Use star tip No. 22 to pipe a red shell top border and blue shell bottom border. With the same tip, add stars to the side of the cake, and top the cupcakes with rosettes. Add sugar shapes to the cupcake centers that match the baseball theme center cake design.
For religious celebrations, such as First Communion and Confirmation, this chalice and bible design works well. Place the design on an 8-in. base iced cake, and smooth it with your fingertips. Airbrush the top of the cake yellow, allowing the color to darken as it nears the edge, and air-brush the top and bottom borders of the cake lavender. Fit a parchment bag with star tip No. 18, and stripe the inside of the bag with purple icing, then fill it with white icing. Pipe a bottom shell border and a top triple 'e,' reverse triple 'e' border. Along the sides of the cake, pipe a green vine using open tip No. 3. Add leaves using leaf tip No. 352. To add a handcrafted appeal to the manufactured design, pipe bunches of purple grapes along the top of the cake using open tip No. 10. Start at the bottom of the bunch, and pipe the first grape using a shell motion. Add two grapes to the next row, three grapes to the following row, four grapes to the next row, and then rows of three and two grapes. Complete the bunch by layering some grapes on top of the bottom layer. Pipe several bunches on top of the cake. To complete the grape bunches, add some green vines and leaves.
I chose to feature just a few of the products that are available to you from bakery suppliers. Use the designs regularly to make your job easier and more productive. By enhancing supplied edible and non-edible decorations you can create one-of-a-kind cakes that will keep your customers coming back for more.