Baking & Decorating
Tips & Tricks
Baking Tips & Tricks
- Test as many recipes as possible to find the best one. The chocolate cake
recipe your friend loves may not be what others will like.
- Use room temperature butter.
- For larger cakes (12" and above) lower the baking temperature to 325°,
use a heating core, or use a metal flower nail that has been sprayed and
inverted in the cake pan.
- Purchase the best quality pans you can afford.
- Do not over-mix the cake batter - it should still be a little lumpy.
- To ease clean-up, cut a piece of parchment to fit inside your cake pan.
Place it inside before pouring in the batter. The cakes will be easier
to remove and won't stuck. Remember to remove the parchment before icing!
Decorating Tips & Tricks
- Invest in a set of good quality tips (We prefer Wilton®)
- Feather-weight bags are light and durable, however they can be terrible
to clean. For best results, handwash them and only use butter-cream icing.
- Disposable bags are just as good as re-usable, and make clean up a breeze.
- Two colors of butter-cream can be put side-by-side in a decorating bag and
used to make fun whimsical flowers and decorations.
- Test as many butter-cream recipes as you need until you find one that
works best for you and what you are doing.
- To get the butter-cream icing on your cake smooth, dip your spatula in
hot water, then lightly towel-dry it off. Run spatula around the sides
of your cake.
- Another way to get smoothly iced cake is to wait for the butter-cream
to crust (about 15-25 minutes) and then lay a Viva® paper towel over
the cake and gently smooth with your hand. This creates a beautifully
smooth surface.
Mark It With A B! • Ventura County, California
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Webmaster: Richard Thomson • Contact: richard_thomson1@my.vcccd.edu
