How To Decorate A Buttercream Cake

There is no right way to decorate a cake. There is frosted cakes, naked cakes, and fondant cakes. There are simple decorations like flowers and frosting borders. There are also elaborate decorations made of fondant, modeling chocolate, or gum paste. This post is going to be an informative post about decorating a buttercream cake, my favorite.

There is no exact science for decorating a cake. Many professional bakers do it in different ways with different tools and still come out with beautiful results. This post will help even the most novice baker make a very beautiful and very classic buttercream cake that can be enjoyed for many different occasions.

The first step is to make sure you have all the tools that you will need throughout the whole process. Making sure you have all your tools out and ready before starting the process will help to keep you organized and minimize the mess you will make. Tools I use include: serrated knife, offset spatulas (small and large), piping bag with tip inside, bench scraper, turntable, pastry brush, blow torch, cake boards and a tray for the refrigerator. You’ll also need a baked cake, simple syrup and already made buttercream frosting.

I start off by putting my uncut cake on the turntable. I place it directly in the center of the turntable. I take my knife and level off the top of the cake. I do this by placing my knife in one spot and turning the cake on the turntable in the direction of the serrated edge. This trick helps to keep the cut even all the way around because your aren’t sawing with the knife. Then I do the same thing two more times to make three even layers of cake.

After cutting the cake, I take it off the turntable and clean off the crumbs that have accumulated. I place one layer of the cake back on the center of the turntable. I take my pastry brush and dab simple syrup on the full layer of the cake to help make sure the cake isn’t dry. Then I scoop butter cream frosting into the center of the cake and use my small offset to spread out an even layer. The layer of buttercream should be about 1/4 inch thick. Once that is done I put down the second layer of cake on top of that and repeat the same steps. After there are two layers of cake and two layers of buttercream frosting I place the last layer of cake on top.

This layer will not get soaked with simple syrup and it will get a very small amount of frosting on the top and sides of the cake. I use my small offset to carefully cover the top of the cake with a thin layer of frosting. Then I use the same offset and put a straight thin layer all around the sides of the cake. This layer does not need to look perfect and it is very thin, almost see through. This layer is called the crumb coat. It will hold in all the cake crumbs to make sure they are unseen in the finished product. Once this step is complete place the cake in the refrigerator for ten minutes to let that layer fully harden.

While the cake is in the refrigerator clean up the turntable and area you are working on. There has to be no crumbs at all so they do not get into the finished product. After ten minutes take the cake out of the fridge and place it back on the turn table. Scoop a generous layer of the buttercream on the top of the cake and use the large offset to make an even flat surface of butter cream about 1/4 inch thick on the top of the cake. Take the butter cream that has fallen to the side and spread it even all the way around the cake in an even layer. This is the hardest part. Now you want to get flat even sides. Take the bench scraper and place it vertical to the cake resting on the turntable. Spin the turn table in one movement to make straight flat sides to the cake. My tip for this is to warm up the bench scraper with the blow torch, this will help to melt the frosting off evenly and create a uniform look.

After this is done you’ll want to move the cake onto the cake board. Using your small and large offset carefully place them underneath the cake and move it from the turntable to the center of the cake board. Once placed in the center of the cake board move the whole thing back onto the center of the turntable. This is when you’ll make your borders to the cake.

On the circumference of the top of the cake you’ll place a rope border. This is done using the piping bag with a star tip inside. You’ll create even pressure on the bag while moving your hand in a circle. Turn the cake at the same speed and you will get a nice rope border.

The bottom where the cake meets the cake board you will create a shell border. Using the same piping bag and tip you’ll place the tip on the crease of the cake and the board. Apply heavy pressure and lighten as you pull your hand back. This will create a clean border that hides the ugly crease.

Lastly I decorate with chocolate writing if the customer wants writing otherwise you can put fondant animals, gum paste roses, or chocolate deco on top to decorate.

This is how you get a beautiful and simple buttercream cake.