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Improve Your Cake Decorating Results With Proper Cake Preparation

Creating a birthday cake for someone special brings joy both for the cake decorator and the cake recipient. Yet, achieving great cake decorating results also requires the fine-tuning of baking skills.

There are many important preparation steps prior to the actual cake decorating which directly effect how the cake looks. A few cake decorating tools and attention to the cake layers will result in a more even cake and fewer headaches.

Even Cake Layers:

As the cake layers bake, the outside rim of the cake pan heats the edges of the cake layer faster than the rest of the cake. Since the outside is baking faster, the middle of the cake rises higher, creating a hump. This problem can be avoided by using Magic Cake Strips around the sides of the cake pans. Once wet, the strips are wrapped around the sides of the cake pan and pinned in place. The strips cool the sides of the pan and allow the cake to bake evenly.
Cake layers exceeding 10" need a little extra TLC. Use a heating core in the center of the cake pan to conduct heat into the middle of the cake. A heating core is a doughnut-shaped metal ring that is greased and floured, placed in the center of the pan, and filled with cake batter. The mini-cake that bakes inside the heating core is placed in the center of the cake.

Even distribution of heat around the cake pan also effects the baking process. Place the oven rack in the center of the oven and the cake pan in the center of the rack. Air needs to circulate around the pan to heat it from all sides. Not all ovens heat accurately. If you suspect your oven gets too hot or takes long to cook, check the temperature. A cake baked too quickly in a very hot oven will be overdone on the outside and undercooked on the inside.

If you still find your cake has uneven spots, a cake leveler is a handy tool that makes trimming the excess cake away simple.

Assembling the Cake:

Allow the cake to cool for 10 minutes in the pan before inverting onto a wire cake rack. This gives the cake time to shrink away from the sides and allows the cake to come out of the pan without breakage. Invert the cake on to a wire rack and then invert it again. I do this twice to make sure the flat part of the cake is down. If you have any kind of hump and the hump goes face down, the cake layer will surely crack. The cake should cool entirely before proceeding. When cool, any excess cake can be removed.

Place the cake layer on a cake board. If you are filling the cake with anything besides buttercream frosting,I recommend you pipe a ring of buttercream frosting all along the outside of the layer being filled. This prevents the filling from leaking out.

Once the cake is filled,brush away any crumbs with a pastry brush. Applying a crumb coat will keep crumbs out of the icing. If you are decorating the cake with buttercream icing,you can simply thin it with a little milk and frost the cake. Warmed apricot jam also works well. Heat the jam in the microwave and strain it. Apply the jam to the cake with a pastry brush. Now the cake should be chilled to allow the cake to settle and the crumb coat to set. If you proceed directly to cake decorating, the filling will bulge out of the sides of the cake. Making the sides look attractive is virtually impossible when this happens.

Frosting the Cake:

Set the cake in the center of a lazy susan. Using a metal spatula, heap the frosting in the center of the cake. Work it back and forth while turning the lazy susan, but never actually touching the surface of the cake. If you smear the spatula into the cake,you may pull up crumbs, despite all the preparation. When the top of the cake is covered with icing, hold the metal spatula horizontal to the surface of the cake and pull it straight across the top. Remove any excess icing from the edges of the cake. Dot icing all around the sides of the cake with the spatula. The best tool to use for creating evenly frosted sides is a metal scraper. It gives you the best leverage for maintaining a straight edge as you frost. Turn the lazy susan as you hold the metal scraper perpendicular to the cake. Carefully lift any excess icing from the top edges with the spatula. If your icing is not perfectly smooth, allow it to crust for 15 minutes. Come back to it with a large piece of wax paper. Lay the wax paper on top of the cake and smooth your hands along the cake, starting from the center and working out towards the edges. Repeat this process on the sides of the cake, smoothing one area at a time.

Without a doubt, baking and decorating cakes is very time consuming, but minimizing the mishaps makes it more enjoyable and gives you the best results.

Cakes

The Cake Bible
The Cake Bible
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"If you ever bake a cake, this book will become your partner in the kitchen." -- from the foreword by Maida HeatterThis is the classic cake cookbook that enables anyone to make delicious, exquisite cakes. As a writer for food magazines, women's magazines, and newspapers, including The New York Times, Rose Levy Beranbaum's trademark is her ability to reduce the most complex techniques to easy-to-follow recipes. Rose makes baking a joy. This is the definitive work on cakes by the country's top cake baker.The Cake Bible shows how to:Mix a buttery, tender layer cake in under five minutes with perfect results every timeMake the most fabulous chocolate cake you ever imagined with just three ingredientsFind recipes for every major type of cake, from pancakes to four-tiered wedding cakesMake cakes with less sugar but maximum flavor and textureMake many low- to no- cholesterol, low-saturated-fat recipes

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Omaha Steaks 1 (6 in.) Chocolate Lover's Cake
Omaha Steaks 1 (6 in.) Chocolate Lover's Cake
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Our rich and seductive Chocolate Lover's Cake draws rave reviews from even the most seasoned chocoholics! A red rose adorns the top of the cake and chocolate shavings decorate the sides. Moist, indulgent and full of flavor, for an unforgettable finale to your most elegant meals. Serves 6-8.

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Rose's Heavenly Cakes
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This comprehensive guide will help home bakers to create delicious, decadent, and spectacularly beautiful cakes of all kinds with confidence and ease. With her precise, foolproof recipes, Rose shows you how to create everything from Heavenly Coconut Seduction Cake, Golden Lemon Almond Cake, and Devil's Food Cake with Midnight Ganache to Orange-Glow Chiffon Layer Cake, Mud Turtle Cupcakes, and Deep Chocolate Passion Wedding Cake.

Product Description At last an all-new, full-color cake lover's companion from Rose Levy Beranbaum, The Diva of Desserts! Rose Levy Beranbaum is a much beloved and widely respected baking legend-"a worshiped woman . . . revered by serious cooks and part-timers" alike, in the words of USA Today. Eagerly-awaited by her legions of devoted fans, Rose's Heavenly Cakes is a must-have guide to perfect cake-baking from this award-winning master baker and author of The Cake Bible, one of the bestselling cookbooks of all time. This comprehensive guide will help home bakers to create delicious, decadent, and spectacularly beautiful cakes of all kinds with confidence and ease. With her precise, foolproof recipes, Rose shows you how to create everything from Heavenly Coconut Seduction Cake, Golden Lemon Almond Cake, and Devil's Food Cake with Midnight Ganache to Orange-Glow Chiffon Layer Cake, Mud Turtle Cupcakes, and Deep Chocolate Passion Wedding Cake. Rose's Heavenly Cakes Features Rose's trademark easy-to-follow, expertly tested (and retested) recipes for perfectly delicious results every time Offers over 100 simply wonderful recipes for cakes for every occasion-from exceptionally delicious butter and oil cakes, sponge cakes, and mostly flourless cakes and cheesecakes, to charming baby cakes and elegant wedding cakes Features special tips and tricks from a beloved baking expert for creating amazing special effects and beautiful cake decor Contains 100 tempting full-color photos Visit Rose Levy Beranbaum at realbakingwithrose.com and learn basic baking techniques with her, including measuring, preparing, and mixing ingredients to make cakes and creating decorations to dress them up. Everything you need to create heavenly cakes-every time-can be found in this new collection of tried-and true recipes by one of the most celebrated bakers of our time. Recipe Excerpts from Rose's Heavenly Cakes Baby Lemon Cheesecakes Whipped Cream Cake Rose Red Velvet Cake

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CAKE's first album of new material since 2004's gold-selling Pressure Chief. The band will release Showroom Of Compassion, their 6th studio album, January 11, 2011. The album was recorded over the last two & a half years and was produced and engineered by the band themselves at CAKE's own solar electric powered studio in Sacramento, CA.

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Wilton Supreme decorating set. Decorate many advanced wedding, floral and basketweave cakes as well as basic. Includes metal decorating tips #2,3,5,7,12,16,18,21,32,47,65,67,101, 103, 104, 129, 225 and 352. 24 disposable decorating bags, two tip couplers, 5 icing colors, 1 flower nail, 8" spatula, storage tray and 40 page book!

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Showroom Of Compassion
Showroom Of Compassion
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Sweet And Simple Party Cakes
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Create over 40 simple yet incredibly stylish cakes for every occasion, from weddings and anniversaries, to birthdays, christenings and Christmas. Discover a variety of irresistible cake designs in all colors, shapes and sizes. This title includes a wide selection of sweet cupcakes and gorgeous minicakes to make when time is short.Explore a wide variety of quick and easy sugarcrafting techniques. Beginner and intermediate sugarcrafters will complete the projects with ease, while discovering professional sugarcrafting tricks.Easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions, simple recipes, and beautiful photography ensure mouthwatering results. Clever packaging ideas are also included to make your cakes look even more desirable.

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