Are you new to the world of cake decorating and you are afraid of making mistakes? Cake decorating is one of those things that many people are afraid to try for fear that they will make a mistake. The truth is that cake decorating can be a lot more fun if you are expecting to make mistakes, and if you are prepared to resolve any mistakes that may come your way. Here are some easy ways to cover your tracks in case something does go awry in the kitchen or on the decorating table.

Crumb Control – How to Keep Crumbs From Ruining Your Cake Decoration

Let us say that you have all of your special decorating tools out and you are getting ready to put the decorative touches on your cake. Everything is going fine until it comes time to decorate and you realize that you have a lot of crumbs on your hand. What happens when those pesky crumbs begin to get mixed up with your icing? This can literally ruin the way that your cake looks. Fortunately, there are few tips and techniques that you can use in order to solve the crumb control problem.

Use the Crumb Coat to Keep Things Under Control

One easy way to keep crumbs under control is to begin your cake decoration by applying a single crumb coat. What is a crumb coat? A crumb coat is an easy way to combat the problem of crumbs. The crumb coat is exactly what it sounds like—a thinner layer of icing that you apply to the cake. You can thin down your regular icing in order to create a specific crumb coat. You can use many liquids that are already at your disposal in order to create a crumb coat. For instance, you can use water or milk to thin down the cake icing. You have to thin down your icing just enough so that it remains stiff enough to be applied, but you don’t want it to be too thick.

Let the Crumb Coat Set Before Proceeding

It is very important that you let the crumb coat set before you move on to further wedding cake decoration. An easy way to set the crumb coat is to put the cake in the refrigerator and let it set there. You can let it set for at least an hour, but it is best to let it set overnight. The longer you let the crumb coat set, the best chance you have that the crumbs will essentially become glued to the cake. Once the crumb coat has been fully set, you are ready to proceed with the rest of the cake decoration.

How to Deal With Ugly Cake Bulges

Yes, cakes can take on their own set of ugly bulges. It is often the case that novice cake decorators fill the cake layers, but then find that the filling is bulging at the side of the cake. Fortunately, there are many different ways to take care of this minor decorating problem. One easy way to take care of cake bulges is to avoid them altogether. You can avoid cake bulges by baking the cake well in advance of decorating it. This will give the cake time to settle. Cakes that have been freshly baked are considerably unstable and simply won’t hold in their filling as well as previously baked cakes.

Use the Dam Technique to Avoid Cake Bulges

Another easy way to take care of the cake bulge problem is to create a dam using your icing. It is a common problem for layered cakes to bulge from an overflowing of filling. Use piped icing to create a kind of dam. This will keep your filling from bulging.

If you have discovered away to prevent or solve a cake decorating mistake, please add them to the comments.