The Cake Decorating Technique That's Perfect For Beginners

Cake decorating is a unique skill that usually has nothing to do with how well one can bake a cake. Renowned baker and decorator Buddy Valastro even shares that there's a significant difference between baking and decorating. Baking is extremely scientific while decorating is more about artistry and precision. With decorating, the decorator gets to play with colors, textures, and designs, while baking requires exact measurements or weights. One mistake with the measurements and the entire baked good could be ruined.

If you've successfully made or bought a cake, the next step is to decorate it. We know decorating can be intimidating and you definitely don't want your final piece to resemble a "Nailed It!" fail. Of course, you can jump right in and attempt to make buttercream roses or fondant shapes, but we recommend starting out with a much easier technique. According to the Walton Blog, a layer cake should be first frosted with a crumb coating. A crumb coating is made with a very thin layer of frosting around the entire cake. It's not meant to be pretty, instead, it's meant to hold in all the crumbs and prep the cake for additional layers of frosting and decoration.

Instead of worrying about gathering all the must-have decorating equipment, this decorating technique is simple and made to impress.

According to Southern Living, the best technique for inexperienced decorators is to drip the frosting over the cake. This technique involves using loose icing or a ganache and letting it naturally drip down the sides of the cake. Not only is the technique easy, but it also looks beautiful too. An added benefit of the drip frosting is that it helps hide any imperfections on the cake.

In order to create the perfect drip, you'll need to make a ganache. A ganache is simply a glaze made from melting chocolate and cream. While you can use white chocolate and color it with food coloring, you can also use dark chocolate for a rich, brown color. Once the ganache recipe is made, simply pour it on the top of the cake and use the back of a spoon to spread the ganache to the edges. You can use the spoon to gently coax the drips down the side of the cake. If you're feeling fancy, you can add some fresh fruit or crushed nuts to the top for some extra pizazz.