Maggie David

December 10th, 2009 by Maggie

Yes, more on Cakes, for all of you have asked!

A cake is not a cake unless it is decorated well. It might seem a difficult task, but once you learn the techniques the “how to of icing” a cake becomes easy you can cultivate it as a wonderful and engaging hobby!

However before you learn the art of how to of icing, you may have to run to the local market to buy a few essentials that include: confectioners’ sugar, shortening and almond extract.

One of the prime reasons why every cake maker should master the art of how to do icing is because the icing is the first thing people notice in a cake! Quick and easy to make, here are some tips to get you started:

• When Beating  the essentials as mentioned above do it at a slow speed for about a 1 minute. Then mix it on high speed for about 3 minutes more. In case the icing turns out to be too thick, add a few drops (only a few) of water – as thin icing can spoil the decoration.
• Regarding the shortening, do not replace it with butter or margarine as then the icing would turn off-white. In stead of liquid food coloring, use colored paste as they do not thin the icing.
• Take a knife with long blade, so that when you spread the icing, it gets smooth texture. To apply icing on rough areas, dip the knife in hot water and then run the blade over such areas, taking care not to press it too hard.

Another tip is If you are doing the icing for a cake for children, you could use animal shaped cake pans to cook the cake batter in as they can win the acceptance of children almost immediately.

After you have got the first few steps of “how to” do icing right, you could make elegant designs on your cake.

However, remember to let the cake sit for at least 4 hours, after the icing is complete on the top and sides of the cake. This allows the icing to harden.

Need Frosting and Icing Recipes? 

Then I invite you to click here

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