How to decorate a cake so that it takes its rightful place on the festive table? This is not as difficult as it might seem at first glance. You will need some products, some tools and a little inspiration.
Decorating a cake at home can be a fun shared activity if you involve the kids and anyone else who is interested. Cakes are decorated using cream - this is the most common method, since buttercream is very flexible and holds its shape well. You can also use mastic, fruit, chocolate icing, caramel, as well as nuts, fruits, jelly, and even real fresh flowers as cake decorations.
You can find many articles on the Internet that explain in detail the method of preparing this or that material for decorating cakes. It is advisable to maintain the compatibility of products. It is believed that you need to decorate a cake with ingredients that are at least 70% in the cake itself. That is, if your cakes are coated with protein cream, then you should decorate with protein cream, not butter cream, at least the butter content should not be more than 30%. The same goes for other decorations. Chocolate cake better decorate chocolate icing, not protein cream. Delicate biscuit With fruit cream- fruit, not buttercream, and so on.
Cake decorated with “Basket with cream” cakes and chocolate ganache. Everything is sprinkled with nuts on top.
Decorating with protein cream, drips of chocolate glaze and fruit is a very simple and elegant, win-win option!
And here is a cake decorated with white and dark chocolate shavings! Nothing complicated, right? But very stylish: dark chocolate cakes alternate with white cream, the top is also decorated with dark and white chocolate chips.
Risky option: decorating with scoops of ice cream. You can take a risk if you decorate the cake right before serving and are sure that it will be eaten right away (at least the ice cream will be eaten). The ice cream goes well with the whipped cream.
Sponge cake with protein cream, chocolate ganache and berries.
And here is the chocolate icing flowing beautifully down the sides of the cake and the buttercream rosettes that hold their shape perfectly.
These beautiful flowers can be made from raspberries and sliced almonds. Simple and elegant!
Another interesting way: decorating a cake using chocolates.
Here great way decorate children's cake at home - protein cream lined with pieces of colored jelly, reminiscent of pieces of colored glass. Very fun and childish!
To make these buttercream roses, you will need some skill with the nozzles. pastry syringe. But with some training, nothing is impossible. It is more difficult to achieve a beautiful blue color from natural ingredients(I don’t recommend unnatural dyes to anyone). Although I think there is blueberry juice added to the white buttercream here.
A cake decorated with fruit always looks great. Plus, decorating with fruit isn't too difficult, it's not too expensive, it's not a hassle, and it's healthy!
The main thing is to have an idea and a creative mood, and then you can lay out the most unexpected patterns from pieces of fruit and berries.
Stencils are often used to apply designs to cakes. They make the cake look impressive. Although this looks technically difficult, it is actually quite easy to do.
Ingredients:
1) Royal icing or
2) Cake covered
Although Swiss meringue buttercream (and by extension cream cheese) can be used with stencils on cakes, it has the advantage The thing about these two types of cream is that it dries quickly, giving you the ability to work quickly. If you want to cover the cake with buttercream, you need to cool the surface of the cake thoroughly before using the stencil.
Of course the cake can be decorated butter cream, like the cakes in the photos above, but today we will tell you how to work with a cake covered with fondant, which creates a dry and more stable surface to work on.
Tools:
(4) Pins or needles
(5) Rotary table
Procedure:
(1) Bake, assemble and cover the cake with fondant.
(2) Prepare royal icing or mix ready-made icing.
(3) Place your stencil on the sides of the cake. Make sure the stencil fits snugly onto the surface of the cake and press it down using a fondant iron. If there are gaps between the stencil and the cake, the icing will get underneath and ruin the design you are trying to apply.
(4) Secure the stencil to the cake using a few pins or needles around the edges. Be careful not to press too hard on the cake when placing the stencil. You may want to pre-punch holes in the stencil with pins before attaching it to the cake to avoid damaging the cake when puncturing the stencil.
Using a spatula, spread a generous amount of royal icing onto the stencil, making sure all holes on the stencil are covered.
(6) After covering the stencil with icing, remove the excess with a spatula. Be careful not to remove too much frosting. About 1-2mm of icing is required to make the pattern look good.
(7) Remove the pins from the stencil and peel it off, working slowly and carefully, being careful not to smear the design.
(8) Let the icing dry for about 5 minutes before using the stencil on the rest of the cake. You can place the cake in the refrigerator for a couple of minutes to speed up this process. Oil cream Swiss meringue will take longer to harden. Make sure to continue where the previous pattern left off. Repeat all steps until all sides of the cake are covered.
Important: Remember to wash and dry your stencil after each use to keep your design lines crisp. To do this, rinse the stencil under running water and dry with paper towels. Be gentle when doing this so as not to damage the stencil.
This is how luxurious a cake decorated with royal icing using stencils can look.
If you are looking for stencils to decorate cookies and cakes, then stencils from are what you need. We develop original stencils for more than 3 years and have accumulated more than 700 models! We have everything from whimsical children's stencils to intricate designs for creating Victorian designs. Our stencils are made of transparent film for precise application of the design. In your kitchen, you can decorate cakes, cookies, cupcakes, and breads with our designer pastry stencils. They will help you easily apply beautiful designs to baked goods for holidays, weddings and gifts. Custom designs and sizes are our specialty! Our staff of talented artists and graphic designers will help turn your concept, image or sketch into a custom stencil. We've made stencils from photographs of lace fabrics, corporate logos and monograms - even from a photograph of a person! From concept to cutting, we guarantee you will be pleased with the timing and outcome of our work.
Photos used in this article@grated_nutmeg, @Sassymouthphoto.
Text by Lyubimov A.S. 2017
Handmade chocolate decorations for cakes, pastries, cookies and more homemade baked goods – aerobatics pastry chef Of course, you don’t have to overthink it and decorate the cake with chocolate the way your grandmothers did - just melt the bar with cream, and then coat the top and sides of the confectionery with this liquid mass. But you can try and make a chocolate decoration of simply unearthly beauty, similar to real masterpieces.
What kind of chocolate is suitable for decorating a cake?
When choosing which chocolate to make cake decorations from, purchase only quality product. High-quality chocolate makes beautiful glossy decorations. Currently, chocolate glazes are used to make chocolate decorations, which are replaced with various equivalents of cocoa butter. These glazes are very convenient to use due to their significant fluidity, but taste qualities they are inferior to real chocolate - couverture.
Despite long-standing domestic traditions chocolate production, interest in this product on the part of consumers and manufacturers is constantly growing, because chocolate can be used to make a variety of decorations for cakes and pastries: line drawings, three-dimensional figures, bas-reliefs, openwork details and much more. When decorating cakes with chocolate, you can give full rein to your imagination.
Popular trends in working with this product include “marble pattern”, “velor finishing”, “decals”.
As you can see in the photo, chocolate decorations can become real original sculptures:
Such compositions are not much inferior to those carved from stone or cast from metal.
DIY chocolate decorations (with photos)
Do-it-yourself chocolate decorations are made on the surface of cakes and pastries: geometric patterns, drawings of flowers and leaves, various drawings of thematic content. It is prohibited to use dyes other than those approved for use by the Ministry of Health. When decorating products, they use special techniques and various devices.
Chocolate decorations at home are made from chocolate candies and 100-gram bars. To decorate cakes with chocolate chips, the chocolate is cooled and then kept slightly at a temperature of 25-30 ° C - then when cut with a knife, the chocolate curls into beautiful straw. Heavily chilled chocolate crumbles, but soft chocolate does not produce shavings.
Look at the photo - decorating cakes with chocolate can be made in the form of twigs, trees, rockets, numbers, letters, antennae, outlines of animals and birds:
To do this, it is broken into pieces, melted in a water bath (so as not to burn) and poured into a small parchment cornet. A drawing is selected. Tracing paper or cellophane is placed on it and chocolate is deposited from the cornet along the visible contours. These homemade chocolate decorations are placed in a cold place, and after hardening, they are removed from the paper with a knife and transferred to a cake or pastry.
Before making a chocolate decoration in the form of a vertical pattern, a “leg” is pre-planted on which it will be fixed in the right place. Chocolate oak leaves are very elegant on the cake. To make them, draw a small oak leaf apply tracing paper and first draw a contour from the cornet with chocolate, and then fill in the middle; with the back of a knife, draw a line in the middle of the sheet, and from it on the sides - short oblique lines, thus imitating the veins of the leaf. After this, the remaining leaves are made.
It is not difficult to make decorations in the form of flat figures from chocolate for homemade cakes: for this, the melted product is poured onto parchment paper in a layer of 3 mm and grooves greased vegetable oil, cut out various figures. Chocolate for decorating a cake at home should not be hard, otherwise the figures will crumble.
Chocolate decorations for cake at home (with video)
For cooking volumetric jewelry To make chocolate, one- and two-sided molds made of plaster, porcelain, clay, plastic and metal are used. Such forms are fastened together using clamps. The molds are thoroughly cleaned of chocolate residues and wiped dry with a clean cloth so that the figures and bas-reliefs can be easily separated, then they are heated to 30°C and filled with chocolate at a temperature of 29-30°C. Chocolate is poured into double-sided, interconnected molds through the bottom hole; the mold is shaken well for 2-3 minutes and turned over to avoid voids from air bubbles and to ensure that the chocolate is evenly distributed. After filling, place the mold with the hole down and pour out the remaining chocolate, leaving a layer of 2 to 4 mm on the inner walls.
If the shapes are large and have a complex pattern, the chocolate is applied with a brush. The filled forms are cooled in the refrigerator at a temperature of 10-12°C, and then the figures are cleaned from the seam formed at the gluing site.
The video “Chocolate Decorations” shows how various figures are made:
To make chocolate jewelry, you don’t have to come up with complex designs, but simply make a chocolate pyramid. Before making such a chocolate decoration for the cake, first draw the contours of the pyramid details on cardboard with a pencil and cut out a template. A design is syringed from the cornet: the lines of the design are thinner, the edges of the pyramid are thicker. To make the pyramid harder, add cocoa butter to the melted chocolate. The parts are cooled in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours, then their reverse sides are processed.
The pyramid is assembled like this: two parts are placed on a board with their flat sides facing each other and chocolate is squeezed out along the edges, the halves are compressed and cooled. Place it vertically on the cake and glue the remaining 3-4 parts to the sides, allow the pyramid to harden and additionally decorate the cake with marzipan and sugar mastic flowers.
As you can see in the photo, you can also make DIY chocolate decorations from a chocolate substitute. It is prepared from 15% cocoa, 45% butter, 40% powdered sugar and 10% (of the total mass) vanilla sugar. First, a quarter of all the butter is warmed to 45 ° C, add vanilla sugar and cocoa, then the rest of the butter is mixed with powdered sugar and all the products.
Decorations made from glaze can be immediately applied to the product or prepared for future use. In the second case, they are “planted” on sheets covered with parchment paper and dried for 12 hours at room temperature.
The most simple decoration is the application of straight or wavy lines to the surface of the product, smeared with cream, using a pastry comb. It can be made from tinplate, aluminum, plastic. The size and style of the comb teeth may vary.
The master class on decorating cakes with chocolate below contains interesting information about this product, reveals how tempering is carried out, as well as the technology for preparing figurines, leaves, curls and shavings that will give festive look any cake.
Equipment for chocolate decorations on a cake: stencils and cornets for chocolate
Before making complex chocolate cake decorations, you need to stock up special devices. First, you will need cornets or pastry depositor bags with a set of tubes. The cornet is made from tracing paper, parchment or other thick paper that does not absorb fat: cut out a right triangle and roll it into a conical tube. The protruding ends of the leaf are bent inward to secure the root. Its sharp end is cut depending on the pattern that they want to get. The cornet is filled halfway with cream or glaze and closed tightly so that when pressed, the cream or glaze is “deposited” only from the bottom hole. With the help of a cornet, inscriptions, dots and subtle elegant designs and flowers are applied.
To make chocolate decorations, you can make a piping bag. To make it, use thick fabric (tik eraser is best). The bag has a cone shape; various tubes are inserted into its narrow end. A new bag must be boiled before use. After work, the jigging bags are washed in warm water, mixed with baking soda, and boil for 3–5 minutes, dry and store in a specially designated place.
Depositing tubes for making decorations for chocolate cakes are made in the form of a cone, the end of which has a shaped hole, from which the cream is deposited in the form of various decorations. Sometimes a confectionery depositing bag is used, into the narrow end of which a conical ring with a screw thread is inserted; tubes of different styles can then be screwed onto it.
To fill a pastry depositor bag with cream, hold it with your left hand, unfold the bag and place the cream with a spatula or spoon to fill 1/2 of its volume. The cream must be placed tightly, as remaining air can ruin the design. With both hands, connect the edges of the bag and, squeezing it right hand, “pipe” the cream, holding the narrow end of the pastry bag with the left.
A variety of chocolate designs for decorating cakes is achieved not only by different styles of tubes, but also by zigzag or wave-like movements of the cornet or depositing bag, slow or instantaneous changes in the pressure force with the right hand, the angle of inclination relative to the product being decorated, the distance from the product, etc.
Before finishing any design for chocolate decorations, you should stop applying pressure. pastry bag and with the end of the tube make a sharp short movement forward along the pattern.
Various openwork chocolate decorations are made by depositing cream from metal shaped tubes inserted into a depositing bag. A set of 10–12 tubes with different cut configurations allows you to make all the variety of decorations needed for decorating pastries and cakes. But most often they use tubes with smooth and straight, jagged and wedge-shaped cuts.
Stencils for decorating cakes with chocolate can be useful - especially when you need a lot of decoration elements (for a festive banquet or children's table). You can also create a hybrid: for example, make some parts of the composition using a stencil for chocolate decorations, and others by original cutting. The stencil for chocolate decorations has a metal base. Place it on appropriately prepared raw materials and press firmly, cutting through the flesh in the shape of a butterfly, leaf, fungus or any other figure.
Here you can see a photo of the “Chocolate Decorating Tools” that you will need to create the drawings:
Decorating the sides of cakes with liquid chocolate cream with your own hands (with photos and videos)
To decorate cakes with chocolate cream, use only freshly whipped product; standing cream will result in patterns without gloss and pockmarked.
Lines – straight, zigzag, wavy – when decorating a cake liquid chocolate carry out with a pastry comb heated in hot water, lightly pressing it against the smooth edge of the cream. Flowers, figures and patterns are made by squeezing cream out of shaped tubes inserted into a depositing bag. The most delicate drawings and figures of a certain shape or color are made using a cornet, the narrow end of which is either cut off or a shaped tube is inserted into it.
When making openwork chocolate decorations for cakes, the cornet is filled halfway with cream and closed tightly so that when pressed, the cream comes out only at the cut point. It is better not to hold the cornet with cream in your hands for a long time: the cream heats up by hand, becomes liquid and the drawings turn out uneven. After twisting, the cornet is freed from the remaining cream.
To decorate a cake with chocolate with your own hands, fill the depositing bag as follows: unscrew the wide end of the bag so that it rests on the left hand, and with your right hand, using a spoon, fill the bag with cream to 1/2 of the volume. There should be as little air as possible left in the bag, as it will spoil the drawings. Then, with both hands, connect the edges of the wide end of the bag and, pinching it with your right hand, release the cream, supporting the narrow end with your left hand.
When making chocolate cake decorations at home, depending on the wavy or zigzag movements of the cornet or bag, slow or instantaneous changes in pressure with the right hand, changes in the angle of inclination relative to the product, and changes in the distance from the surface of the product, a variety of cream designs are achieved. After completing the beautiful chocolate decorations, you need to stop pressing on the bag or cornet and use the end of the tube to make a short movement forward from you along the design, then the rest of the cream will fall in an inconspicuous smear. If you lift the bag or cornet up, then a cone of cream will remain in the picture.
To prepare small chocolate decorations for the cake, to make dots and inscriptions, the narrow end of the cornet is held close to the surface of the product to be decorated. You can fill bags and cornets with creams in advance different color. This will make the chocolate decor for decorating the cake more varied and vibrant.
If you need to make a rose from cream, first cut out a small cake from the sponge cake (or take candied fruit, profiterole, etc.) - the core of the rose. The core is secured on a stick with a pointed end and a cork placed on it or on a table fork. In the left hand they hold a stick with a core, in the right - a pastry bag with a straw. By turning the stick, cream is squeezed onto the core. When the rose is ready, remove it from the stick with a spatula or fork, holding it with the fingers of your left hand, and place it on the cake or pastry.
As you can see in the photo, when decorating a cake with chocolate at home, you can weave a basket of the same or different colors:
The basket can also be made from biscuit ( shortcrust pastry), gluing the layers chocolate cream or fruit filling. The basket is placed on a stand (for example, a plywood circle) with the wide side down and, lifting one side, a weave of cream is applied. When the cream has hardened, the basket is placed on the cake. A handle is made from caramel or special dough (composition: flour, powdered sugar and egg white) on top of the basket. Flowers or sweets are placed in the basket.
To decorate the sides of the cake with chocolate, you can decorate them with borders of cream. By the way, borders are made before all other cake decorations. Borders serve not only as decoration, but also cover gaps, cracks, and smooth out the edges of the cake. They are mainly made using a smooth straight-cut tube or a tube with fine teeth.
The video “DIY Chocolate Decorations” shows various confectionery techniques:
How to decorate a cake with chocolate with your own hands: making flowers
Flower-shaped chocolate cake decorations look very nice. In addition to roses, carnations are often made. They are syringed from a flat tube with an oblique cut. The sharp corner of the tube is placed motionless on the surface of the cake or pastry and they begin to squeeze out the cream, turning the opposite end of the tube 180°C around the motionless end with wave-like movements. Exactly like that, but in reverse side“collect” the second row of petals, etc.
It is advisable to complement cream flowers with leaves. They are planted from tubes with a wedge-shaped cut of various diameters. The leaves can be green, brown, yellow and even white.
You can make a border or an entire design entirely from leaves. Leaves look especially good on small cakes. Words, names, numbers, congratulations and wishes are often written on cakes and even pastries. For inscriptions to be expressive, there must be a contrast between the inscription and the background. For example, you can't do chocolate inscription on chocolate or write with white cream on white icing.
The inscriptions are syringed from a small cornet with a very narrow round cut or using a metal “pencil” tube. Protein, custard and butter creams of various colors and shades are used. But there should not be even the smallest lumps in it, otherwise it will get stuck at the exit from the tube or cornet, and you will get uneven, broken lines. You can also write inscriptions using two-color cream. In this case, the cornet is filled with cream of two colors in longitudinal stripes.
Watch the video “Chocolate Cake Decorations” for some fresh ideas:
How to make a cake decoration using tempered chocolate
From tempered chocolate you can make a variety of decorations for cakes and pastries - full-volume figures, bas-reliefs, flat thin figures, “jigging” ones, etc.
For full-volume figures, it is better to use metal molds of two halves with clamps. When pouring chocolate, the mold and the chocolate must be at the same temperature. Chocolate is poured through the bottom hole of the mold and shaken for 2-3 minutes so that the chocolate is completely distributed over all patterns. Then the excess chocolate is poured out. A layer of chocolate 3–4 mm thick forms on the inner walls of the mold. After the chocolate has cooled and hardened, the mold is released from the clamps, the figure is opened and removed. Most often, bas-reliefs are made from chocolate.
To obtain flat thin figures, tempered chocolate is poured onto parchment in a layer of 2–3 mm, allowed to harden a little, and the figures are cut out with a notch.
To “deposit,” tempered chocolate is placed in a cornet and “deposited” on parchment in the form of continuous patterns and so-called tendrils. Tempered chocolate, cast into a bar and then cooled until almost completely hardened, is cut into thin wide chips with a knife, which roll into tubes when dropped.
Making chocolate figures for cake decoration
Chocolate is an excellent material for decorating cookies or cakes; it will add a festive look to any baked goods. To decorate the cake, it is better to use a chocolate mixture. It hardens at room temperature and melts easily in a water bath.
Line a baking sheet with parchment and lightly grease it with vegetable oil. Break the chocolate into small pieces. Place it in a water bath and melt without water. Pour onto the parchment, guiding with a round-tipped knife to form a thick, even layer. Leave in a cool place until the chocolate is almost completely set. Use a knife or dough cutter (star, flower, etc.) to cut out shapes. They should be stored in a cool, dry place.
Chocolate squares- a simple and effective way to decorate a cake or holiday dessert. Line a baking sheet with foil. Spread 200 g of melted chocolate in an even layer and gently move the fork to create a wave effect (make sure the tines of the fork do not touch the bottom of the baking tray). Refrigerate until the chocolate is half set. Using a sharp knife and a ruler, cut the chocolate into squares with a side of approximately 6 cm. Place the baking tray with chocolate decorations in the refrigerator until they completely harden. Remove the foil. Gently press the chocolate squares onto the top and sides of the frosted cake. They can also be used as a topping for ice cream desserts.
Chocolate decor for decorating a cake: grated shavings, crumbs, petals and curls
Chocolate chips and crumbs. To decorate the cake with grated chocolate, use a sharp knife to cut off the shavings from the chocolate bar. It is better to remove the shavings over a plate, using smooth movements. Before decorating the cake with grated chocolate, it should be warmed up, but only enough so that it is easy to work with. Leave the chocolate in a warm place for 10-15 minutes. You can spoon the shavings onto the cake or shake them off. Decorating with chocolate chips is done in the same way, only it is rubbed finer.
Chocolate curls. Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a water bath. Spread a thin layer on a smooth board. Set aside until the chocolate is almost set. Pull the blade of a large wide knife towards you along the entire length of the chocolate, getting long curls.
Chocolate petals. Cut the foil into squares. Melt the chocolate in a water bath, then cool slightly. Place the square of foil on your palm. Using a spatula or spoon, spread a thin layer of chocolate onto the foil. Form a petal. While it is still soft, lift your fingers slightly under the foil to slightly bend the petal, giving it a natural shape. Leave to cool. When the chocolate has completely hardened, remove the foil. Using melted chocolate you can make a flower from the petals.
Homemade chocolate cream dessert
Chocolate cream
Ingredients:
- 100 g chocolate by weight,
- 1/2 cup milk,
- 3 yolks,
- 4 squirrels,
- 2 tbsp. spoons of powdered sugar.
Pour milk over the chocolate broken into pieces and place in the oven to melt. Then grind it with a spoon, gradually adding one yolk at a time until a fluffy mass is formed. Beat the whites into a thick foam and carefully mix with the chocolate mixture. Place the cream in glasses and sprinkle grated chocolate mixed with powdered sugar on top.
Note. This cream must be prepared shortly before serving and kept in the refrigerator, otherwise the whites will fall off and the dish will be spoiled.
Cocoa karem
Ingredients:
- 400 g butter (unsalted) butter,
- 250 ml milk,
- 200 g sugar,
- 3–4 tbsp. spoons of cocoa powder,
- 2 eggs.
Heat the milk in a water bath, add cocoa, stir, pour in the eggs mashed with sugar, cook until thickened, stirring occasionally, then remove and cool.
Beat softened butter until white. Then add the cooled mixture to it. Beat the cream until it reaches a homogeneous consistency.
Custard chocolate cream
Ingredients:
- 1 cup flour,
- 1/2 cup milk,
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar,
- 1 tbsp. l. cocoa powder,
- 50 g butter.
Cooking method. Bring a homogeneous mixture of cocoa powder, granulated sugar, flour, milk and butter to a boil over low heat, stirring constantly. The cream will be ready after it boils and thickens.
How to prepare chocolate icing for cake decoration (with photo)
Recipe No. 1
The easiest way to prepare chocolate glaze is from chocolate. This product can be used as a cream for cakes, or simply spread on cookies.
Ingredients:
- 200 g chocolate,
- 100 g of water,
- 25 g butter.
Dissolve the chocolate and water in a water bath. Mix with butter. Spread the warm glaze over the cake and let cool.
Recipe No. 2
To make this glaze you only need 2 ingredients.
Ingredients:
- dark chocolate (at least 56%) – 0.6 kg (3 large bars),
- “Krestyanskoye” oil – 0.3 kg.
Chocolate icing from chocolate is prepared in a water bath, so first we will select containers: you will need 2 of them, of such a volume that one is immersed in the other, but at the same time, water poured into a larger container should not be poured into a smaller one.
So, set up the containers, pour some water into the larger one and put it on the fire. When the water is hot enough, melt the butter - it melts easier and faster. Gradually add finely chopped chocolate to the liquid butter. Stir continuously, because the mixture quickly thickens and begins to burn at the walls. When all the chocolate has melted and the glaze has become homogeneous, it is ready.
Thus, from butter and chocolate, a mirror-like chocolate glaze is obtained. However, this is a fairly high-calorie product.
As you can see in the photo, when decorating cakes with such chocolate glaze, it glitters very beautifully:
Chocolate glaze made from cocoa and sour cream
Ingredients:
- sugar – ½ cup;
- sour cream with a fat content of at least 20% - 150 g;
- vanillin – 2 sachets;
- cocoa powder – 4 tbsp. spoons.
Preparation:
Since it is not recommended to heat sour cream, it is better to grind the sugar into powder - this way it will dissolve more easily. Mix the dry products: grind cocoa powder with powder and vanilla. If you use vanilla sugar, grind it too. Add sour cream to the mixture a little at a time to avoid lumps. Mix thoroughly until smooth, shiny, homogeneous mass. You can use a mixer, then the chocolate icing for the cake will be more airy.
You can make a rich glaze by adding cocoa to chocolate - this the recipe will work, if you couldn't find chocolate with high content cocoa. We'll tell you how to make chocolate icing from cocoa powder, chocolate and milk.
Chocolate and cocoa glaze
Ingredients:
- mirror chocolate glaze;
- cocoa powder – 4 tbsp. spoons;
- sugar – 1/3 cup;
- milk – ½ cup;
- dark chocolate – 1 bar;
- butter – ¼ pack.
Preparation:
Heat the milk and dissolve the butter with it. Gradually add chocolate chips, cook until the ingredients are completely combined, stir. Mix sugar with cocoa and pour in the milk-chocolate mixture in a thin stream. Grind until the sugar dissolves. This chocolate glaze must be applied very hot for decoration.
Light chocolate icing for decorating cakes and desserts
What to do if you need to decorate a dessert, but at the same time you want fewer calories. To do this, you need to cook a light cocoa glaze.
Ingredients:
- sugar – 1 glass;
- water – 0.5 cups;
- cocoa powder – 2-3 tbsp. spoons.
Preparation:
To make this glaze for decorating desserts with chocolate, first of all we prepare the syrup: add sugar to hot water and cook the mixture over low heat for so long as to get a drop that does not spread on the nail. As soon as the syrup is cooked, add cocoa little by little, thoroughly grinding it with the liquid. Quite quickly the sugar will begin to crystallize at the walls. If you don't rub the mixture, it will burn, so be careful and careful. The glaze hardens quickly, so it must be applied warm.
It is not necessary to cook cream to decorate dessert. If the cake contains jelly, it is hot chocolate layer cannot be applied. In this case, we will prepare the glaze without heat treatment.
How to make chocolate fondant for cake decoration
Ingredients:
- 75 g softened butter or margarine;
- 225 g powdered sugar;
- 3 tbsp. l. water;
- 2 tbsp. l. cocoa.
For cooking chocolate fudge you need to mix 1 tbsp. l. hot water and 1 tbsp. l. cocoa, cool.
Mix oil and powdered sugar. Beat with a mixer on low speed, gradually adding water until the fudge is smooth.
Frost the cake with the chocolate decoration prepared according to this recipe and decorate it in accordance with the theme of the holiday.
How to melt chocolate to decorate a cake
To make a product or decoration from chocolate, you need to prepare it, that is, melt it. There are several nuances in how to properly melt chocolate to decorate a cake. Several methods can be used.
First way , how to melt chocolate for decoration - use the microwave, it's very simple.
Second way How to melt chocolate to decorate a cake - use a water bath. To do this, place the container with chocolate in a pan of hot (not boiling!) water.
Third way How to properly melt chocolate for decoration - use a double boiler. You can also melt chocolate in it.
Fourth method - oven. Heat it to 60-70 degrees, place a container with chocolate there for 10-15 minutes. The fifth method is a steam bath. The container with chocolate should be kept over boiling water.
A liquid mass is not always required, so the process will need to be controlled.
Chocolate doesn't like sudden changes in temperature, so don't start melting it when it's cold. Wait until the product warms up to room temperature.
Melting point of white or milk chocolate is 45 degrees. But the bitter one dark chocolate It will melt only at 50-55 degrees Celsius.
How to make openwork chocolate designs to decorate a cake
Openwork drawings – great option cake decoration.
You will need a brush (it is better to purchase a special culinary brush, it is simple and convenient to work with), a pastry bag or plastic bag, dark and white chocolate.
To start, you will need to cover the entire cake with chocolate, which you will use for the background (other chocolate will be used to create the designs). To do this, melt it until liquid state in any way. Coat the cake with the mixture using a pastry brush.
Let the glaze dry completely.
Start melting the other chocolate. It should also be quite liquid.
Transfer the chocolate to a piping bag. You can replace it with a regular plastic bag by making a small hole in its lower corner.
Start creating! Draw different patterns, show your imagination!
Master class on making butterfly decoration for a cake
Prepare everything you need in advance: chocolate (you can use white or dark), cling film and a plastic bag (or pastry bag), cutting board or any other hard surface.
What do we have to do?
Melt the chocolate in any way until liquid, transfer it to a pastry bag (or a plastic bag with a hole).
On cutting board spread cling film.
Start drawing butterflies with liquid chocolate on cling film. If you use two chocolates (white and dark), the decoration will be more impressive.
When the drawing has hardened a little, move it to the refrigerator until completely hardened.
Remove the jewelry from the refrigerator and carefully peel off the film.
Place your butterflies on the cake.
Decorating the cake with balls of chocolate, nuts and cookies
Chocolate balls with nuts
Ingredients:
- cocoa 3 cup;
- sugar 1 glass;
- milk 3 cup;
- butter 150 gr;
- walnut 150 gr;
- shortbread cookies 400 gr;
- coconut flakes 1 sachet;
- egg 1 pc.;
- cognac 1 tbsp. l;
- vanillin 1/2 tsp.
Preparation:
To decorate the cake with nuts and chocolate balls, mix cocoa, sugar and milk. Add chopped butter and put on fire. We are waiting for it to boil. Let cool.
Add the egg, vanilla, cognac and beat well.
Chop the nuts in a coffee grinder (you can roast them first, it tastes better) and add to the mixture.
Grind the cookies (a meat grinder is your friend here) and add to the mixture.
Mix well and make balls. We envelop each ball in coconut flakes. Beautiful!
Place the balls in a pyramid on a plate and place in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours.
Bon appetit!
Chocolate balls with cookies
Ingredients
- 250 g cookies;
- 150 g dark chocolate;
- 50 g butter;
- 2 tbsp. l. Sahara;
- 1 glass of milk;
- coconut flakes or colored dragee.
Grind the cookies. Melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler or microwave oven. Add milk and sugar, stir until a homogeneous mixture is obtained. Add crushed cookies. Stir and make balls from the resulting dough. Roll the finished balls in coconut flakes or colored dragees. Chocolate balls for decorating the cake should be placed in the refrigerator for several hours.
The selection of photos “Decorating a cake with chocolate at home” clearly illustrates all the above recipes:
Chocolate chips for decorating cakes
If you grind the chocolate on a grater, small strips, separated from the bar, will twist into spirals and are perfect for the role of the top layer. Moreover, improvising with colors (black, milky and white), they come out interesting combinations, or even entire edible paintings. Before you get to work, place the chocolate in a warm place, softening it a little. You can also create curls by hand: you need to get used to cutting thin strips with a well-sharpened knife.
And for the sake of perfectly even chips, the technique will have to be adjusted. To do this, you will need ready-made chocolate glaze, which must be applied in separate strokes to the grooved surface and placed in the freezer to harden.
When the mixture has set, carefully scrape the mixture and transfer it to the cake. Don't stop your imagination with a solid background. Such small particles are also used to create works of art. It is important to place the chocolate decorations on the cake quickly so that they do not have time to melt on your fingers or stick to each other.
Chocolate cookie decoration
Ingredients:
- 1 part vanilla shortbread dough;
- ground cinnamon added to flour;
- 400 g of a mixture of different whole nuts;
- 175 g plain chocolate, broken into pieces;
- 175 g milk chocolate, broken into pieces.
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease the base and sides of 2 short pans and line each with a sheet of parchment. Oil the paper.
Divide the dough between the pans and pack it tightly into the pans. Sprinkle with nuts so they are evenly distributed. Press them into the dough with your hands until they hold tightly.
Bake for 40 minutes until the nuts and edges of the cakes are golden. Carefully remove them from the molds and transfer to a wire rack.
Melt the milk and dark chocolate in separate bowls set over pans of simmering water. Leaving the cookies on the paper, carefully cut each cake into strips 2 cm wide.
Place the pieces on the rack so they are 1-2cm apart and drizzle a thin stream of melted dark chocolate using a dessert spoon. Then drizzle milk chocolate on top and leave in a cool place until the chocolate hardens. Cut each strip in half lengthwise.
Cookies with chocolate decorations can be stored for about a week in a tightly sealed container.
Recipe for poured chocolate figures for cake decoration
Such figures can be poured from melted chocolate using generally accepted casting technology. Just having a form is enough. Purchased in the confectionery department silicone molds desired theme and fill them with melted chocolate, cool, cool to a solid state, remove from the molds, turning them inside out. If you don't need big ones chocolate products– pour the chocolate into the molds in a thinner layer. Once poured, smooth the surface with a thin spatula or table knife.
In the absence of bulk molds, you can use shaped recesses, which we usually use for molding cookies or gingerbread. Place a sheet on a flat tray parchment paper, place the molds and pour chocolate into them in a layer of the thickness you want, trying to get into the center of the cavity so that the chocolate does not stick to its sides above the intended layer. When using notches chocolate mass It's better to be thicker - let the melted chocolate thicken a little so that it doesn't spread too much from under the grooves on the parchment. After cooling chocolate figurines until solid, carefully squeeze them out of the cut-out forms, cooling your hands and wearing gloves so as not to leave fingerprints. Until the figures have completely hardened, they can be further decorated - notches applied with a knife or a special cutter, or pressed with mesh or other textured objects, according to the intended decor. Anything you press onto the surface of the chocolate will leave its mark on it. Such massive chocolate figures are used in confectionery compositions if they are intended to be picked up, for example, to fill baskets or to create a voluminous center of a confectionery composition.
And in conclusion, another video “How to decorate a cake with chocolate”, which will help you cope with this difficult task perfectly:
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Previously, I didn’t think much about a cake for a holiday, I just went to the store and bought the one I liked or had a good price. But after the birth of my child, I began to look more carefully at the ingredients, and in some products I didn’t like the ingredients at all. I decided that I would bake the cake myself for all the holidays. Which I still cope with very well, but there are difficulties. And it lies in the fact that you want to serve a beautiful and elegant dessert.
But I don’t know how to make mastic, and it’s not always possible to get the right cream consistency, so I started thinking: how and how to decorate the cake at home. I decided to devote a separate article to this; the options I found turned out to be very beautiful.
Very convenient cakes like Count's Ruins or Rotten stump, because already in the process of cooking they become decorated and self-sufficient. But not everyone knows how to make them or wants to diversify the tea menu. Then we bake a sponge cake, manna cake or sour cream cake and serve it to the table. But you won’t give it regular cake guests at the event, it must be brought into an appropriate and elegant appearance. And now you start racking your brains to come up with something like this. Personally, this happens to me every children’s birthday.
I have identified the main decoration options for myself:
- Berries
- Fruits
- Powdered sugar and coconut
- Chocolate, candy
- MmDeMs
- Marshmallow
- Chocolate glaze
Somehow it doesn’t always work out with jelly, so I won’t consider this option.
Below we will look in detail at step-by-step photos of decorating a cake with your own hands for a child.
Of course, these ingredients can be used separately, but they look richer and tastier all together.
Did you know that before decorating, the sponge cake must be ready for assembly? It should lie in the refrigerator for about 12 hours, and only then be divided into parts into cakes.
The cream can also be different, for example, you can make protein, butter, cream, cheese. By the way, you can make the cheese yourself for the cheese cream, I wrote about it quite recently.
How to decorate a cake with berries
With the coming summer season add color to the cake with fresh berries. When it’s winter outside, use frozen ones for decoration, but take a closer look at those that retain their shape.
They can even be simply piled up, the main thing is to create the effect that there are a lot of fruits. A feeling of Abundance is created.
Any berries are suitable for creativity; contrast looks especially beautiful - red, blue and dark. If you have a child's birthday, then take seedless fruits, for example, blackberries, raspberries, victoria, currants.
You can lay them out in a semicircle, in several rows, and sprinkle with cocoa and powdered sugar.
You can express contrast or use only fruits of the same color, as in the photo.
You can use flowers or leaves to complete the picture, but each stem should be wrapped in film before sticking into the cake so that the cream does not sour.
How to decorate a cake with fruits
Fruit slices are used more often with the onset of cold weather, when fresh berries few people have access to.
It is better to decorate the cake with fruits that do not turn black, for example, banana - very aromatic and soft product, but its weathered appearance can spoil the impression, so replace it with tangerines, kiwis, apricots, plums or peaches. It is also better to remove apples fruit basket for the same reason.
Or cut only oranges with leaves or mint.
And here is another example of a cute palm tree made from the most affordable fruits.
Simple and beautiful, and, most importantly, completely doable!
How to decorate a cake with cream
But where would we be without cream flowers? After all, this material has many options for creating a pattern, and quite simple ones that any housewife can repeat.
To add color to the cream, you can use juices: cherry, pomegranate, beetroot, carrot. But, you can also buy food coloring, then you will have more choice.
If you don’t have a pastry syringe, you can create an analogue from a sheet of parchment by folding it into a cone and cutting off a corner. You probably did this as a child, remember?
So there is a very simple way to decorate using a teaspoon and a pastry syringe or replacing it.
Squeeze a drop of cream from a syringe onto the side of the cake and lightly grease the edge with a spoon, and so on along the entire side.
The photo shows the step-by-step principle of operation.
If you add its dye, then you can create an ombre effect, as shown below.
Using this technique, you can make a fish cake by adding several elements from mastic or berries.
Or you can simply run a knife or fork over the cream and create texture.
What do you think of the idea? I will definitely use it, it looks very elementary.
Ideas on how to decorate a cake with MmDeMs
The idea of a multi-colored decoration broke my stereotypes. Not entirely useful, but it makes the task so much easier! If you lay them out in the colors of the rainbow or come up with your own list of colors and patterns.
And you can just pour it on the cake in a chaotic manner, you can lay out a rainbow, you can choose only the colors that you need! And there are many more different options.
Or you can cut a circle in the cake and pour candy there, then the festive dessert will also be a surprise!
This makes for a very bright design and looks very festive and fun. The kids will definitely love it.
There is an option to decorate the cake using chocolate straws or Kinder chocolate.
Place the tube to the side along the perimeter of the cake, and pour the candies inside.
To strengthen the structure, the cake is wrapped with ribbon so that the sweet fence does not fall apart.
Decorate the cake with powdered sugar
I started using stencils to decorate cakes a few years ago. It’s very simple, but it turns out so beautifully. Moreover, I didn’t buy stencils, but simply transferred the design I liked onto thick paper. It looked like it was the moisture-proof side of a tea box. I cut everything out with a stationery knife and still use it.
Some of my friends homemade templates laminate. Then I shook off the powdered sugar or cocoa and put them away.
They are placed on the cake and sprinkled with powder.
It is advisable to choose a closed ornament that can be easily cut out. Below are design options using powdered sugar and cocoa.
And once I saw the process of decorating the cake, also using powder, but using a napkin.
It turned out very nice! The lace and ornament stood out strongly against the black glaze. I didn't even need cream.
Ideas on how to decorate a cake with chocolate
There are fans chocolate decor cakes. And I also think that melted chocolate will add zest and additional flavor to the dessert. If you don’t have enough melted chocolate, you can pour only the top of the cake and create an imitation of drops on the end. As in the photo, it turned out quite nice. And, most importantly, I didn’t have to invent anything extra – everything was natural!
It is important here not to smear this drop on the side of the cake.
I show you how to do this step by step below. Before decorating, you need to cool the cake very much and take the cooled glaze, which will already harden during the process.
Apply a little glaze around the perimeter and use a spatula to start pushing towards the edge.
As the icing flows down the cold side of the cake, it will have time to harden.
Another option for using chocolate is to grate the chips with chocolate bar using a blade or knife. This option looks beautiful with contrasting white cream.
Also a great decoration idea. chocolates, bars, long waffles covered with chocolate icing and everything that can be dipped in chocolate, but have different shapes.
You can use more expensive candies, such as Raffaello or assorted.
How to decorate a cake at home with step-by-step photos
I present an option for decorating with cream and strawberries. This option always works, even if the cream turns out to be thicker. And strawberries are always a welcome guest on a birthday cake.
So, after your sponge cake is prepared, we cut it into cake layers. We coat each cake with cream and assemble the cake.
The top edge needs to be cut off a little to get a smooth surface.
You need to start coating with cream from the sides, you need to apply a little cream, spread it evenly over the cakes with a spatula.
The cream needs to be cooled first, because as it cools, marks from the spatula or spoon remain on it.
Then we squeeze donuts out of the syringe around the circumference, and place identical large strawberries in the middle.
The entire decorating process will take about fifteen minutes. And even uneven spots on the cream can be turned into decoration.
At your discretion, you can add pieces of marshmallows, a couple of candies, for example, chocolate-covered peanuts or marmalade.
I really hope that the options I’ve discussed will greatly help some busy mothers and housewives to quickly and beautifully prepare a holiday dessert and collect rave reviews from guests.
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Classic confectionery decorations for cakes (cream, fruit, meringue, chocolate, jelly) are familiar and tested by many housewives who are fond of confectionery baked goods. However, sometimes you need to prepare a special cake with a spectacular decoration - for an anniversary, wedding, New Year or other holiday. Advice will be useful in this matter experienced confectioners who know how to make a cake decoration and can turn ordinary sour cream into a culinary masterpiece.
Mastic - sweet confectionery plasticine
Mastic is an elastic confectionery material made from powdered sugar, reminiscent of plasticine; various figures, flowers, reliefs, three-dimensional inscriptions, plot compositions are sculpted from it, or the cake is completely covered with it. To prepare mastic you can use special tools- rolling machines, scrapers, stencils, molds and figured knives. With absence confectionery equipment use a regular board, rolling pin, knife, cling film and cookie cutters. Mastic is tinted with natural or artificial food colors, but this is done on initial stage preparation - when mixing ingredients. To reduce the sugariness (after all, a lot of powdered sugar is used), lemon juice is sometimes added to the mixture.
Types of mastic and the subtleties of its preparation
The viscosity of the material is given by starch, gelatin, condensed milk, chocolate, marzipan, honey, marshmallows and marshmallows. In accordance with this, they distinguish different types mastics - gelatin (pastillage), marshmallow, milk, sugar and honey. Pastilage hardens quickly, but remains elastic, so it makes spectacular flowers. Honey mastic is very soft and pleasant to sculpt, just like milk mastic - it has a very beautiful snow-white color and pleasant texture. Some confectioners add a little oil to the mastic to make it more plastic.
Preparing mastic is not very difficult - all the ingredients are thoroughly mixed, and sometimes heated in a water bath, if this is specified in the recipe. If necessary, add a little more powdered sugar, which acts as flour when kneading the dough. The board and rolling pin are usually sprinkled with starch so that the mastic does not stick, and the finished confectionery “plasticine” is stored in cling film. And an important point - decorating cakes with mastic usually begins when the top layer of cream has hardened.
Making your own mastic
Gelatin mastic is made from 2 tbsp. l. gelatin powder, which is mixed with cold water, and after swelling, the container with gelatin is placed in a water bath for several minutes until it is completely dissolved. Add 450 g of powdered sugar to the gelatin, “knead” the mastic, roll it into a ball, and then wrap it in cling film.
Chocolate mastic - very tasty and beautiful decoration for, to prepare it you will need 100 g of dark chocolate, melted in a water bath, and 90 g of marshmallows, which are added to the melted chocolate. First, it is recommended to keep the marshmallows in the microwave - literally for a few seconds so that they soften. In this case, it is necessary to carefully stir the mass all the time so that it does not burn. When the marshmallows are half melted, add 40 ml of cream with 30% fat content, 1 tbsp. l. butter, 1-2 tbsp. l. cognac, mix well and add 90-120 g of powdered sugar. First, knead the mastic with a spoon, and when it becomes thicker, do it with your hands.
Milk mastic is easy to prepare - mix 200 g of condensed milk, 2 tsp. lemon juice and 250 g of powdered sugar. All ingredients are ground to a uniform texture, and then the mastic is rolled out on a board and beautiful figures are cut out of it.
To completely cover the cake, roll out a large round pancake and place it on the cake, making sure that the top and sides are completely covered. The mastic is smoothed out with your hands and the excess is removed, which can be stored in the refrigerator for up to two months. When the mastic hardens, confectioners recommend warming it slightly in the microwave or in a water bath.
Almond marzipan from children's fairy tales
Marzipan, often mentioned in Andersen's fairy tales, is another confectionery "plasticine" that is made from powdered almonds and sweet syrup (or powdered sugar), with sugar making up more than one-third of the mass. Marzipan is a very elastic material from which you can sculpt complex shapes and fairytale castles without adhesive additives. Real marzipan They are made specifically from almonds; if other nuts are added, the mass will lack plasticity. There is another secret to preparing this product - for 20-50 sweet almond kernels, take 1 bitter nut, which can be bought in specialized confectionery stores. This slight bitterness helps marzipan fully reveal its taste and aroma and gives it a special piquancy. If you can't find bitter almonds, you can replace them with a few drops of almond extract, bitter almond oil, or almond liqueur. However, adding these ingredients to decorate the cake is not at all necessary. The absence of bitter notes will not reduce the plasticity of marzipan, it will simply not have that characteristic taste.
Decorating cakes with marzipan
German confectioners know about 200 ways to prepare marzipan. All these methods can be divided into two - hot and cold. At hot technology cooking is cooking sugar syrup, which is mixed with almond crumbs, however, the plasticity of this mass decreases as it cools, so to cover the cake with marzipan, you need to sculpt decorations as quickly as possible. Cold way the simplest one because almond flour combine with powdered sugar and mix well. If the almonds are of poor quality, you won’t get a homogeneous mass, so confectioners in such cases recommend adding an egg to hold the ingredients together. Of course, the egg must be very fresh, and such products cannot be stored for a long time. Various flavorings are added to marzipan - liqueurs, cocoa, orange zest, spices and rose water.
First you need to cook it - preferably cold, as it is much easier. To do this, pour 350 g of almonds for a few minutes hot water so that the skin comes off easier. The peeled nuts are lightly dried in the oven, preventing them from changing color, and then ground into flour. Beat 2 eggs, add 175 g of powdered sugar and cook the mixture in a water bath until it reaches the consistency of cream. Remove from heat, add almonds to eggs, add 1 tsp. lemon juice, then thoroughly beat the marzipan. Sprinkle the board with powdered sugar, place the nut mixture on it and knead the almond “dough” until it thickens completely. You can add dyes to marzipan, and then sculpt whatever you want - objects, flowers, animals and architectural structures.
Fondant for cake decoration
Fondant is boiled sugar syrup that is whipped with a mixer and cools, turning into a thick, sticky glaze or brittle and hard fondant. It all depends on the composition of the syrup and the method of its preparation. The syrup can be cooked without additives, in this case we are talking about fudge sugar. If you add milk or cream to it, you get milk or cream fudge. Fudge can be chocolate, fruit and berry, nut, protein, creme brulee - depending on what ingredients are added to it.
For fudge mix 100 g very heavy cream, 1 cup sugar, 40 g butter and bring the mixture to a boil over low heat, stirring constantly. Boil the fudge until it becomes creamy, and to check its readiness, add a drop of milk mixture into the water. The finished fondant easily rolls into a plastic ball.
Very tasty protein fudge, for which 2 chilled whites are beaten with a pinch of salt until fluffy foam, and then 300 g of powdered sugar and 2 tbsp are gradually added to them. l. lemon juice.
It is better to store the finished fondant in the refrigerator, covering the bowl with cling film to prevent drying out; apply it to the surface of the cake using a pastry brush or a pastry bag.
You can decorate the cake with grilled cake, marshmallows, marmalade, or use a simple stencil and powdered sugar. Involve children in decorating confectionery- they will probably enjoy making masterpieces from mastic or marzipan. Decorating cakes together brings you closer together, and sharing tea with delicious desserts turns life into a series of endless pleasures!
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