If you love baking cakes, then this article is especially for you! In this article, we will look at a wide variety of DIY cake decorating methods at home. You can transform an ordinary cake with mastic, marzipan, icing, waffles, chocolate, icing, cream, cream, meringues, fruits, jelly, candies, marmalade and sprinkles. We will consider each decoration ingredient separately, get acquainted with the manufacturing recipe, and, of course, be inspired by a huge number of ideas.

For some cake decorating options, you will need special materials such as: a pastry syringe with attachments, parchment paper, a sharp thin knife, and spatulas of different thicknesses.

Mastic Is a special dough for cake decorating. You can roll it out and cover the top of the cake, you can also create various animal figures, letters, numbers, flowers, leaves, openwork patterns and whatever your imagination wants.

The basic rule of working with mastic is that you will have to work with it very quickly, as it instantly freezes. But there is a way out! When you form the decoration, pinch off the desired piece, and wrap the rest of the mastic in a film. Large figures may crack when dry.

Mastic recipe number 1

Ingredients: condensed milk, powdered milk or cream, icing sugar, food colors (optional). The number of ingredients directly depends on the size of the cake.

Cooking process: take a deep dish and mix milk powder or cream with powdered sugar. Gradually add the condensed milk and knead well. You should get an elastic dough that does not stick to your hands. Add food coloring, drop by drop, and stir in the dough. After cooking, immediately wrap the mastic in foil.

Mastic recipe number 2

Ingredients: water, lemon juice or citric acid, butter, icing sugar, starch, marshmallows (white chewing marshmallow), food coloring (optional).

Cooking process: steam the marshmallows, add a few drops of food coloring if desired. Then add water and just a little bit of lemon juice or citric acid. Stir the mixture well and then add 50 grams of butter. Mix the powdered sugar and starch separately in a 1: 3 ratio. Gradually add the starch and powder mixture to the marshmallow mixture and knead the dough well for about 10 minutes. After cooking, immediately wrap the mastic in foil.

Marzipan Is a nut mass that consists of almond flour and sugar paste. Its advantages are that it perfectly holds its shape, is quite elastic and has an amazing delicate taste. It is convenient to create all decoration elements from it - small figurines, cake coverings and volumetric decorations.

Marzipan recipe

Ingredients: 200 grams of sugar, a quarter cup of water, 1 cup of lightly toasted almonds, butter.

Cooking process: peel the almonds and chop finely in a blender or on a grater. Boil sugar and water syrup. The consistency of the syrup should be thick. Pour the ground almonds into the syrup, stir and cook for 3 minutes. Take a bowl and brush it well with butter. Pour the marzipan into a bowl. Cool the marzipan and mince it. Marzipan is ready! If it turns out to be liquid, add powdered sugar. If the marzipan is very thick, add a little boiled water.

I recommend the photo gallery of marzipan cakes!

Icing Is an ice pattern that looks like a winter pattern on a window and tastes like crisp ice. The advantages of icing are that it is strong enough, does not spread, and adheres perfectly to the surface of the confectionery. It can be applied over hard chocolate glaze, mastic, fondant. It should be noted that the surface on which the icing can be applied should not spread and be not sticky. Icing is applied with a confectionery syringe, then the finished product is placed in the refrigerator for further solidification. Laces, inscriptions and patterns are very beautiful.

Icing recipe

Ingredients: 3 eggs, 500-600 grams of powdered sugar, 15 grams of lemon juice, 1 teaspoon of glycerin.

Manufacturing process: chill all the ingredients, degrease the dishes and wipe them dry. Take eggs, separate the whites from the yolks. Whisk the whites, add glycerin, lemon juice and powdered sugar. Whisk the mixture well until it turns white. Cover the mixture with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour to burst air bubbles. Icing is ready, you can safely decorate the cake!

Waffles- these are materials for decorating flowers, various figures, numbers. They are made from crispy waffle dough. Also popular are ready-made edible pictures based on a waffle cake. You can buy this jewelry in pastry shops, supermarkets or on the Internet. It is impossible to make waffles with an image on your own, since you will need food ink and special equipment. The advantages of wafers are that they do not crack, hold their shape perfectly and do not melt. However, they can only be used on a light-colored cake surface, since when soaked, the picture can become saturated with dark cream.

Wafer design rules

Chocolate decoration is considered a classic cake decoration. This ingredient goes well with biscuits, soufflés, mousse, puff pastry and various creams. The advantages of chocolate are that melted it can be given any shape, and when the chocolate hardens, it will not crack or spread. To decorate cakes, you can use any chocolate - black, white, milk, porous.

Methods for decorating cakes with chocolate

1. To decorate the cake with chocolate chips, you just need to grate the chocolate bar and sprinkle it on the cake.
2. To decorate the cake with curls, slightly heat the chocolate bar, then take a thin knife, or better a vegetable cutter, and cut off thin strips, they will immediately begin to curl. You can create chic patterns from them.
3. Here's another way to decorate a cake with openwork patterns, inscriptions and drawings. Melt a chocolate bar in a steam bath. Place the chocolate in the pastry syringe. Take parchment paper and draw patterns. Use a pastry syringe to draw the patterns on the parchment paper. Place the parchment in the refrigerator to freeze the chocolate. Carefully remove the chocolate from the parchment and decorate the cake. If you are not good at drawing, find a beautiful pattern on the Internet, print it out, attach clear parchment paper to the drawing, and simply copy it over.
4. To decorate the cake with chocolate leaves, you will need real leaves of a tree or a houseplant. Wash and dry the leaves. Melt the chocolate in a steam bath and place it on the inside of the sheet with a silicone brush. Put it in the refrigerator, and when it hardens, carefully remove the chocolate from the leaf and decorate the cake.
5. Another creative way to decorate a cake is with cherries and chocolate. Remove the pits, place each cherry in the melted chocolate, and decorate the cake.

At the moment, there are chocolate, mirror, marmalade, caramel, multi-colored, soft, milk and creamy glaze.

Chocolate icing recipe

Ingredients: 1.5 tablespoons of milk, 2 teaspoons of cocoa powder, 1.5 tablespoons of sugar, 40 grams of butter.

Cooking process: take a bowl, put in cocoa, sugar, pieces of butter, and cover with milk. Put on fire, melt and boil for 5-7 minutes. Cover the cake with chocolate icing using a wide knife and refrigerate to set.

Caramel icing recipe

Ingredients: 150 grams of warm water, 180 grams of fine sugar, 2 teaspoons of cornstarch, 150 grams of heavy cream, 5 grams of gelatin.

Cooking process: Soak gelatin in water, mix cream with starch, melt sugar in a skillet until light brown. Add cream with starch and sugar to warm water. Boil to dissolve the caramel. Remember to stir the mixture constantly. Then pour it into the cream, stir, cool and add the swollen gelatin. Cover the cake with the caramel icing using a wide knife and refrigerate to set.

Gummy frosting recipe

Ingredients: 200 grams of one color marmalade, 50 grams of butter, 2 tablespoons of fat sour cream, 120 grams of sugar.

Cooking process: melt the marmalade in a steam bath or in the microwave, add sour cream, butter and sugar. Stir the mixture well and put on fire. Cook the frosting for 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Cool the frosting slightly. Cover the cake with the gummy frosting using a wide knife and refrigerate for 3-4 hours to harden further.

Cream- a universal decoration for cakes. It is very convenient for them to write congratulations, make openwork frames, lush roses. Food colors are often added to the cream.

Butter cream recipe

Ingredients: 100 grams of butter, 5 tablespoons of condensed milk, food colors.

Cooking process: melt the butter in a steam bath or microwave. Whisk it until it turns white and fluffy. Add the condensed milk, stir well and divide the cream into portions. Add the desired color to each portion of the cream. Put the cream in a pastry syringe and create beauty, then send the cake to the cold to freeze the cream.

Whipped cream Is an original airy, voluminous and delicate decoration. Their preparation does not require special products. You will need a pastry syringe to beautifully decorate the cake with whipped cream. You need to work with cream quickly enough. Make sure all ingredients and tools are cooked. The surface of the cake should be flat and not too sticky.

Whipped cream recipe

Ingredients: half a liter of high-fat cream from 33%, a bag of vanilla, 100-200 grams of powdered sugar, 1 bag of instant gelatin, food coloring (optional).

Cooking process: put the cream in the refrigerator for 12 hours. Pour the chilled cream into a deep bowl. Take another deep container, pour ice water into it. Place the bowl of cream in a bowl of ice water. Dissolve the gelatin in the manner indicated on the package. Whip the cream with a mixer (do not use a blender as it will not foam). Beat them until the froth is strong enough. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla, then whisk. Add the dissolved gelatin in a thin stream. Place the cream in the syringe and decorate the cake.

I recommend the photo gallery of cakes decorated with whipped cream!

Meringue Is a snow-white, crispy and very tasty decoration. It is laid out on a layer of chocolate, jam, or cream.

Meringue recipe

Ingredients: a glass of powdered sugar, 5 chilled eggs, a bag of vanilla (optional).

Cooking process: separate the whites from the yolks, pour the whites into a dry, fat-free deep container. Whisk the whites until fluffy (10-15 minutes). Gradually pour in the powder (1-2 teaspoons) and dissolve immediately. Add vanilla and dissolve well as well. Preheat the oven to 100 degrees, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and transfer the protein froth to a pastry syringe. Squeeze the protein mixture onto a baking sheet to create nice balls or other shapes. The meringue is dried, not baked; the residence time of the future meringue in the oven depends on the size of the blanks. Approximate drying time 1.5-2 hours.

Fruits are delicious, healthy and contain a huge amount of vitamins. They will brightly decorate the cake with flavor combinations and rich colors. The easiest way to decorate with fruit is to fan out sliced ​​slices of strawberry, kiwi, orange, mango, and all sorts of other fruits. You can create a whole fruit canvas that goes well with natural jelly.

Recipe

Ingredients: fresh fruits and berries, for fruit jelly - light juice, for example, apple 600 ml, a glass of powdered sugar, 1 pack of powdered gelatin.

Cooking process: pour a glass of juice over the gelatin and set aside to swell. Prepare the fruits, peel them and cut them into small beautiful slices. Kiwi and bananas are cut in circles, apples and oranges are cut in half rings, strawberries are cut in half, raspberries, blackberries, cherries are left whole. Melt the gelatin in a water bath, add the remaining juice and powdered sugar to it. Strain the mixture, arrange the fruit in the jelly nicely and refrigerate. When the jelly hardens slightly, transfer it to the cake, turning the container over. Mask the edges with butter or whipped cream, if desired. Place the cake in the refrigerator.

Jelly looks very beautiful and has a beneficial effect on people's joints. The jelly filling goes well with various fruits. However, you can decorate the cake with it in its pure form, or you can decorate the top with jelly filling with sprinkling of coconut chips or nuts, be original and think over the concept of decoration!

Jelly filling recipe

Ingredients: 600 ml of juice (you can take juice of different colors), 1 package of rapidly dissolving gelatin, a glass of powdered sugar.

Cooking process: Soak gelatin in 1/3 of the juice and leave to swell. Then melt the steamed gelatin and juice. Mix the powdered sugar and the remaining juice, pour into the molds and refrigerate. Pour 100 ml of jelly, and put it in the refrigerator for a while so that it has time to set. Place the cake in a mold that is 3 cm higher than it. Place the jelly filling on the cake, and decorate the top with jelly from the molds. Steam will help to easily get the jelly blanks out of the molds. It is enough to bring the jelly mold over the steam, and then turn it over for dessert. Place the cake in the refrigerator for 10-12 hours and do not forget to remove the mold before serving. If you want to make a jelly filling with fruit, then prepare the jelly as described above. Place it in the refrigerator for a while so that it has time to grab. Transfer the jelly to the beautifully laid out fruit, flatten with a spatula and refrigerate overnight. To prevent the jelly from breaking during serving, cut it with a heated knife.

Candies- this is a favorite delicacy of children. Kids pay attention to the design of the cake itself, and not to the products from which the cake was prepared. Try to decorate the cake for the children's holiday as brightly and creatively as possible. All types of candy can be used except candy. The surface of the cake should be thick and viscous, such as whipped cream, buttercream, frosting.

Methods for decorating cakes with sweets

1. The sides of the cake can be decorated with chocolate bars or waffles, and the top can be filled with dragees.
2. Small butterscotchs are perfect for creating a pattern or lettering on a creamy surface or white glaze.
3. Cut the gummies into squares and randomly decorate the top of the cake with white fondant or whipped cream.
4. It is good to decorate the sides with round-shaped candies, and put 3 candies in the central part of the cake.