Cake decorators are skilled professionals who can turn an ordinary cake into a work of art. Training can be formal or casual, and decorators may specialize in certain styles or types of cakes. Taste is just as important as design, and decorators may partner with bakers or pastry chefs. Decoration can be done with various materials, and decorators’ abilities are limited only by their imagination.
A cake decorator is a skilled professional who can transform an ordinary cake into a fantasy in color and design. Able to create anything from realistic flowers to giant animal cakes, cake decorators are the artists of the cake world. For many, becoming a cake decorator combines two fantastic passions: a love of sweets and a love of art.
Training for cake decorators can be quite serious and rigorous, or casual and self-determined. Cake decorating is often an important part of pastry chef training programs found in culinary schools and culinary institutes. Many formal pastry chef programs take years to complete and result in degrees and certificates of completion. For the home baker, craft stores, cooking stores and community colleges often offer cake decorating classes for all skill levels. Whether learning how to make flower petals or embarking on a wedding cake for 200 people, there are sure to be classes, books and even websites that can be of great help to a decorator.
A cake decorator may or may not also work as a baker. While most can certainly follow a recipe, decorators often specialize in icing and decorating cakes rather than assembling them. Whether the decorator bakes the cake or not, the taste is obviously just as important as the sophisticated design. If the cake doesn’t taste wonderful, it probably won’t matter how good it works. For this reason, many decorators partner with talented bakers or pastry chefs if they don’t bake their products.
The first step in most cake decorating is to establish a base level of frosting or icing. This can be done with soft icing, such as buttercream, or firm icing, such as fondant. Buttercreams tend to give a more uneven but textured finish, while fondant or rolled chocolate can give the cake decorator a perfectly smooth, flawless canvas to work on.
After placing the initial layer of icing or icing, decoration can be added. A cake decorator can frost designs and create figures and shapes with icing, chocolate, fondant, or even candy and fruit. Layered cakes can be created by stacking layers of cakes or balancing them on separate tiers and stands. Cakes in the shapes of items and animals can be cemented with props, cut into correct shapes, and built up with extra layers. Part construction worker, part artist, a decorator’s abilities can only be limited by their imagination.
A cake decorator may choose to specialize in a signature type or style of cake decorating. Some choose to focus exclusively on wedding cakes, which can be immensely elaborate and massive in size. Others advertise their ability to make whimsical and fantastical cakes to suit any theme or need. An established decorator may choose to take orders based on what she herself wants to work on, like an artist doing commissioned work. If you’re a home baker who has demonstrated your decorating skills, prepare to be bombarded by friends and relatives begging for special orders.
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