Making your own wedding cake can save you hundreds of dollars but learning the art of cake decorating takes a little practice. The trick to making a beautiful cake is in learning apply the icing trim neatly. With a few techniques and a little practice, your wedding cake will look beautiful.
Instructions
1. Bake and torte the cake layers ahead of time. You can freeze baked layers for up to one week when double wrapped in waxed paper. Thaw and assemble the layers with the filling of your choice.
2. Use an icing turntable for the smoothest look. With a large icing tip, approximately 2-inches long and a 1/4-inch wide, apply the base icing to your cake from the bottom to the top, squeezing the bag evenly. Smooth the base icing with an offset spatula.
3. Choose the icing tips you want to use for the trim. A round hole will make a nice smooth trim and one with fluted edges will result in a shell pattern. Traditionally, large shell patterns look the best around the bottom of the cake and smaller shells along the top edge.
4. Fit the icing bags with a tip and fill each bag halfway full. Twist the ends of the bag to keep the icing from leaking out the top. Fill a bag for each different tip.
5. Practice the shells over and over on waxed paper before you attempt to make them on the cake. To make a shell, hold the bag with both hand at a 45-degree angle just above the surface and gently squeeze the icing as you pull up and towards you. Immediately, relax pressure and lower the tip back down, creating a shell on your paper. Begin the next shell on top of the tail of the first one (see Resources).
6. Pipe the shells around the base of the wedding cake after you are satisfied that they look uniform and neat on the waxed paper. You can scoop the practice icing back into the bowl.
7. Start the shells on the backside of the wedding cake and with uniform pressure make each one, turning the turntable slightly as you go to keep your hands in the same position.
8. Repeat the procedure with the top edge of the cake. Choose a smaller shell tip to create a nice look and pipe the trim border neatly around the perimeter. Watch a video demonstration of a shell border being piped (see Resources).
Tags: wedding cake, waxed paper, your wedding cake, base icing, little practice
