Cake Decoration Kit Key Terms

Learn the tasty lingo to whet your palate

Decorating a baked and cooled cake can be a fruitful and beautiful business. Whether you're marketing the goods for a large, nationally accredited business or a smaller company that perhaps you own, knowing the key terms to cake decorating kits can get your creative juices flowing in no time. You can make frilly flowers, decorative designs or fondant-covered masterpieces all with specific baking items. Keep the important terms below in mind when searching for specific tools and edible elements.

 

Gum paste

This sugar paste dough has a gum stiffening agent that makes it ideal for making handmade flowers or other three-dimensional decorations. This material dries hard and breaks easily, but can last as decorative elements.
Try: The Knot, which is one of the most-visited wedding websites, lists common wedding cake terms, including gum paste.

Piping techniques

These are the decorative details that enhance a cake. Many professionals use a pastry bag capped off with various metal tips, which spew forth different shapes and designs when the icing is added. Some popular forms are leaves, borders, basketweave patterns and flowers.
Try: Old Recipe Book lists the top six decorating designs created with the piping techniques.

Food coloring

Tinting frosting can provide more options for decorating cakes. Every colored frosting begins with white, and then you can add different amounts of food coloring with a food dropper or toothpick. It's best to mix enough of one color, as it is difficult to match the exact shade if you need more.
Try: Check out Wilton Industries and its description of food coloring.

Spatulas

This broad, flat utensil resembles the regular spatula used for everyday kitchen cooking. But the cake decorator kit spatula is helpful for multiple tasks in cake decorating.
Try: Wren's Cottage prides itself on being an online resource for the art of cake decorating.

Fondant

This sweet, elastic icing is made out of sugar, gelatin and corn syrup. Once draped over cakes, it provides a smooth surface on which you can place decorative elements. One aspect to keep in mind with fondant is that it should not be placed in a refrigerator, as it ruins the texture.
Try: Baking 911 provides a detailed explanation about fondant and how it compares to other toppings.

Buttercream icing

There are several different types of icing, and the most popular choice is buttercream. As a versatile and best-tasting icing, buttercream is smooth and creamy; it allows decorative elements to maintain their firmness. Made with a combination of sugar, butter and flavorings, buttercream icing is sometimes used for the filling, but it can melt in extreme heat.
Try: Check out the buttercream icing description used by Pattycakes Cake Decorating and Candy Supplies.

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