How to decorate a cake with icing: recipes, interesting ideas with photos and step by step instructions

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

In cases where there is no desire to waste time on intricate decoration of homemade sweets, the icing comes to the rescue. There are many answers to the question of how to decorate a cake with icing at home. Sometimes a culinary work is covered with it entirely, sometimes inscriptions are drawn, and it also acts as a layer between the cakes. They decorate the cake with cream and icing quickly enough, there will hardly be any difficulties with this.

Decoration Options

You need to consider that you can make a beautiful cake in a variety of ways. And before you decorate the cake with icing at home, you should stock up on special pastry tools. Among them are confectionery syringes with a set of nozzles, parchment, a sharpened knife, various spatulas.

It should be borne in mind that it would be optimal to decorate the cake with chocolate icing at home, if it is bird's milk, a biscuit confectionery. At the same time, do not forget that this process is creative. So, the scope for experimentation is huge here.

Chocolate frosting

After reviewing the photo of cakes decorated with chocolate icing, you should choose which option will be used. After all, cooking technology can greatly depend on the desired results.

Standard chocolate icing is easy to make. The main thing is to follow the basic culinary rules. Before decorating a cake at home with chocolate icing, it should be borne in mind that it is necessary to achieve a neither thick nor liquid consistency. Ideally, the glaze should resemble sour cream. The easiest way to apply a similar mass on pastries. It will freeze fairly quickly. But if suddenly the mass turns out to be watery, it is worth mixing it with powdered sugar. If it turns out to be too thick, you need to add a spoonful of warm water to it.

Before you beautifully decorate the cake with chocolate icing, you should take into account the taste properties of the desired dish. So, unusual flavor combinations are easy to achieve by mixing lemon juice instead of water into the mass. Then the product will be slightly sour, which will be unique for a sweet dish.

But when you need a lean variation, just melt the bar. If someone who is thinking about how to beautifully decorate a cake with chocolate icing wants to get a mild taste, you should add butter to the mass. It is noteworthy that if jam is applied to pastries before glazing, the mass will lie especially evenly. Usually, the question of how to decorate a cake with chocolate icing and fruit is asked by more experienced housewives, keeping in mind that decorated products look more aesthetically attractive thantheir original counterparts. Decorating with icing takes only a few minutes, but the result is much better.

Chocolate frosting recipe

Before you decorate the cake with chocolate icing, it is worth considering that there are several recipes for such a mass. One of the most popular is the glaze made from cocoa. When such a mass hardens, it forms a rather beautiful gloss crust.

To make the product tasty, you should choose high-quality butter, dark cocoa. Similar masses are used in the preparation of muffins, pies, cakes.

From the components you will need to stock up:

• 4 spoons of milk;
• 50g butter;
• 1 scoop cocoa;
• 4 spoons of sugar.

To prepare the glaze, you will first need to melt the butter. After that, you need to add milk and sugar here, and then continue to cook the mixture until it becomes homogeneous. After sifting cocoa through a sieve, you need to add it here, and then leave everything on fire for 2 minutes. Before decorating the cake with chocolate icing from this recipe, you need to cool the mixture.

To make the coating shiny, it is recommended to mix cocoa powder instead of milk with sour cream or cream. This is recommended for those who are thinking about how to decorate the cake with glossy icing. At the same time, the coating will come out more dense.

In the course of experiments, confectioners achieve curious variations on how to beautifully decorate a cake with icing. They knead coconut chips, nuts,confectionery powder.

Soft frosting

Another way to beautifully decorate a cake with chocolate icing is to prepare a mixture of cocoa and butter.

It is important to consider that the choice of products strongly affects the final taste properties of the product: butter, cocoa from different manufacturers will give different shades of taste.

This recipe recommends stocking up:

• 3 spoons of vanilla;
• 5 tablespoons of sugar;
• 6 spoons of cocoa;
• 50g butter.

To prepare the mass, you will need to mix the listed ingredients in a bowl, and then put it in a water bath. The mixture must be constantly stirred. Readiness is checked by dropping icing on the dishes. Ideally, it should freeze immediately.

Chocolate mix

The most popular answer to the question of how to decorate a cake with icing is to make a mixture of chocolate. Flavor options will vary depending on the selected chocolate. Those who wondered how to decorate the cake with white icing will need white chocolate.

To make such a frosting, you need to stock up:

• 5 spoons of milk;
• 100g plain chocolate.

Preparing the mixture is simple: you need to break the tile, put it in a bowl smeared with butter. You can not add water here - milk is required. It is due to him that the cake, decorated with icing in the photo, has a dense coating, and not liquid.

To chocolate you need to add milk, and then, putting the mixture in a water bath, wait until the chocolate is completelywill dissolve. The temperature should be 40 degrees. You need to mix the composition at this time.

White icing

If a person is thinking about how to decorate a cake with white icing, it is worth making adjustments to the recipe. Desserts made in this way become especially elegant. Rolls, cakes, jelly are often decorated with such glaze.

Prepare a similar mass by mixing cream, condensed milk, vanilla. The classic recipe is to use:

• 180g powdered sugar;
• 200g white chocolate;
• 2 spoons of milk.

To make the mixture, you need to break the tile and put it in a bowl. After you need to place it in a water bath, mixing powdered sugar here. Next, pour in a spoonful of milk and stir the aromatic mass. After the mixture becomes homogeneous, it is removed from the heat, and then a spoonful of milk is added. The mass is whipped with a blender. You need to instantly apply the glaze to the product before it has time to cool.

On sour cream

Another answer to the question of how to decorate a cake with icing is to use a mixture of sour cream. In this case, the product will come out somewhat sour. It is suitable for sausages with nuts, cookies, cakes. Such icing will not drain, for those who are wondering how to decorate a cake with mirror icing, this recipe is suitable. In addition to such a coating, oil cream, nuts, candied fruits are applied to the product.

To prepare the mixture, you need to take:

• 2 spoons of sour cream;
• 2 scoops cocoa;
• 4 spoonspowdered sugar;
• 0, 5 tablespoons vanilla sugar;
• 1 tablespoon butter.

First of all, sour cream, powder, vanillin and cocoa are mixed in one bowl. Next, put the mixture on low heat. After boiling it for 5 minutes, the glaze is stirred, and then removed from heat. Then butter is put here, everything is mixed. The mixture is applied to the product before it completely hardens.

Ways to decorate with chocolate

Decoration of products with chocolate is considered a classic due to the fact that the ingredient goes well with all kinds of dishes. The main advantage of chocolate is that it can be given any shape when melted. After hardening, this component will not crack, will not spread. In addition, an extensive choice is present at the stage of preparing the mixture. After all, there is porous, white, milk, dark chocolate.

The easiest way to decorate a cake with chocolate is to grate the tiles and then sprinkle them on the product. In order to add curls to the product, you need to take a knife and cut the slightly warmed chocolate into thin slices. The peculiarity of the material is that in this case it will begin to curl instantly. This is the scope for cutting any patterns.

The next way to decorate a culinary product is to create openwork patterns, inscriptions, drawings. To create them, you need to fill a pastry syringe with chocolate, and then take parchment and draw patterns on it. Taking a syringe, you need to draw them on parchment, and then put it in the refrigeratorfor final hardening. Next, you need to remove the chocolate and put on a confectionery. It makes sense to download a drawing from the Internet and simply transfer it to paper.

Very easy to fashion chocolate leaves. It is necessary, taking a real leaf of a tree, to dry it. Next, having melted the chocolate, it must be laid out on the inside of the sheet using a silicone brush. Putting the product in the refrigerator, you need to wait until it finally hardens. After that, the sheet can be laid out on the cake. It is also optimal to complement such a decoration with cherries, from which you must first pull out the bones.

Caramel frosting

It must be borne in mind that the options for how to decorate a cake with icing are not limited to chocolate. Caramel glaze is also popular, it can also be marmalade, colored, soft, creamy, milky.

Caramel variation is just as easy to prepare. Just need to stock up:

• 150g warm water;
• 180g sugar;
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch;
• 150g heavy cream;
• 5 g of gelatin.

First of all, you need to soak the gelatin in water, then mix the cream and starch. Sugar will need to be melted in a pan until it turns brown. After that, cream, starch and sugar are mixed with water, bringing the mixture to a boil. Then the caramel dissolves, it must be mixed in the process. At the end, gelatin is added here, which will already have time to swell by that time. The cake is covered with the prepared mixture using a wide knife. The product must be placed inrefrigerator to finish glazing.

Marmalade frosting

A popular way to make a cake decorated with icing and fruit is to make a marmalade mix. To do this, take:

• 200g marmalade;
• 50g butter;
• 2 tablespoons sour cream;
• 120g sugar.

To make the glaze, you will need to melt the marmalade in a water bath first, and then add sour cream, butter and sugar here. After the mixture is mixed, it is necessary to put it on fire and cook for 10 minutes. After letting the mixture cool, you need to apply it on the cake, then put it in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours. In this case, it is recommended to lay out fruits on the sides of the product.

Butter cream decoration

A common answer to the question of how to decorate a cake with icing with smudges is to prepare a universal cream. It is extremely convenient to draw with this mass, write congratulations on pastries, form flowers.

To make butter cream, you need to take:

• 100g butter;
• 5 tablespoons of condensed milk;
• Food colorings.

To prepare the mixture, first of all, melt the butter in a water bath. After you need to beat it so that you get a white and lush mass. Next, condensed milk is poured here, after which everything is mixed and divided into portions. Dyes are often added to the cream. After that, a syringe is filled with it, and inscriptions and patterns are created. For the cream to hardenyou need to put the cake with it in the refrigerator.

Powder decoration

Powder is a universal decoration for confectionery. There are many varieties of this product. Powder is produced in the form of flowers, stars, balls, squares, circles and butterflies. She has a very wide range of colors. Powder is multi-colored, gold, silver, mother-of-pearl. Walnut, chocolate, coconut flakes, as well as cookie crumbs, meringue are popular.

When planning to complement a cake decorated with icing with powder, you need to consider that the latter is used only on sticky surfaces. It is necessary to sprinkle the product only at the moment when the icing or cream has not yet had time to harden.

To create the effect of an aquarium, you need to use a jelly fill with powder. It is necessary to pour half of the jelly filling, and then freeze it, cover with sprinkles and pour jelly on top as well. If you alternate layer by layer, the product will come out extremely beautiful.

To decorate the sides of the cake with sprinkles, which also looks very impressive, you need to put it on a large towel. After sprinkling the sides of the cake and a towel, you need to lift the sides of the product by pressing the towel.

In addition, drawings are often made using powder. This requires a sheet of paper. It is necessary to cut out the shape of the product, transfer a drawing or an inscription to paper. In the end, the pattern is cut out, and the cake is covered with a template. At the same time, it is not pressed against the surface of the cake. Then, thickly crushing the product with powder, the template is removed. The drawing remains.

Mirror glazing

There are many variations of creating a mirror glaze on the product. It is considered beautiful, and the appearance of such a decoration varies greatly depending on the recipe chosen.

Most often, a little gelatin is added here or a special syrup is mixed into the glaze. With such ingredients, the mass comes out especially brilliant. And if bubbles form during glazing, you need to pass the mixture through a sieve before applying it to the product.

It is important to use a thermometer to properly decorate the cake with mirror glaze. After all, the finished mass should be used only at the moment when it has time to cool down to 35 degrees.

To prepare such a mass, you need:

• 150 g glucose syrup;
• 135ml water;
• 150g sugar;
• 100g condensed milk;
• 15g gelatin;
• 150g chocolate.

First of all, to prepare this type of glaze, you will need to pour 65 ml of water on gelatin, and then add sugar with syrup and water to a separate bowl, putting it on a small fire. It is necessary to stir the mixture until the sugar is completely dissolved in it.

In the next dish you need to put chocolate with condensed milk and gelatin, pour all the ingredients with hot syrup. This mixture should be whipped with a blender and then cooled.

Chocolate and cream

As a fairly tasty and beautiful mixture, chocolate and cream icing has proven itself. To cook it, you need to stock up on quite ordinary products. Amongthem:

• 100g chocolate;
• 3 scoops cream 30%;
• 40g butter.

To prepare the mixture, you need to break the chocolate, and then put it in a separate bowl, put it in a water bath and, adding butter, melt. Whipping the cream, you need to pour them here. You will get a fragrant glaze, which should be poured on top of the confectionery.

Milk chocolate

This icing is suitable for anyone who cooks cakes, muffins, thin dough rolls. The aromatic mixture leaves a pleasant and memorable aftertaste. In this case, the surface of the cake will be matte. In order to make it shiny, you will need to add oil here.

To prepare the mixture, you need to take:

• 150g low fat cream;
• 180g chocolate.

First of all, chocolate will need to be broken into several parts, and then put everything in one dish. Here you also need to pour in the cream, and then heat everything over low heat until the mass becomes homogeneous.

How to frost a cake

To make the product aesthetically beautiful, it is important to take into account the recommendations not only at the stage of glaze preparation, but also at the time of applying the mixture to the product. Although glazing is considered the simplest procedure, there are still a number of subtleties here. For example, if chocolate icing is used, it must first cool down. At the same time, it should not become thick, otherwise the mixture risks turning into lumps.

It is best to decorate the cake with icing, armed with rubberbrush. If the product is prepared from a dense dough, it is recommended to pre-apply apricot or peach jam. They need to smear the cake, and then leave for a couple of hours. Then, putting the cake on the grate, it is decorated by pouring the chocolate mixture. In this case, you need to level the surface using a rubber brush. It is optimal to complement this type of decoration with nuts, berries, powder. Next, in any recipe, you need to put the cake in the refrigerator for at least a few hours so that the glazing is completed.

Protein Glaze

One of the types of glaze, which is known to everyone since childhood, is protein. It is she who is applied to Easter cakes. The classic version does not fit into a he althy diet due to the content of powder and cream, but there are options for making it in such a way that it is useful for the figure.

The most popular type of he althy glaze is protein. To prepare it, you will need to take:

• Egg white.
• Sugar substitute.
• 2 teaspoons of lemon juice.
• S alt.
• Vanillin.

First of all, you need to beat the protein, adding the rest of the ingredients to the mixture. After that, a creamy mass is obtained, which needs to cover the product. Next, baking is sent to the oven at a temperature of 150 degrees. Keep it there for 10 minutes. It is important that the icing grabs. After that, they often sprinkle the cake with powder - 1 teaspoon of sugar balls will not harm the figure.

It is important to consider that beforehand, before usingsweetener, it is recommended to grind it carefully. And only then will it be ready for whipping.

Creamy Custard Glaze

The glaze from this recipe will taste creamy, it will resemble condensed milk. This will emphasize the curd flavor of the product. Creamy custard glaze is much higher in calories than protein.

In preparation you will need:

• Low fat milk.
• Sugar substitute.
• Corn starch.
• S alt.

For 200 ml of milk you need 1 tablespoon of starch. Other ingredients are added to taste.

You need to heat the milk without bringing it to a boil, and then dissolve the starch, s alt and sweetener here. It is necessary to put this mixture on the stove and boil until a thick creamy mass is obtained. The consistency is chosen according to taste. The classic option is the density of sour cream. This will allow you to get beautiful smudges without excessive glaze liquid.

Yogurt frosting

It is recommended to add sugar-free diet syrup to this type of icing. Used here fat-free thick yogurt. Soft cottage cheese, gelatin, milk, s alt are also suitable. For 200 g of yogurt, you need to use 1 tablespoon of gelatin and 3 tablespoons of milk.

Gelatin must first be diluted in milk, and then mixed with yogurt, s alt and sweetener. Syrup, lemon peel, vanillin, cardamom, cinnamon, baby fruit puree, cocoa can act as an additive. As soon as such a mixture hardens, it will turn into a soufflé.

Pistachio glaze

Glazing with pistachio mixture is considered a very specific option. You must first purchase pistachio protein paste. These are usually available in he alth food stores.

It will take only 1 teaspoon of pistachio paste for such a glaze, 3 tablespoons of milk, 1 tablespoon of cottage cheese, sweetener are added to it. After the mixture is stirred, the glaze will be considered ready. It must be applied to the cake, and then put in the refrigerator for an hour. After an hour, the icing will have hardened, and the cake will be ready to eat.

If desired, pistachio paste can be easily replaced with melted diet cheese. The main task here will be the selection of an uns alted type of cheese. The recipe remains the same as in the previous case. At the same time, according to reviews, such mixtures are one of the most delicious icing options as part of proper nutrition. It is also recommended to use glaze with pancakes.