by yankee doodle your mom

Created on: July 21, 2010   Last Updated: July 22, 2010

Cakes are infinitely versatile expressions of concern and celebration! Plain cakes, however, are boring and show that you threw it all together in five minutes before the party (and no one wants that). But even if you don’t have to time to throw an amazing cake together it’s easy to make it look like you worked your butt off making the perfect cake for the occasion simply by amazing decoration.

Before the actual cake is even cooked adding a little something to the cake batter can make it extra special and unique! While mixing the cake putting in sprinkles or chocolate chips can help make an enjoyable surprise for cake eaters. Even though decoration is generally on the outside, super creative cake makers decorate from the inside out. I have found over the years that food coloring can become your best friend. About 7 drops of green food dye into a white cake can make little kids giggle and cringe with delight! Food dye can also be helpful after you have poured the cake into a pan (shaped pans can also make a cake extra special). By putting a few drops of food dye into the cake mix in the pan, you can use a knife to either A. move the dye around in the cake mix adding colorful swirls or B. pushing dots of dye down into the cake mix adding a drip of color effect into your cake once cooked.

 Once your cake is cooked and ready to go, the outside decoration can begin! Cakes don’t necessarily have to cost a bunch of money to be well decorated. Like I said before food dye and a few extra utensils can become your best friend! A can of white frosting can become an endless number of color combination swirls and shapes on your cake to help it fit the occasion more. Using a plastic Ziploc bag, add a dab of white frosting and two or three drops (depending on what shade color you want) to the dab, mix, and cut a corner off of the bag, turning you, practically, into a professional cake maker! Also, using the food dye once again, you can add paint like splashes to a plain frosted cake. Putting dots of food dye onto the cake blowing on them with a straw spreads the dye and adds vivid splatters across any cake!

I have always been working on a budget, but I also like to make every cake unique and special. Placing festive objects on a cake can make it really pop to the party goers. Having a summer BBQ? Add a dollar store lei and mini umbrellas on the cake to make it luau worthy! A Birthday party tomorrow? Run out to the store and buy a party hat to place on the cake! Simple objects can make the difference between a cake and a fun time!

There’s always room for more decoration. But if you really can’t find any of these tips helpful arts and crafts stores always carry beginner cake decorating kits for under ten dollars that always have a beautiful end result. Not every cake has to be extravagant, but every cake has to be unique! So make any creation you make special! Happy decorating!

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