Cake decorating used to be something that only a few people would try. Virtually anyone can do cake decorating today with all the cool baking items on the market. There are some basics that you need to learn and you can whip out some wonderfully decorated cakes with ease.

COOLING THE CAKE: You need to cook your cake according to the package directions. It is important to let the cake completely cool. You will want to cool the cake on racks. Cakes cooled on flat surfaces, like the top of your stove or kitchen counter, tend to sweat. They get a layer of wetness in the pan while they are cooling. So cool your cake a minimum of forty minutes to an hour on a cooling rack.

PAN REMOVAL OF THE CAKE: Remove the cake carefully from the pan. You will want to put each layer on a seperate plate. Put the cake on a big sheet if you are doing a particular design. Place your entire hand at the center of the cake to offer support and keep it from breaking apart.

FREEZING THE CAKE: Once you have removed the cake, you want to freeze it slightly. You will need to put it in your freezer for approximately 10 minutes. Freezing the cake a little bit will make it easier to ice and to decorate.

FIX THE ICING: Fix the icing and get out all the cake decorating items while the cake is freezing. Wipe down counter tops and rinse out the cake pans from baking. You want plenty of counter space and clean kitchen for decorating. You can find great icing recipes on the net, your family recipe book or buy pre-mixed icing.

CRUMBING THE CAKE: You have seen those cakes that you make that have all the crumbs on them and look awful. They taste great but the icing job just simply went flop. Take the cake out of the freezer. Put a huge spoonful of icing in the center of the cake. Going from the center outward begin icing the cake with a very thin layer of icing. Do not worry about the crumbs. This is the crumb layer. The thin layer of icing will trap itself in the cake icing. You should be able to still see the cake through the icing because it is on so thin.

SEALING THE CAKE: Put the cake back in the freezer for five minutes. This will harden the icing that you just put on for the crumb layer. Take the cake back out and completely ice again with another thin layer. This will seal in all the lose crumbs. You want to use a thin layer so that you don't over do all of your icing. You will then put the cake back in the freezer for two minutes.

MAIN ICING: Now

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