Decorating A Shaped Cake

Let's talk about decorating a shaped cake. A shaped cake is sometimes also referred to as a character cake. These come in all sorts of shapes from teddy bears to the latest cartoon characters for kids. These cakes are great for beginners because they use only two cake decorating techniques.

We help you learn how in the cake decorating instructions below.

Decorating A Shaped Cake:  Tools you will need:

• 10" or 12" Pastry Bag
• Coupler
• Metal Spatula
• Tips #3 or 4 and #16
• Decorating a character cake takes 1 batch of icing.

Tint your icing according to the colors needed for the pan. There are some pans where the colors will need to be more exact such as Dora or Cinderella. Pans like the teddy bear or purse you can be a bit more creative with.

Decorating A Shaped Cake:  Let's get started!

Place your cake on a cake board. I recommend covering your board with a doily or with cake foil. If you have a wax coated cake board, it is not necessary to cover it at all. However, a nice doily or color of cake foil will make your cake look nicer overall. I do not recommend using aluminum foil because it tends to tear when the cake is cut.

*Place a small amount of icing on your cake board before putting your cake on it. This will help your cake stay put. You do not want your cake to slide.

When you look at the cake you should be able to see the outlines of the features of the cake. This is where we are going to start. I almost always use black icing to outline with. It really makes the features stand out.

1. Prepare your pastry bag using tip #3 or 4.



2. Holding your bag at a 45 degree angle, you are going to use your bag to trace the outlines of the cake.



3. Where you start on the cake is not important. You simply want to outline it.



4. Just outline as much of one area as you can at a time. If you have to stop, just pick back up where you left off.



5. When your outline is done, there may be places where the icing seems broken or funny looking. I do not worry too much about this because you will hardly see it once you finish the next step.

Here is an example of a cake with the star fill in method. This cake is a graduation hat. A braided tassel is piping right now.

Decorating A Shaped Cake: The Star Fill-In

We are now going to use the star fill-in method to decorate the rest of our cake.

First, let's talk about making a star. We are going to use tip #16.

1. Hold your bag at a 90 degree angle, which is straight up.



2. You want your tip to be about 1/4 inch above the surface of the cake.



3. Squeeze the bag to make your star. Then you are going to stop the pressure and pull your tip straight up.



4. The size of your star will depend on how hard you squeeze the bag.

*It is very important to stop squeezing before you lift your tip away. If not, you will get a peak on your star.


Making the star fill-in.

We are going to use the star to fill-in the rest of our character cake. The first thing you will want to do is get an idea of which colors go where on your cake. You will want each color in a separate pastry bag. If you only have one or two tip #16's that is ok. You will simply take the tip off and wash it before using it on the next color.

Fill in the area with your stars. When you are doing this you want to make sure that your stars are even (the same size) and very close together. You should not be able to see any holes between your stars. This is important because these holes will allow air to get into your cake which may dry it out.

You want to fill in each of your areas of different colors using this method. Be sure to use your outlines as a guide. In the end, your entire cake will be covered in stars and completely decorated!

Decorating A Shaped Cake:  Making The Eyes On A Character Cake

There are some cakes where the eyes are very simple. Others are a little more tricky and can be intimidating.

The easiest eyes to make are the ones that are simply round, filled in eyes such as on the teddy bear. To make these type of eyes, use your tip #3 or 4. You will hold your bag at a 45 degree angle. Using a circular motion, fill in the area. It will look a little uneven after you do this. Dip your finger in some powdered sugar or corn starch. Simply smooth the area with your finger.

The eyes on some cakes such as Tinkerbell are a little trickier. These eyes are more realistic looking. First you will want to determine which colors go on which part of the eye. There will usually be white, black and a color. Sometimes there is just a white area and a colored area. You will need to determine this by looking at the outline on your cake.

Fill in these areas using a tip #3 or 4. You are going to hold your bag at a 45 degree angle. Fill in the area using a back and forth motion as you squeeze. Once the area is filled, dip your finger in some powdered sugar or corn starch. Rub the area with your finger to give it a nice smooth look.


That's it, you are now ready for decorating a shaped cake!!!

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Related Cake Decorating Techniques Pages
~Shell Borders, Reverse Shell,~Stars, ~Tip 233-grass and hair, ~Writing, ~Basketweave, ~Cake Decorating Flowers, ~Daisy, ~Frosting Roses, ~Leaves and Stems, ~Rope Border, ~Ruffles, ~Frosting Bows,~Decorating a Shape Cake, ~Fondant Decorating

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