Cake Decorating Made Easy {& Thanksgiving Cake Idea!}
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Cake decorating has always intrigued me– it seems like a handy skill to have, the power to create a design to match any occasion using the simple canvas of a caketop. Plus it serves as a front to my serious addiction to buttercream frosting. And I mean ‘hide-in-the-pantry-and-eat-all-the-frosting’ kind of issues! What better way to feed the addiction than learn easy ways to decorate cakes?
via Making Lemonade on Instagram
However there’s that little issue of skill. It takes time to learn how to decorate cakes, it’s not very easy, and you need to buy all kinds of expensive gadgets and supplies, right? I thought that there’s no way I’d have time to learn how to do it until my kids are independently driving each other around everywhere and the laundry learns to fold itself. However, thanks to the power of YouTube how-to videos and this handy little tool– the Chef’n Cakewalk decorating set— my {sugar fueled} world was rocked.
Finally, a way to store all the decorating tips you’ll need in a compact carrier that also serves as the cake spinner! And having a cake spinner, I’ve since learned, is imperative to having a professional looking cake. The Cakewalk’s small size fooled me, until I realized it wasn’t just for teeny cakes but that you could put your own platter or cake board on top of the non-slip red circles and woo-hoo, MAGIC! Plus, since it’s so small it stores easily in any sized kitchen, and you know how much I love an organized kitchen. (A LOT).
Let me preface the following photos by letting you know I’m a novice. A 100% newbie in the cake decorating world. Which is why I was anxious to try the Cakewalk, to see if even I could turn out a semi-decently decorated cake that didn’t look like my son made it. It’s as if the Cakewalk winked at me and said, “CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.” It has everything you need: 15 tips, a coupler, a few disposable bags, and a decorating nail. Plus, oh yeah, the spinning cake stand.
It took me a little while to mix up the perfect buttercream (oh the humanity, taste testing and all!) and figure out how to tint it, and how much to use, and how to fit the tips in the bags. Thankfully I found the info I needed online, and once I started decorating, it was a piece of … ahem… cake.
To make sure this cake was duplicable for other newbie frosting eaters cake decorators, I kept it fairly simple. I thought a Thanksgiving cake would be a fun twist on the traditional pie, and/or something different to bring to any class parties, get-togethers, or bake sales this season. After fretting about how to make one, I ended up with this!
It’s really not that hard. I promise. I tinted the first bowl of frosting a golden orange (I used specialty icing coloring for this, and did three dips orange and one yellow). Then I piped a row of shells using the large start tip across the top half of the cake, spinning the Cakewalk as I went.
Then, inside that row was another row of shells tinted yellow.
I manged to squeeze in four green shells to make the interior row.
Next up? Turkey time! I piped a figure 8 using the same star tip as I used for the feathers. I went for the light brown (tan) shade that went well with the lighter colored feathers.
Then I smoothed the body with a spatula, using the Cakewalk’s spinning action to help out.
And dolloped on grass using the grass/fur tip. The final touches were feet, beak, and eyes with the writing tip. And some wings using the same star tip. Poor turkeys, with their inability to fly but being saddled with wings nonetheless. So ironic.
There you have it: My Chef’n Cakewalk Creation!
In hindsight, I should have moved the body up onto the feathers but who’s gonna notice, really? Certainly not THIS guy, who I caught licking his lips.
Oh the anticipation! Next time, they can help out. The Cakewalk makes it easy and fun even for kids. Needless to say, this turkey didn’t make it to Thanksgiving. He barely made it to dinner that night. If you want to have all these cake decorating tools at your fingertips, you can find the Chef’n Cakewalk at SurLaTable.
AND… you can also find one here, if you win. That’s right, I’m giving away a Cakewalk to one lucky winner! Just enter using the Rafflecopter below.
This little guy is going to be VERY handy this season. I may also be placing a few under the tree; at that price point, they make great gifts.
So. Who’s going to come over and help me eat all this frosting. Well, besides this guy of course.
Wouldn’t this turkey cake make a fun addition to your Thanksgiving table for your non-pie eaters and frosting lovers? Anyone else there intimidated by cake decorating, too?
