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Five Tips for the Would-Be Professional Cake Decorator

admin — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 07:13:20 +0000

Have you always dreamed of becoming a professional cake decorator? You are not alone if you dream of putting together the most exquisite desserts imaginable for friends and family. Cake decorating is fast becoming one of the most popular of all the pastry arts. Do you stop to look at the beautiful desserts on the cover of cooking magazines, or stop every time you walk by the bakery store window? Is your idea of a good time a long afternoon spent in the kitchen, creating beautiful, intricate desserts? If so, then perhaps you would be suited for a career in the pastry arts. If so, here are five tips for getting the job of your dream as a cake decorator.

1) Enroll at your local culinary academy to get professional training in cake decorating. Perhaps you have always thought of cake decorating as a hobby, something to do on the side rather than make a full-blown career. But if you are serious about becoming a cake decorator, then you will definitely want to get some kind of formal training under your belt. The best way to go about doing that is to take coursework on the professional level.

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2) If you are not ready or simply can't enroll in a culinary program, at least take a cake decorating class at your local community college. Cake decorating is serious hands-on business, so you will want to get some serious hands-on experience. There is no better way to do this than in the classroom. No matter how original and inspired your designs are that you have created on your own, all good chefs and bakers and decorators understand that they can always stand to learn new and cutting-edge techniques. At the very least, you can master techniques and methods that may have been foreign to you before you started class, and you can begin to build your own cake decoration portfolio in case you will be looking for work as a professional cake decorator.

3) If possible, find yourself a mentor. This can be difficult to do because it is hard to force relationships, but if possible, you should seek out a mentor. There is no better way to learn than from a more experienced baker or pastry chef with the time and the patience to show you the tricks of the trade. The pastry arts are riddled with tricks and tips, and there is no better way to learn them than through hands-on instruction from a person you both admire and trust.

4) Find work where you can find it. That is, don't expect to get a big salaried position right off the bat. The cake decorating industry is a niche industry, so it can be hard to become established right away. You kind of have to wriggle yourself into a professional cake decorator position. You can do this by finding odd jobs here and there that let you practice the art of cake decorating while making connections within your local pastry chef and baking community. For instance, you can get a job in catering to learn more about the business side of the professional baking world.

5) Brush up on your photography skills, or else look around for a good still photographer. If you are serious about breaking into the cake decorating business, you will want to build a portfolio of the cakes you have worked on. That means that you will need nice photographs of your cakes. It is not easy to get exquisite photography of the type you see in the glossy magazines. You may want to practice taking food shots, or else look for someone with a talent for still or food photography.

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A Newbie’s Guide to Cake Decorating

admin — Thu, 15 May 2008 07:11:38 +0000

Cake decorating has currently become one of the most popular fields in the culinary arts. More and more people are expressing an interest in baking and cake decorating. Why has cake decorating become so very popular of late? Cake decorating has become popular because it combines a variety of different skills and interests. If you think about it, cake decorating encompasses a great variety of skills and talents, including design, color patterns, baking and sculpture. If you are interested in getting involved in cake design, here are some hints and tips that can help you get started.

Baking the Perfect Cake – Hints of the Newbie Decorator

Before you can get started with the fun of cake decorating, you will need, of course, to have a cake to decorate. If you have never before baked a cake, now is the perfect time to start. You may want to get started by baking a cake from a store bought box mix. These cake mixes are easy to work with—simply add oil, water and eggs—and if you follow the directions, the results are nearly almost always satisfactory. However, another possibility is that if you can make your own homemade cake from scratch. It is easier than ever to bake a cake from scratch. That is because it is easier than ever to get a hold on fresh ingredients. However, if it is your first time baking a cake from scratch, opt for the easiest recipe you can get your hands on.

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Choosing the Right Kind of icing

You will also want to choose the right kind of icing when you are decorating your own cake. There are three basic kinds of icing that are available. These are known as icing consistencies. The three basic types of icing consistencies include soft icing, medium, and stiff. Chances are that, at least at the beginning, you will only be working with soft and medium icing. Soft can be thin and thus used to write on cakes. Soft icing can also be used to ice the entire cake. Medium icing is used for making decorative borders, scrolls and scrollwork. Medium consistency icing is strong enough to keep its shape, yet pliable enough to be spooned off the cake and eaten. The third basic icing consistency is stiff icing. Stiff icing is used for more elaborate means such as decorative flowers. The icing has to be stiff enough so that the flower (or other decoration) will hold its shape. Clearly, this type of icing is often too stiff to be eaten and is purely decorative.

Gathering the Right Kind of Cake Decorating Tools

If you are a cake decorating newbie, there is a good chance that you just don't have the right kind of tools in your kitchen arsenal. It is now easier than ever to get access to the kinds of tools you need in order to decorate your cake the way it should be decorated. Fortunately, there are many easy ways to take care of this problem. The easiest way to go about gathering the essential tools for cake decorating is to gather the tools you need according to the project at hand. However, because of the popularity of cake decorating, there are also many nifty cake decorating tool kits available now that offer you all the basic essentials in one package. Essential cake decorating tips may include pastry bag, paper cones for decorating, different sized tips, piping bag and different-sized frosting spatulas.

Collect Books and Magazines to Inspire You

One of the most important things you will need is inspiration. Surround yourself with inspiring pictures and ideas so that your own cake decorating is sparked with ideas.

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For Food Lovers All Around the World!

admin — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 14:54:44 +0000

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