Cake Decorating - Piping Icing

Do you watch all of the cake decorating shows? Tips for DIY cake decorating. It is fascinated to think how far cakes have come in the last several years. For most people, the only time they had an extreme cake was at their wedding. Now any and every occasion has the potential for an extreme cake to enrich it. If you go to any of the cake sites you will see all different techniques used. Look for the common element in the cakes you like. Try to learn that technique to be able to master your own extreme cakes. For many it is the piping. The fine detail of the piping really catches the eye. If you looking around your own home you will find you most likely have many designs that would translate into piping. Look at your tablecloth and imagine how you could pipe this repeating design onto a cake. Then start examining all of the different elements you have used to design the rooms in your home. You will see patterns everywhere. You can capture these designs to use for piping and other crafts by starting a design library. You just need a folder to hold the designs, a package of transparent sheets and a permanent marker. Lay the transparency over your tablecloth and copy the design with the marker. You can save the designs in a folder you can keep right with your cookbooks so it's handy. If you did this with all of the design elements in the house, you could begin a library of designs to be used later for more than just cakes. When you want to pipe the design, simply mix up a batch of royal icing and pipe the design onto a transparency. Leave it on a flat surface to harden and gently pop it off. Attach it to the cake with a dab of more royal icing. If you are going to use your transparency for something other than cakes and you are not sure if it is going to ruin your transparency, copy the transparency first onto another sheet so you don't loose that design for your library. You can do this easily by laying one transparency over another and copy it with your marker. Have fun with going around your house looking for designs. You can find them in the upholstery, in the rug, in the wood furniture and more. Look for designs in your floors and lampshades. You can use the design of your trim or the unique style of your bedspread. See how far you can take it. Article by: Mary Welling-Bonney