Decorating custom cakes is a great way to express yourself and create a unique and personalised cake for any special occasion. It can be a fun and creative experience that allows you to show off your skills and make something truly unique. With custom cakes, you can choose the flavour, style, decorations and even the shape of your cake. You are only limited by your imagination.
Cake is probably one of the most delicious foods humans have invented, beautiful cake tastes twice as good. We have many inspiring ways to learn how to decorate cakes at home step by step for free. We’ve described how to simply and beautifully decorate a cake with powdered sugar, marzipan, marshmallows and more.
If you’re looking for cake decorating and filling ideas, we’re here to help. From royal icing to buttercream, coconut shavings to fruit, we have plenty to choose from.
This collection includes simple, easy methods and techniques. Most are budget-friendly and perfect for decorating many different cakes.
So, whether you’re looking for children’s birthday cakes or just want to diversify your usual cake decorating methods, check out our simple inspirational ideas.
Melted chocolate and ganache
Chocolate is one of our favorite ways to decorate cakes. It can be melted, mixed with cream to make ganache, or you can just use cocoa powder as a light sprinkle. And it doesn’t have to be a chocolate cake that you cover with chocolate – you can cover any cake you prefer.
Fruit
If you’re looking for something light and refreshing to give your cake a taste of summer, fruit is the best choice. From fresh raspberries to dried raisins, there are many different fruits that are perfect for cake decorating. You can decorate your cakes with seasonal fruit, use berries in the summer and clementines and dried fruit in the winter.
Buttercream
It doesn’t take much to make buttercream: butter, powdered sugar, flavored extract and a few drops of milk. Buttercream is one of the most popular cake fillings, as it can be in many different flavors, colors and can be applied in many different ways.
Buttercream makes excellent curls and roses, made with a culinary bag, it is also very convenient to cover the cakes and get perfectly flat surfaces.
Lively flowers
From rose petals to lavender sprigs, give your cake a springtime look by using flowers for decoration. They will make your cake look very pretty and also smell like flowers. Tie bunches of flowers together and place around the edge of the cake or sprinkle the buttercream with rose petals.
Candies
Whether you make a slide of them in the middle, cover the entire cake, or lay out a pattern such as writing names, your kids will love a cake decorated with lots of store-bought candy. Think candy covered in colored frosting, chocolate covered nuts, fun candy like M&M’s.
Mastic
You can buy ready-to-use mastic at most online pastry stores. It’s really easy to work with, and this method of decorating is suitable for beginners. You can buy all sorts of colors or add a few drops of food coloring to the white mastic for your own color palette.
Marshmallow
Melted or whole marshmallow is an easy way to turn your classic baked goods into a masterpiece. Stack them high or melt them gently over low heat on the stove and pour over the cake-the choice is yours. Most supermarkets sell marshmallow at a reasonable price, making it an easy option for children’s birthday cakes or gifts.
Powdered Sugar
If you’re looking for a simple but effective technique for learning how to decorate cakes at home step-by-step for free, powdered sugar is your best choice. Cut a template out of paper and sprinkle it with powdered sugar to depict any picture. Use guipure or lace fabric to create subtle, whimsical images.
Chocolate sticks
This is a great way to cover up any imperfections on the cake. If it’s a little burnt around the edges and you had to cut a few pieces off. Or if it didn’t rise as much as you would have liked, use chocolate sticks.
Just cover your cake with buttercream, chocolate or royal icing and press them around the edges of the cake. They also give you a great base for sprinkling your cake with sweets, fruit or flowers.
Cake Decorating Idea – Pastry Sprinkles
If you’re short on time, the cake decorating department at your local supermarket can save your life. One of our favorite ways is with sprinkles made from colorful sugar balls. A little buttercream and generous sprinkles will turn your cake into a colorful treat.
Coconut
Coconut shavings can be baked into the cake or used to decorate it. It’s a healthier version than sprinkles of sugar or candy and looks just as spectacular. Cover your cake with light buttercream and then press the coconut shavings into it.
Sweets
It really doesn’t take long to transform your cake with this simple cake decorating idea. A couple bags of candy bars make a big difference and are perfect for sprinkling on your favorite cake.
Nuts
What else can you decorate your cake with? Assorted nuts are perfect for giving your cake a new look. You can cover it top to bottom or sprinkle some on top of the buttercream – whichever option you choose, the cake will look great.
Marzipan
Decorating with marzipan is a great way to give your cake a delightful almond flavor. Perfect for muffin fruit cakes, marzipan is a great topper for Christmas and holiday cakes.
Beautiful cake decoration with lettering.
Make him or her feel special by writing a personalized message on the cake. The easiest way to do this is to write in frosting, but you can also buy felt-tip pens with edible ink or special cake decorating stamps to cut the words out of marzipan.
Caramel
Whether you cut corners and buy pre-made confections or take your baking skills to the next level, caramel is a very impressive way to simply and beautifully decorate a cake.
You can drizzle melted caramel over the top, leave it to harden to form a crispy crust, or add in cream cheese to make a caramel glaze.
Meringue
If you love meringue as much as we do, you really should try this technique. Whisk some soft meringue egg whites and sugar and apply gently with a spoon or with a culinary bag. If you want that classic, crispy meringue finish, you can brown it by heating it quickly in the oven.
Prepared spreads
From Nutella to marmalade, any pre-made spread is a great choice if you’re short on time. And this is another idea for what you can decorate your cake with.
Just spread them evenly with a mastic or spoon. You can add confectionery sprinkles, marzipan figures or fresh fruit on top – whatever you like.
Royal Frosting
Whether you spread it with a mastic, curls from a cookie bag, or a spoon, royal icing can really make your cake look taller than the rest.
Whipped cream
Make your pastry creation even more exquisite by decorating it with freshly whipped cream, which is the perfect base for chocolate or fruit. This cream is really easy to work with and can be spread or applied to the cake depending on its thickness.