It started as an obsession--gorgeous blues melting into sunset pinks, tulips more lifelike than decorative--and it ended as my hobby for this upcoming winter. The Instagram algorithms had decided, clearly appropriately, that I should be inundated with cake decorating videos. Late at night, my dogs and I would curl up and watch buttercream miracles; we watched the graceful hands of decorating experts make roses that never wilt but that dissolve into sugary goodness on your tongue; we watched T-rex’s slowly ooze out of green decorating bags, and cookie-witches perched atop ganache brooms.

Naturally, I spent the next few days at work accumulating a cake decorating arsenal. And I’m happy to share with you all that what I thought were cake decorating miracles, were in fact the ceaselessly fun and endlessly creative work of a community of professionals and hobbyists that know a good time starts with a gorgeous desert.

So, without further ado, I want to share a few tips, a handful of recipes, and a shopping list that will have you making influencer cakes in no time.

Tips:

1. Have fun with this. Don’t let this enter a stressful cooking repertoire.
2. Listen, you could make a Julia Child cake, but if you’re learning the ropes of icing cakes, do what I did: buy an assortment of box cakes that you’re not going to mess up. Artists use cheap canvases when learning techniques, you should too.
3. Sure, you can make a variety of colors from red, green, yellow, and blue icings, but buying your desired colors prevents a headache.Check out ours
4. Put a preliminary layer of buttercream on your cake, leave it in the fridge for a few hours, and you'll find it has solidified, leaving behind an easy and effortless surface to decorate upon.
5. Familiarize yourself with your different piping tips.
6. You can never have too many couplers, decorating bags, or tips.
7. Keep your decorating bags cool; warm or wet buttercream doesn’t hold its shape well. I keep a bag of frozen peas close at hand to cool by hands while working.

Shopping list:

N.B. I’ve made each of the cakes photographed above with these simple sets and tools.

1. A decorating set like this one from ateco which includes a bunch of starter tips, a reusable bag, and a coupler.
2. Piping bags; check out our reusables and non reusables.
3. A standard and large coupler.
4. Aluminum cake pans (they cook more evenly than non-stick alternatives): I used a 9 inch NordicWare and made a double decker.
5. A smoother and decorating comb.
6. An icing spatula.

For those that have (or desire) everything, these russian tips are stunning and marvelously easy to use.

A handful of recipes to get you started:

1. As always, I’m an enormous fan of the folks over atSerious Eats. Their buttercream guide is thorough and an excellent companion to your first decorating project. They cover five different types of buttercream, from American to Italian.

• Tin Eatshas over seven hundred reviews of this vanilla cake and an average of five stars--doesn’t that say enough? This is what I used for my fig cake. It’s irresistibly moist.

1. Hate buttercream? How does chocolate ganache sound? I used this recipe from Allrecipes for the interior of my “I Love You” cake.

Thank you all so much for your support. As always, don’t hesitate to write if you have any questions.

Yours,

Gigi <3