Cake Series (Part 4 of 4): Decorating

Decorating - finally! This design is inspired by Peggy Porschen's Buds in May wedding cake, which has two tones of blue stripes and red rose buds.

Assembling tiers. Tiered cakes need a support system to support the weight of each tier. Since each tier is on a cake board, this can be as simple as small dowels inserted into each layer (except for the top layer.) I found that this article from baking911 is a great resource for information on assembling tiers.

Green stripes. There isn't a whole lot to this design. You'll need two colors of fondant. White fondant can be dyed to any color by kneading in gel food coloring (gels are different from the liquid food coloring that's at the grocery store.)

Roll fondant out to 1/4" thick on a non-stick surface that has been dusted in corn starch. Cut rectangles to the desired height and width. (A clean quilting ruler and pizza cutter with a plastic blade work well for doing this.) I cut 2" x 1" rectangles so that the design would go half way up each 4" tier.

Let fondant rectangles dry a little before picking them up and attaching them to the cake. To attach a rectangle, brush the back with water, then press it on the cake.

For a stronger edible adhesive, try piping gel or a small amount of fondant dissolved in warm water.

Alternate the two colors of rectangles as you work your way around each tier.

Dots. The last step is piping royal icing dots at the seams between rectangles. For a royal icing recipe and tutorial, see this post. The dots are piped with a Wilton #3 tip.

Depending on the specific cake and filling, cake can usually be covered in fondant and decorated one or two days in advance.