Truth time, folks: I am not a pastry chef.
I am a stylist and photographer, and I may love to eat delicious sweet treats (who doesn’t?) but I don’t have experience decorating cakes.
However, there are some really easy cake decorating hacks that don’t require fancy culinary skills or pricey decorations! All you need is a little creativity and a few toppings that you may already have at home. Some you might even find in your kitchen.
You can find this quick cake decorating tutorial Reel, but I thought I’d share a longer tutorial here in case you need extra tips on decorating your cake. Enjoy!
Hack #1: Add fresh fruit
Fresh fruit adds extra texture and detail to a cake, and it can complement the cake’s flavor. And fruit is healthy, so it’ll make your cake healthy, too… Right?
Don’t know what fruit to use? Here are some ideas for pairing fruit and different kinds of cakes:
🧁 Add fresh strawberries to a strawberry cake
🧁 Use sliced peaches or kiwi on a vanilla cake
🧁 Add fresh cherries to a Black Forest cake
🧁 Use raspberries or blackberries for a chocolate cake
🧁 Add blueberries to a lemon cake
Wanna take your fruit toppings to the next level? Sprinkle lemon zest on top. Use candied fruit instead of fresh. Or, add a variety of fruit; don’t stick to just one!
Hack #2: Use other baked goods
If you’re not a fruit person and more of a “gimme ALL the sweets” person, this hack’s for you. You can use other, smaller baked goods as toppings for your cake!
Meringues and macarons make really fun decorations because they come in so many colors. And you can pick macarons in your favorite flavors, too.
Prefer cookies, mini cupcakes, or chocolates? Use them as your toppings instead!
Hack #3: Mix in florals
Florals? For cakes? Groundbreaking. If you love fresh flowers, why not use them as cake decorations?
Hint: faux flowers work just as well, too. And you can reuse them for your next cake!
Flowers look gorgeous on top of a perfectly iced cake, a rustic cake, or even a naked cake without icing. You can choose your favorite type of flower or mix and match different blooms together.
Or, why not use flowers together with baked goods? (You can see how I did that with macarons, meringues, and flowers in my Reel.)
Bonus Hack: Go wild with sprinkles
This bonus hack isn’t in my Reel, but it’s an easy one. When in doubt, add sprinkles!
There isn’t a sprinkles pic
There are so many types of sprinkles you can use for all kinds of cakes. There are the classics: rainbow sprinkles, sugar sprinkles, or confetti sprinkles.
You can even find themed ones, like Halloween sprinkles, metallic sprinkles, unicorn sprinkles, and more! Sprinkles make any plain cake pop with color and texture.
Make a pretty pattern
Whichever decorations you choose, test out your pattern idea on your kitchen countertop before sticking them to your cake so you can see how it looks (and avoid ruining your cake).
You can create a repeating pattern in rings or designs. Pile your toppings right in the center to make a centerpiece. Or, arrange your decor on one side of the cake. You can even have them spill over onto the sides of your cake for a cool effect!
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