You can march into any large grocery store and find a lot of pre-decorated birthday cakes in the bakery or even in the freezer section. Few of these will have truly inspiring birthday cake decoration, however, and won’t really say a lot to the person who is celebrating their birthday. This is one of the main reasons that people go to the trouble of making homemade birthday cakes or of ordering one from a specialty cake decorator instead.
The reason that a custom birthday cake will really make a statement is because the person (or persons) who tackle the decorating will have a very clear theme and a somewhat original style to use. What does that mean? Just consider some of the best birthday cakes you have ever seen…what makes them memorable? Was it the fineness of the decoration, or was it the unique style of the artist who actually made that cake? Most often it is the artistry that impresses someone, and often it is simply because that cake decorator understands the main elements of their own personal style.
For instance, let’s say that you always buy your cakes from one particular bakery. You may have noticed that the baker uses a range of different piping techniques whether the cake is iced with whipped cream, butter cream, or chocolate. You may have also noticed that the baker always uses multiple layers or tiers in their cakes too, and this actually indicates their personal preference in the “silhouette” of the cake.
How can these design features add up to some sort of personal style? We have to go back to those cakes purchased at the local grocery chain…these had zero inspiration and could have been made by anyone in the bakery. This is because they were not designed and did not rely on custom preferences.
So, if you are looking for some inspiring decorating ideas for a birthday cake, the first step is to work at identifying your personal decorating style. Would you prefer to make sheet cakes, tiered cakes, or cakes baked in specialty pans? Do you think that you have a preference in icings or frostings? What do you think about various piping techniques?
Once you begin thinking about the answers to such questions, you will be able to begin creating a truly original birthday cake design theme. For instance, you might discover that you want to use smaller and deeper cake pans, stack the full layers atop one another, and then drape the entire cake in rolled fondant. You might then want to decorate the exterior of the cake with all kinds of rolled fondant symbols that are meant to coordinate with the theme or personality of the person celebrating their birthday. For example, the person might have a polka-dot themed party and you might roll enormous dots of fondant to cover the surface of their totally inspired and original cake.
It might take time and practice to identify a personal decorating style, but once you become aware of your preferences in icings, shapes, and general design elements you will find that all of your cakes are truly original and impressive. Cake Sydney