Preparing a Cake For Decorating

This one has been hanging out in a folder since Jeremy's birthday in May. I forgot to take pictures of the actual decorating process (which I didn't do a very good job of decorating in the first place anyway) but I do have some tips for getting the cake ready for decorating.

First you need to flour your pan. Spraying cooking spray on it just won't get the job done. Use a paper towel to grease the pan with vegetable shortening then sprinkle some flour in and shake it around until all of the shortening is covered in it. Hold the pan over the sink or trash can and smack the bottom to get the excess flour out. Pour your cake batter in and smack the bottom of the pan for a minute to release air bubbles in the batter. You can wrap the pan with insulated cake strips to make in bake more evenly but I never remember this step. Besides if it bakes too evenly then you will miss out on the next step which is my favorite part!

Once your cake is done baking, let it cool for a while. Use a long knife to cut the mound off the top of the cake and even it out.

Eating the top layer that you cut off is the best part of cake decorating! Some people call it the "sugar layer" and it is soooo yummy!

You can buy a board to put your cake on but I usually just cut down a piece of cardboard so that it is about 3-4" longer and wider than my cake pan. Wrap it in decorating foil and tape it to the bottom of the board. You can use plain aluminum foil in a pinch but it will tear when you are cutting and serving the cake.

Place the board on top of your cake with the foil-covered side facing the cake. Make sure it is centered over the pan.

Carefully hold on to the pan and the board, holding them together tightly. Quickly flip the cake over.

If it still looks centered then remove the pan. If the cake is still wanting to stick then tap the cake pan or shake it a little to loosen it.
Put a thin layer of icing over the entire cake (mine is a little thick in some areas). This is called a "crumb coat" and it glues all of the crumbs in place so you don't see them in the final frosting layer. This is particularly handy if your cake is a different color than your icing. You don't want chocolate cake crumbs showing up in white icing. Once the crumb coat is dry you are ready to put on your main icing layer and start decorating! This post may contain affiliate links. These affiliate links help support this site. For more information, please see my disclosure policy. Thank you for supporting Polish The Stars.