Hi apologies first if this is in the wrong section. i was wondering what is the best way to start practising how to decorate cakes? i have just done a simple one for my daughters birthday but would like to learn how to get better results with smoothing out the icing, making models and other things. i can bake no problem, its just the actual decorating that i need help with. also what are the basic tools that i need? i'm not doing it for business, just for family and hobby.

thanks in advance.

Welcome to the CC

You want to look around at the various decorating tutorials on this site and online. In the How-to section at the top you will find a couple of lists to links for tutorials.
You also want to go to Design me a cake . com (without spaces), Edna has some really wonderful free tutorials on icing cakes and making them smooth, stacking and a lot of flowers, plus more.

All the free tutorials will keep you busy practicing.

Happy caking!

If you have a Michael's, Joann Fabric, or AC Moore in your neighborhood you should try to take the Wilton decorating beginner's class. I was making cakes as a hobby for years but couldn't get smooth cakes until I took it. They are very inexpensive, I think I signed up during a 50% off special and got the class for $22 and you can use a coupon for the kit and get 40% off of it. With extra's that they recommend, if you don't already own them, you may be out a total of $75 but it was worth it.

I can't show you before and after pictures of my cakes because my frosting was so bad that I only used piping to cover cakes before I took the class. The description and samples of icing consistency I got from being in class have transformed my buttercream cakes.

If you absolutely can't take a class, look at some You Tube videos, especially from Tonedna.

Have fun with it!

I started out by purchasing cake books and trying one method and practicing that for a while, then moving on to a different method. I have had no training...all just trial and error. It works for some...others may need to take a few classes. It all depends on you.

thanks for all the replies. i will have a look through the tutorials. never thought of looking at youtube.

When I first tumbled upon this site I just read and read and read for months. The amount of useful information is tremendous!

As mentioned by Torimomma, Youtube is also a great resource.

Most importantly, practice! Being a hobby baker, I've turned pretty much every occasion into an excuse to bake cake. It helps me perfect and try out new techniques.

I used you tube and design me a cake . com. This site has help alot, and as you can see if you have a question, any one will help if they can.
Welcome to the site. Hope you enjoy your learning process.

If you want good tips on cake decorating I've found a fantastic web site, tips are so valuable. This is their link -

http://ee16b8zc65mfgu8xc1uouq2w3e.hop.clickbank.net/?tid=INDEX

Good Luck

Here is another online cake decorating site for u http://www.learn-cake-decorating.com/ hope u like it....

I just did my first cake in march, since then iv found any excuse to make one and have had lots of orders from friends and family for them! At first it was really annoying because I couldn't learn quick enough, I just wanted to keep going alp the time and try so many different things at once and I couldn't. I've only just started to try making flowers and figures and piping in the past few weeks! I think the key is patience and practice. If you just want to practice without making a cake you can buy polystyrene cake dummies, I got mine on eBay, that way if you cover them with cling film/plastic wrap and then spray a little water on them to stick the icing you can practice covering and decorating them for as long as you like!

I don't have any websites to link you to because I dont use any specifically, if I need to know how to do something I Google search for a tutorial and if there are none I find something like what I want to do and try to work it out. And then when you're stuck you have this forum, there are always lots of helpful people on here who will help you if they can.

The first tools I bought were a fondant smoother, I don't know how I even iced a cake without it anymore, I bought a set of 8 plastic double ended modelling tools, they weren't too expensive either, but really in the beginning you can decorate a cake without special tools, I did about 3 before I even got my smoother. If you intend to pipe then I don't think piping bags are that expensive. In the beginning I had 1 rectangle baking tin, which I used as a starting point for all my square cakes, and then 2 round pans from the supermarket I didn't even know the sizes lol.