Anyone agrees with the fact that store cupcakes, gingerbread cookies, cookies and cakes do not go with any comparison with homemade cakes. A treat prepared at home turns out to be both tastier and, one might say, “soulful”. And the very process of making sweet treats resembles a kind of ritual action. Especially exciting is the final stage, when a beautiful and mouth-watering dessert is born from unpresentable semi-finished products.
Here are just problems with decorating a homemade cake. Not everyone is able to adequately decorate deliciously baked pastries with their own hands. Especially often, beginner home confectioners ask a question: how to decorate a square cake? Many people choose this particular form for baking goodies. But, making out the appearance of the treats, the craftswomen face difficulties.
In this article, we will reflect on what decorations for cakes are, how to decorate a square cake so that there are no bumps and blemishes on it, and share recipes for delicious desserts.
Types of Jewelry
Making the cake is perhaps the most important moment in the process of making dessert yourself. To beautifully arrange a festive treat, it is not at all necessary to be a professional pastry chef. This, perhaps, is within the power of everyone who has a great desire and is ready to study and to show attentiveness and patience. You can decorate a cake in your home kitchen with:
- cream;
- meringues;
- mastics;
- icing;
- jelly.
The most popular are decorating pastries with cream and mastic.
We decorate the cake with cream
Cream decoration in confectionery is considered a classic. Many experts believe that it will never go out of style. The cream is suitable for decorating all kinds of desserts, and a square cake is no exception. It will turn out appetizing and attractive if oil cream is used in its design. This product is durable, able to keep its shape perfectly, does not fade and does not settle. Such a cream can be prepared from condensed milk and butter, heated to room temperature.
How to make a cream?
Beat the butter thoroughly with a mixer until a lush mass is formed. Then, without fail, whipping, the condensed milk is gradually introduced into it. The cream should be prepared based on: 100 g butter - 5 tbsp. l condensed milk (you can use boiled).
How to decorate a cake?
After preparing the cream, you can immediately start decorating our cake. To do this, stock up on a special syringe or pastry bag with removable nozzles.
If at hand there is neither one nor the other, do not get upset. You can take a regular sheet of paper in A4 format, roll it into a bag and cut the resulting tip at an even angle. The resulting cornet should be held tightly in your hands so that it does not turn around. Put cream in the middle of the cornet and begin to lightly press. Content comes out of the hole in a thin stream. Depending on the master’s imagination, using this device on the surface of the cake, you can display various cream decorations: patterns, stripes, zigzags, flowers, circles, etc. Using cream, it is easy to decorate cakes of any shape, including square ones. Smooth the cream on the surface of the product with a special spatula or an ordinary knife.
Cream square cakes
Housewives generously share recipes for various cakes on the Web. Among them, attention is attracted by the tempting recipe and the original name of the description of desserts, which are preferable to bake in a square shape: “Bird's milk”, “White” biscuit, “For Pavlik” dances, “Lotus flower”, “Strawberry in chocolate”, etc.
Square cake
Dessert with this name is one of the popular treats and, according to the authors of the reviews, completely simple to prepare. Soft, bright and delicious cake is the perfect dessert for an evening tea party. Cooking skills require baking skills, perseverance and patience.
A square cake (the photo in the article presents its appearance) is prepared from 6 chicken proteins, 80 g of sugar, 90 g of flour, 10 g of vanilla sugar, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 100 g of butter, 1 tbsp. tablespoons of cocoa, 2 yolks, 2 tbsp. tablespoons of poppy seeds, 100 g of cherry jelly, 400 g of vanilla curd cheese, a package of jelly (kiwi, raspberry, cherry or lemon).
First, sugar and vanilla, flour, baking powder and melted butter are added to the whipped protein. The mass is stirred and divided into four parts. The first should add 2 yolks, 1 tbsp. spoon flour and stir until smooth. In the second add cherry jelly, in the third - cocoa, in the fourth - poppy and also stir. Prepare a baking dish. Carefully pour 2 tbsp. Of each type of dough into it alternately. spoons. Then spoon quickly mix the dough clockwise. Bake for 45 minutes using a temperature of 180 degrees.
The cooled biscuit is cut into two parts, one of them is placed in the mold. Next, the souffle is prepared. A pack of cherry jelly is dissolved in a glass of boiled water and poured into a bowl with whipped sweet curds. The finished souffle should be smeared on the surface of the cake. On top of it lay the second piece of biscuit. The surface of the cake can be decorated with butter cream and berries. The product should be kept in the refrigerator for 6 hours.
How to cook mastic?
A great alternative to cream jewelry is pastry mastic. The consistency of the mastic is similar to plasticine, any decoration can be fashioned from it; leaflets, flowers, figurines, etc. Confectionery mastic can be purchased at the store, but it’s not difficult to cook it yourself.
To do this, you need condensed and powdered milk, as well as powdered sugar. These ingredients are combined in equal proportions, after which, like a dough, knead mastic, from which you can then sculpt whatever you want. It should be remembered that this material is able to quickly dry and harden. Therefore, experts recommend that during the work, cover the mastic with cling film. In addition, it should not cover the entire surface of the product.
It should also be remembered that overly voluminous jewelry has the ability to crack. They paint the mastic in the same way as the butter cream, and roll it out on a food film sprinkled with powdered sugar.
We decorate the cake with mastic
With this material, you can decorate the surface of any cake, whatever shape it may be. Making a square cake from mastic is not difficult at all. Fruit cake should first be coated with marzipan. Sponge cake can be covered with fudge immediately, but first you need to lubricate its surface with cream or glaze. Stages:
- The surface of a fruit cake covered with marzipan is moistened with cold water or strong alcohol (you can use gin or vodka). Sponge cake should be greased or covered with cream.
- Then you need to knead the fondant to soften it and increase plasticity. You can put mastic on a flat, smooth surface of the cake.
- The surface of the upper part of the cake and the height of the sides should be measured, add a gap of about 2.5 cm. Roll the fondant sheet to the desired size. Sheet thickness should be 5 mm. So that he does not stick to the desktop, it is necessary to constantly turn it over and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
- A sheet of mastic should be polished with a palm to remove all irregularities and adhering sugar from it. It must be ensured that no air bubbles remain inside the fudge.
- Using a rolling pin, the mastic sheet should be raised, applied edge to the edge of the cake, and then deployed to the opposite edge of the cake through its upper surface.
- The upper part of the cake should be smoothed with a palm from the center to the edges. This is necessary to prevent air bubbles from appearing between the mastic coating and the surface of the cake.
- Then go to the sides of the product and gently smooth the mastic on them. When wrinkles appear, it is necessary to carefully lift the mastic cover and again carefully press it to the sides of the cake.
- From top to bottom you need to smooth the mastic, achieving a flat and smooth surface. You can use a special spatula.
- Next, the knife should trim the excess mastic at the base of the product, giving it the correct square shape.
Conclusion
It is also very easy to decorate the cake with the help of meringues, icing, jelly, etc. It is especially important to have an original, bright design of the cake, if it is intended for a children's holiday. But we must not forget that in any case, it is taste that is valued first of all in a delicacy.