Using Royal Icing in Cake Decorating~Super Quick Tutorial

Every now and then, I am lucky enough to make treats for the people I know.

This weekend I made two HUGE cakes for the folks in my hubby's office.  He works at Kraus Anderson.

This is their logo.

So I was making them a couple spring cakes but decided to do something a little different on the inside.

(shocking for me, I know)  And sadly, I dont have pictures of the inside.  So am going to have my oldest child to draw one for me. 

And when I say oldest child, I really mean me, but I dont want anyone to know what a horrific drawer I am so I am trying to blame it on my poor defenseless child.

 

The bottom layer is devils food with miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips added, the middle layer is white cake, the top layer is red velvet.  I made SIX batches of cake for this monster.

UPDATE!!  They sent me a picture they took!  Thank you so much KA Midwest Office!! :)

Anywho... here is the cake!

Its a happy fun super easy spring flower cake.  And I thought I would share with you how I made all those flowers!

(Of course, you can totally pipe right on the cake, but I like uniformity and consistency, and I wanted every flower to look similar so I chose this method)

I started by drawing out what design I wanted on a sheet of white paper.

Then I slipped the drawing behind a sheet of wax paper. (you can also use parchment)

Now just start tracing!  I grabbed some green royal icing (its important to use traditional royal icing, NOT my version) and piped on the stems.

Then went back and finished with the rest of my colors!

I made about three sheets of these, so I would have enough for two big cakes.  After they have dried for at least 24 hours, then gently picked them up and placed them around the cake.  I placed them directly onto the frosting, so no 'glue' was needed. 

Then just go back in and add the center design with some dots.  You can pipe out some grass for a neat bottom border.

If you wanted to make this special for Mothers Day, you could just write out "Happy Mothers Day To The Best Mom That Ever Walked The Face Of The Earth!" on the top of the cake.

Or Happy Mothers Day.

Whatever floats your boat.

I have ONE more big Mothers Day gift idea coming, but tomorrow is my Anniversary to my dear hubby (eight years!)... so it might be a few days before I can post it.  But it will be BEFORE May 9th, promise!

Comments

[bridget {bake at 350}]

Great tutorial!!! And happy (early) anniversary! ♥

[Renee]

I was just thinking about you! I was wondering if you got a new oven so you could bake some more stuff to share on your blog :) Your ears must have been burning. Very cute cake :)

[Laci]

oh cool, i didn't think of THAT! great idea :)

Laci

[Kate]

Love it! It's so fresh and pretty.

Hurry up with your final idea please. I don't have time to waste. ;-)

[Shanda]

Wow! How cool is that! Question. How did you get the flowers to lay against the cake and not break? (round cake royal icing, trying to wrap my brain around that)

[Melisa]

you make it look soo easy and beautiful!!! Happy Anniversary!

[Lauren @ Crave. Indulge. Satisfy.]

Super cute! Love this royal icing technique! Happy Anniversary and Happy Mother's day!

[Renee of Kudos Kookies]

Great tutorial Amanda. I've tried piping royal on parchment before but never have the patience to let it dry properly and always ruin it by trying to move it too early. Kudos to you for not being an impatient fool. Very pretty cake!

[Stephanie]

I might just have to attempt this once ... though I will admit that it seems a bit scary to me. :)

[Paula]

I'm so happy to see you posting again at i am baker and what a delightfully pretty cake. I love what you did with the royal icing flowers and a three flavoured cake. Your cakes are the tallest and the most creative!

Hoping that you did get a new oven and that you are happy again in your kitchen.

[Lindsay]

Well by golly I do believe I, errrr....YOU, have just found my daughters 1st bday cake! :-)Gracias Seniorita!

[Jessica @ How Sweet]

I never knew you could decorate a cake like that! What a fabulous idea. I learn so much from you!

[Account Deleted]

O-M-G!!! Thank you so very much for this valuable tip.I still can’t believe how easy that was =O Thanks again ;)

[susan]

simple and sweet! what was the occasion?

[Alicia]

I wish I worked in that office!!!! LOL

[Jenny]

This is adorable. I have tried this technique before, but using non-royal icing similar to your usual (and it did not work -- much too delicate). So what royal-royal icing recipe (or product) did you use for this? Will you say? Thanks!!

P.S. LOVE your website.

[The Lumberjack's Wife]

This is amazing to me. How do you do this stuff? You are a goddess, I say. :)
Now come bake me something! :)

[Maranda]

This is such a great idea and fantastic tutorial!! Thanks for sharing!

[Lorie]

Love them!!!

[Amy's blah, blah, blog]

I may have to try that sometime. Doesn't look too too hard.

[Kate]

I'm so happy they sent you a picture because (no offense) the drawing just wasn't doing it for me.

#justsayin

[Grapefruit]

Pretty cake, great idea & tutorial. I've done this with chocolate but never thought to do it with royal icing. thanks for the inspiration!

[Phyllis]

I'm curious....because I've not ventured very far into the whole cookie-decorating scenario....why is it important to use a traditional royal icing instead of your usual icing recipe?

[Emily]

This is absolutely beautiful! Are there any recommendations for a "traditional" royal icing and a white frosting to cover the cake like this one?

[Terri]

This is so, so cute!!
Visiting from Be Different Act Normal.. Have a wonderful Tuesday! :)

[Rachel]

Wow, this is great! I am loving your tips. Thanks so much for sharing, I'll be linking.

[The Lumberjack's Wife]

Hey-is that you on Tasty Kitchen today?!?

[Katie]

I was recently pondering this idea and I thought surely they'd break and I would cry and it would be a terrible cake disaster! lol You prove me wrong!! :) Thank you for the fantastic idea, I will be trying this for sure!

[Term Papers]

likeable blog ... really a charming pictures ..

[shelly (cookies and cups)]

very cute! That cake must have been enormous!!

[bp]

Great cake for spring! You did a good job.
Bethany :)

[holly]

What an adorable cake!:) Just want to let you know we are hosting an awesome giveaway thru CSN stores:)

[Steph]

I just wanted to let you know ( I just stumbled upon your blog) that we share the exact same anniversary date...down to the year! How cool is that!!!!

[Londa]

Your cakes are SO beautiful! A cake decorating kit (Wilton?) and some decorating lessons are on my wish list! Is it silly to have "decorate a beautiful cake" on my bucket list?
BEAUTIFUL!!!

[Jenifer]

I so wish I lived near you so I could take cake baking/decorating classes from you. You are so totally amazing. I've featured this tutorial on my blog and linked back to you. Great job!

[Gianna]

sickeningly talented! (did i spell that right? NOT talented! come on Amanda! :))

[Steph]

This is brilliant! I will definitely try this technique very soon!

[Jackie McClelland]

Do the royal icing flowers have to dry for 24 hours? Do you think a hairdryer would help them to dry more quickly if we needed them, say, tomorrow :)

[sheila @ Elements]

Awwwww...that's just precious!!! I would cry if I got a cake like that! :)

[Mousse Cakes]

I really love the drawing your daughter did! It's so cute! And pretty accurate too! The cake looks great!

Love it friend. Very creative.

[Web Design]

Incidentally, I like the way you have structured your site, it is super and very easy to follow. I have bookmarked you and will be back regularly. Thank you

[Nanthi]

Hi Friend, its a beautiful cake. I never covered my cakes(made only flowers) with RI and just searched the web "how to use RI on cakes" and found your blog. I too feel that the traced flowers piped with RI may break while transferring on to the cake. How to avoid this? Give another tutorial for this please....!! :)