Mamma's Sweet Sugar Kisses (she:Turia)

This is Me: Turia! Owner and Cake Designer of Sugar Kisses Cakes by Design. I've been making cakes for 17 years and have had my own business for the past 4 years. Hope you enjoy the post!

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Ever wanted to make you son or daughters birthday extra special by making their birthday cake yourself? You had high hopes and excitement as you google the cutest kids birthday cakes you could find. You find the perfect dinosaur.. in all his glory.

You can do it.. Not a problem. You are pumped up.. get to the craft store and buy loads of new cake decorating equipment and head home to start that little act of love for your dinosaur obsessed child..
well....... 12 hours later... frosting all over you, your kitchen, your floor.... and a few obscenities thrown out in front of your innocent children.. that perfect cake... looks more like a ninja turtle lizard instead of a cute cuddly dinosaur.

As you serve this lump of greenness to your little guy.. all you are thinking is, "I should have just bought a dang grocery store cake.. This is NOT WORTH IT!!"

Well ladies.. DO NOT GIVE UP!! You can do it! Cake decorating is a blast if you just know a few tricks. I've been making cakes for over 17 years now and I've found some KILLER tricks to make cakes taste yummy and look great without a whole lot of work. Today, I'm going to share some of these tips with you.

TIP #1: HOMEMADE FROSTING!!!! HOMEMADE FROSTING!!!! HOMEMADE FROSTING!!!!

I can't say this enough. Don't even look at at the prepackaged garbage at the grocery store. Take some time to make your own. No matter what your cake taste like.. with homemade frosting, any cake will taste great.
Here's a simple recipe for great frosting: 1 Cup Softened Butter (not margarine)
4 Cups Powdered Sugar
1-5 TBS. Milk
1 TBS. Vanilla Extract
Cream together the butter until light and fluffy. Add Vanilla. Mix in powdered sugar a little at a time. When the frosting looks really dry, add ONE TABLESPOON at at time of milk (too much liquid will DESTROY your frosting). Continue to add powdered sugar and milk until all the sugar is mixed in and frosting is a smooth creamy texture.

Tip #2: IF YOU ARE GOING TO USE A MIX... CHANGE THE INGREDIENTS

There is a misconception that cake mixes are awful. But that is not always true. You can make a mix cake taste really good by substituting milk instead of water. Add some poppy seeds to a lemon mix, swirl two flavors together to make a marble cake. Play around with different combinations... You'd be amazed at all the fun things you can come up with.

Tip #3: CHILL YOUR CAKE BEFORE YOU FROST IT!!

Try putting the cake in the freezer for about 30 minutes or so before you frost it. A hard cake will make decorating SOOOO much easier. You won't get all the crumbs in your frosting that you can't get rid of.

Tip #4: INVEST IN A FEW CAKE DECORATING TIPS AND BAGS

Even if you aren't going to be a master decorator... it doesn't hurt to have a few supplies on hand for when you need to decorate a cake. At any craft store, you can get basic cake decorating kits that will have everything you need to get started. And if you have a 50% coupon.. you can get it cheap!
I recommend getting disposable decorating bags, a coupler or two, a star tip, a round tip, a grass tip (Love the grass tip.. It makes great fur for animals), a spreading spatula, a decorating comb, and food color gel... NOT LIQUID).
With these tools.. you can pretty much do just about anything you want pretty successfully. The decorating comb is great to slide across the edges of your cake to give the look that you bought it at a bakery.

Tip #5: DON'T STRESS OUT IF IT ISN'T PERFECT... A CAKE RARELY IS

Cakes are a work of art.. no matter how artistic you are. When you are doing something fun for your kids.. you usually will go the extra mile and bypass the 9x13 pan with tub frosting (or now you will after reading this post). So.. therefore.. you've become an instant artist. Don't worry about it! Have fun with it! Accept the mistakes and laugh about them. It's very rare that I ever make a cake flawless... the trick is... HIDE THE FLAWS! Add a decoration, turn the cake around, for heavens sake.. make a duplicate mistake so it looked intentional :) Just enjoy the imperfections and think about the smile on your kiddos face when they see a custom made cake just for them. (Believe me.. you WILL get those huge eyes and even bigger smile)

TIP #6: IF YOU SERIOUSLY JUST DON'T HAVE IT IN YOU... HIRE A CAKE DESIGNER

A good cake decorator is worth the money you will spend. You'll pay more than grocery store cakes, but they will taste SO MUCH BETTER!! You will get more personal touches because they can be custom made and custom sculpted to whatever your hearts desire.. plan on spending between $50-$150 bucks on a birthday cake... but it just might be worth your sanity level.
If you aren't about to pay that type of cash for a cake.. think about taking some classes. Sign up with friends.. You will have a blast. All the craft stores teach basic cake decorating. You will learn a lot and have a great time as well. If you'd like to take a class specializing in kids birthday cakes... tune in for my fall class "Mamma's Sweet Sugar Kisses". It will be a great time to learn techniques, make friends, create delicious works of art, and create a new talent you didn't realize you had! Keep checking my website and blog for more information.

- Turia

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