Common Cake Decorating Terms
If you are new to cake decorating then you may be a bit confused by the common cake decorating terms you encounter. Below are some of the most common terms and their meanings.
Airbrushing
Cake airbrushing is a fast way to add a scene or background onto a cake’s surface with food coloring. Airbrushing is done with an artist’s paint gun used with an compression air pump.
Border
A cake border is a continuous ribbon of icing that decorates the top, sides, and/or bottom edges of a cake.
Buttercream
Buttercream is a rich icing that is made by mixing either butter or shortening (or both) with icing sugar and beaten until smooth. Buttercream is an easy, all-purpose icing that can be used to both cover and decorate a cake.
Decorating Bags
Decorating bags are also known as icing bags or pastry bags. Decorating bags are small, triangular shaped bags that are made from cloth, plastic, or parchment paper. The bags are fitted with decorating tips and filled with icing and used to pipe decorative items such as icing flowers, borders, scrollwork and lacework designs.
Decorating Tips
Decorating tips are sometimes called decorating nozzles. Decorating tips are used to create decorative items such as basketweave patterns, icing roses, and shell borders. Tips come in various shapes and are used with an icing or pastry bag filled with icing. When the bag is squeezed then the icing or cream is piped out in the shape of the tip. Drop flowers are made with a single squeeze of the icing bag while rose petals are made with skilled maneuvering of the tip and icing.
Flower Nail
A flower nail is shaped like a nail with an large, oversized head. A flower head is used for piping royal icing and buttercream flowers that are transferred to a cake after drying.
Frosting
Frosting and icing are often interchanged. Americans tend to use the term “frosting” for the creamy, sugary substance covering a cake, while people in other English speaking countries tend to use the word “icing”. In the U.A.S., “frosting” usually refers to the icing that is spread over the cake while “icing” usually refers to decorative icing, such as piped borders and icing roses.
Fondant
Fondant is also known as sugar paste. Fondant is an icing sugar dough that can be manipulated in much the same way as pie dough. Fondant can be rolled into smooth sheets and draped over cakes, creating a smooth, flawless finish.
Ganache
Gumpaste
Gumpaste is an edible, clay-like dough. It is made by mixing glycerin, gum Arabic, and icing sugar. Gumpaste is used to mold edible flowers and figures. Gum paste can also be rolled extremely thin and used to make intricate ribbons and lacework, as well as delicate flower petals.
Marzipan
Marzipan is a doughy almond substance. It is made from the same ingredients as almond paste, though marzipan has more sugar, less almonds, and has a smoother consistency. Marzipan is often used for modeling cake decorations and as a base covering underneath fondant.
Piping
Piping is a decorating technique where a decorating bag or tube is filled with icing and fitted with a decorating tip. Piping occurs when the bag is gently squeezed to produce shaped dots and ribbons of icing to decorate cakes and other baked goods.
Royal Icing
Royal icing is a sweet white icing that is made by whipping icing sugar with either fresh egg whites or dried egg whites and meringue powder. Royal icing creates well-defined icing edges. It is ideal for piping intricate writing, borders, scrollwork, and lacework on cakes. Royal icing dries very hard and preserves indefinitely if stored in a cool, dry place, but is susceptible to softening and wilting in high humidity.
