Today we will show you how to easily make your own delivery box for your cakes. "Wait, I need to do that?" Yes, yes you do.

There are several reasons you should transport your cake/cake tiers in a box. It keeps the cake more safe and stable, much less likely to tip over and slide around. It keeps your cake cold. It keeps your cake clean. It's easier to carry cakes in a box. It looks more professional.

Actual cake delivery boxes you can buy from cake supply stores can be pretty spendy. Then you turn into that irritating penny pincher and you feel like you have to frantically get your cake box back after every delivery. Making your own is much more practical, and while they are reusable, if you don't get one back it's no biggie because it should've only cost a couple dollars at the most depending on the size of the box.

Start with an unfolded box that matches the size of the cake board your cake/tier is sitting on. You can buy these at shipping stores or even online at Amazon in bulk which is what I do.

Next, fold one end of the flaps in and tape them securely with packaging tape. Don't try scotchin' that business. You may even want to tape the side seams for extra security.

Using an exacto blade, cut the the two front seams of your box so that the flap can fall open.

Tape that inner seam down so it isn't loose.

Slide your cake into the box. Once again make sure to use a box that's width matches the size board your cake is sitting on so that it is nice and secure. You of course will also want to make sure the box is tall enough for your cake.

Tape down the top three flaps.

Then you can just easily tuck the front flap in to close your box. That's it! You've made your own cake delivery box.

A few tips from me to you...

-If I am traveling a long distance with my cake I tape the front of the box up good sealing in the cold air for longer.

-I found white boxes on Amazon that look a bit nicer and I print my own business logo sticker and put it on the box for an extra professional look.

-If you can't find the width of box you need, you can use a box whose end dimensions are the correct size and just tip it on it's side. Then you would be taping the back and front of the cake box with no need to cut with an exacto knife. I ordered a bunch of boxes on Amazon like this. Using the box this way makes them them tall and skinny so I can box two and even three tier cakes. Here's a link to a 12x12x18 box that you would tip on it's end. Then it fits a 12" cake board with a cake up to 18" tall. I use that size and this 10x10x14 box for nearly every delivery. The cost is a couple dollars each for these boxes but you have to buy 25 at a time. I love having them on hand all the time and they last me a long time with reuse.

-If your cake board is smaller than your box, roll some packaging tape into a bubble and tape your cake board down so it can't slide around.

You never knew there was a whole course you needed to take on boxes did you? I hope you find all of this information helpful and it furthers you on your professional cake decorating journey!

Going over the basics? Check out these!

Cake Decorating Basics: Must Have Tool Review

Cake Decorating Basics: Airless Space Buttercream

Cake Decorating Basics: Leveling and Torting

Cake Decorating Basics: Filling and Crumb Coating

Cake Decorating Basics: Avoiding Cake Blowouts

Cake Decorating Basics: Smooth Final Coat of Buttercream

Cake Decorating Basics: The Upside Down Method

Cake Decorating Basics: The Secret to Small Cakes

Cake Decorating Basics: Covering a Cake in Fondant

Cake Decorating Basics: Easy Double Barrel

Cake Decorating Basics: How to Panel

Cake Decorating Basics: Stacking Cakes

Cake boards. I mean, they're pretty darn important. They are the foundation of every cake. Today we will go over different types of cake boards and how to make them look presentable and professional for any type of cake.

You've got your standard cardboard rounds, your foam core cake drums and your wooden boards. Not pictured in that order. They all work great and some work better than others for certain things.

In general, the cheapest and most widely available option is cardboard rounds. Just one on it's own isn't really enough for your base board, but glue a couple together and you've got yourself a sturdy board that can hold up any tiered cake.

Cake drums are great as they cut out the labor of gluing boards together but if you're like me they aren't available anywhere near you.

Wooden cake boards are a must for any type of cake that requires structure so many sculpted cakes, gravity defying cakes and maybe if you're doing an insanely tall tiered cake.

Whichever board you're using, it really should be covered and finished off with a ribbon to give it a complete and professional look. We're about to show you how to do just that.

Start by hot gluing two of the same size cardboard rounds together. For added stability glue the boards so that the cardboard "grain" is opposite of the other board. I personally add a cake board for each tier my cake will have to ensure it will be strong enough to hold my cake, so one and two tier cakes get two boards, three tiers get three, four get four and so on.

After your boards are glued together, cover the top of the board in a thin layer of shortening.

Roll out some leftover fondant nice and thin in your color of choice. Matching some fondant on your cake is always a nice touch.

Place the fondant on the shortening covered board and finish rolling if needed to make sure the entire board is covered.

Cut off the excess fondant with an exacto blade.

If you're not one for waste, you can take a cake board the size of your bottom tier, center it in the board and cut it out with an exacto knife and remove that fondant.

And there ya go, you have a covered cake board. At this point you may want to bake your cake board to harden up the fondant to keep it from getting damaged if you don't have days to let it dry. Check out the tutorial on how to bake your cake boards at the bottom of this post!

Next, we like to add "feet" to our cake boards to make them easier to pick up and give them another professional touch. In general, cupboard door stops make great feet and are super inexpensive. Occasionally for a wedding cake I will go with something a little fancier. They are self stick so just add some to the bottom and you're good!

Last but not least, hot glue a ribbon to the edge of your board. Glue every four inches or so. ⅜" grosgrain ribbon is best for two cardboard rounds or a ¼" board covered in fondant.

Isn't it purdy? Well better than a plain old corrugated board right?! For sure, and chances are your customers will even be impressed. Follow these steps for covering any kind of cake board whether it be cardboard, cake drum or wood.

Don't forget to check out the video tutorial below for the how to bake your cake board bit and if you'd like an alternative way to cover your cake board that doesn't use fondant, check out our free tutorial from Shani Christenson on Making Beautiful Custom Cake Boards!

Going over the basics? Check out these!

Cake Decorating Basics: Must Have Tool Review

Cake Decorating Basics: Airless Space Buttercream

Cake Decorating Basics: Leveling and Torting

Cake Decorating Basics: Filling and Crumb Coating

Cake Decorating Basics: Avoiding Cake Blowouts

Cake Decorating Basics: Smooth Final Coat of Buttercream

Cake Decorating Basics: The Upside Down Method

Cake Decorating Basics: The Secret to Small Cakes

Cake Decorating Basics: Covering a Cake in Fondant

Cake Decorating Basics: Easy Double Barrel

Cake Decorating Basics: How to Panel

Cake Decorating Basics: Stacking Cakes

How to stack a cake with straws

Suppose you do get brave enough to try your first tiered cake. Once all the tiers are completed, how do you safely get one on top of the other? No, it is not a stupid question! If you've never done it before there can be many factors that aren't obvious. Today we will show you just how to stack your cake using straws.

Unless you've used straws before, you might be a little freaked out by the idea but I promise you straws are AMAZING for stacking cakes. I've stacked cakes up to 6 tiers using only straws. The reason I prefer them is that in my experience, dowels are hard to cut so that they are level on the bottom. They are also a pain to cut! Straws are strong, easy to cut and very inexpensive. 

What you need

1. Milkshake Straws
2. Scissors
3. Chilled Cakes On Cardboard 

What kind of straws work best as cake supports?

When I say straws, I'm actually referring to thick milkshake straws. Some people use bubble tea straws but I have a hard time finding sturdy bubble tea straws. I buy milkshake straws at Cash and Carry but like most things, you can also find them on amazon. 

These milkshake straws are thicker than a typical straw and perfect for pushing into a chilled cake. 

I should also note that recently there has been a lot of press in the media about not using straws because of the risk to sea turtles. Now, sea turtles are my FAVORITE animal so I definitely want to do everything I can to help save them but when it comes to cake decorating, I have to use what's economical and works the best for the stability of my cakes.

You might also find it interesting to note that straws only make up .08% of the world's plastic in the ocean. So while switching to a paper straw might make you feel better and make for some trendy videos on saving the turtles, you're not really having much impact on actual pollution in the ocean IMO. 

The bigger threat to the ocean is actually in the fishing industry (nets and leftover fishing supplies trapping animals in the ocean). You can read more about this in this news article. And that's all I will say about the milkshake straws and pollution politics. Sorry I had to go there!

How do you prepare cakes for stacking?

The first thing you need are some cakes! I typically follow this calendar for baking and decorating when I have a cake that needs to be finished on Saturday. 

• Tuesday - Review my cake design to see if I need to order anything and make my shopping list. On Tuesdays, I also look at my cake orders for NEXT week to see if I need to order anything online. 
• Wednesday - Grocery shopping for supplies, make my frosting and fondant. 
• Thursday - Bake my cakes, chill them in the freezer, fill them and get them crumb-coated and resting in the refrigerator.  
• Friday - Apply the final coat of buttercream to the cakes and store them in the refrigerator. Make buttercream flowers and put them into the freezer. Assemble and decorate the cake. 
• Saturday - Deliver cake. Obviously, if your cake is due on another day you can adjust this timeline. 

If you are new to decorating and want to know more about baking, trimming, frosting and filling your cakes for the first time, watch my how to make your first cake tutorial. 

Here are some other tutorials that might be helpful for you if you're new to cake decorating. 

How to cover a cake in fondant

How to get sharp edges on buttercream

How to make a square buttercream cake

How to cover a square cake in fondant

How to make a wedding cake

The rule of thumb is to put as many supports in a cake as the size of cake it will be supporting. So say you have an 8" cake for your bottom tier and you will be stacking a 6" cake on top. You will want to put 6 supports into your 8" cake to support the 6" cake. You then would put 4 supports in the 6" cake to add a 4" tier on top.

Where do you place the supports? As close to the edge of the cake they will be supporting as possible without them showing. Putting your supports on the outer most edge of your cake will give you the most stability and keep your cake from caving in. Use a cake pan or cake board the size of the cake you're supporting to trace an indention in the supporting cake so you know exactly where you'll be placing your cake and exactly where the supports should go. If you're supporting a large cake, you will be putting in a lot of supports so adding some of them further in the center is a good idea and putting an extra one in the center for good measure never hurt anyone.

For a demonstration on exactly how to cut and place the straw supports, check out the Easy Double Barrel Blog Post as it shows how to insert straw supports for any cake.

Okay! So once you have your supports all ready to go you are ready to stack! As always, your cakes should be made with real butter in the cake as well as the buttercream and should be chilled nice and firm.

Whether you are stacking on site or at home before you travel, your bottom cake should already be placed on your base cake board. Slide your next tier to the edge of the table and carefully slide it off. Having your tiers on an additional cake board makes it easier to not damage the cake while moving it.

Supporting the cake from the top and bottom, carefully line your cake up with your traced outline and supports. Place a large offset spatula underneath the cake to easily set it down without any damage to the edge.

Repeat this process for each tier needing to be stacked. Smaller tiers may not need the spatula because they are so small and light. If you have decided to stack on site, you are done! If you are traveling with a stacked cake you will want to add additional structure support.

Take a ¼" wooden dowel rod cut just under the height of your cake and sharpen one end. A ¼" rod will fit in any standard pencil sharpener. Carefully push the rod through all tiers and cake boards.

To get the rod all the way in without damaging the top of your cake, you will want to take another small rod, place it on top of the support dowel rod and finishing pushing it in. I actually like to hammer mine into the bottom cake board for extra stability. We've sharpened the rod so that it can easily pierce through the cake boards.

The support rod will leave a hole in the top of your cake that you'll want to fill in with buttercream, fondant, or cover up with a decoration. Now your cake is ready to transport to the venue.

Whether or not you stack on site or travel with your cake stacked is completely up to you and your personal preference. I prefer to stack before hand and travel with the cake that way, whereas Liz prefers to always stack on site. Either way we don't recommend traveling with a cake stacked with more than three tiers. If I have a cake that is more than three tiers I will stack the first three tiers and travel with the others separate in boxes and stack the rest at the venue. I have never had an issue with any of the tiered cakes I've traveled with. They've always made it safe and sound.

Hopefully that has cleared up any questions you might have had about stacking a tiered cake! As always, let us know if you have questions and we will do our best to help! Happy stacking!

Going over the basics? Check out these!

Cake Decorating Basics: Must Have Tool Review

Cake Decorating Basics: Airless Space Buttercream

Cake Decorating Basics: Leveling and Torting

Cake Decorating Basics: Filling and Crumb Coating

Cake Decorating Basics: Avoiding Cake Blowouts

Cake Decorating Basics: Smooth Final Coat of Buttercream

Cake Decorating Basics: The Upside Down Method

Cake Decorating Basics: The Secret to Small Cakes

Cake Decorating Basics: Covering a Cake in Fondant

Cake Decorating Basics: Easy Double Barrel

Cake Decorating Basics: How to Panel

This week we're going to show you an easier way to cover a double barrel cake in fondant. If you've ever tried to drape a double barrel you know exactly what we're talking about. If you have never attempted a double barrel cake or are thinking, "what the heck is a double barrel cake?", we show you exactly how to do one in our Double Barrel Blog Post.

In order to drape a double barrel, you have to roll out a huge amount of fondant into a huge piece to fit the cake. Working with a piece that size is no easy task. Then say you do miraculously get the fondant onto the cake unharmed, the cake is so tall that the fondant really has a long way to fall and often times the weight of it causes tearing quicker then you can do anything about it. After learning the paneling method I will never drape another double barrel cake again, or a square one either for that matter.

Step 1

Roll out a small piece of fondant large enough to cover the top of your cake with a little to spare. Liz is covering a 6" cake so she rolls the piece out to about an 8" circle.

Step 2

Place the fondant onto some parchment and place in the freezer for 5 minutes to chill. This will make it much easier to cut a nice clean edge.

Step 3

Meanwhile, roll out a piece of fondant wide enough to wrap around your cake and tall enough to cover it with a little to spare. Use a ruler to measure and cut your fondant into a rectangle the correct size for your cake. Make sure the bottom of your panel is nice and straight for the bottom of the cake. Liz's cake is 8" tall and 6" wide so she is cutting her piece approximately 10" tall and 19" wide.

Step 5

Transfer this fondant to a piece of parchment to place in the freezer to chill for 5 minutes as well.

Step 6

Take the first piece of fondant out of the freezer and place it on top of your cake and smooth it down. Using a super sharp, super clean razor blade cut off the excess fondant to the exact size of your cake top.

Step 7

Take your other piece of fondant out of the freezer. It should be very stiff and easy to pick up without distorting or drooping. Wrap the piece around your cake making sure to press it firmly against the cake sticking it to the buttercream all the way around.

Step 8

Use a fondant smoother to smooth your fondant to perfection.

Step 9

Again with your clean and sharp razor blade cut the fondant where the two ends overlap. Cut a nice straight line through BOTH pieces of fondant.

Step 10

Remove the cut fondant being sure to pull back the overlapped end and remove the cut piece from underneath.

Push the panel ends together, the ends should line up perfectly giving you a nice straight seam.

Step 11

Take your clean, sharp razor blade once again and keeping it flat on top of your cake, cut off the excess fondant from the top.

Step 12

Use a smoother to push the seam together and smooth it until its unnoticeable.

And just like that you have a perfectly paneled cake! A beautiful double barrel with sharp, clean edges, zero tears and zero tears.

Have you tried both methods of covering a cake in fondant? Which do you prefer? Some people use the paneling method all the time. It really is about finding what works best for you! We're here to give you as many options as possible so you can figure it out.

Going over the basics? Check out these!

Cake Decorating Basics: Must Have Tool Review

Cake Decorating Basics: Airless Space Buttercream

Cake Decorating Basics: Leveling and Torting

Cake Decorating Basics: Filling and Crumb Coating

Cake Decorating Basics: Avoiding Cake Blowouts

Cake Decorating Basics: Smooth Final Coat of Buttercream

Cake Decorating Basics: The Upside Down Method

Cake Decorating Basics: The Secret to Small Cakes

Cake Decorating Basics: Covering a Cake in Fondant

Cake Decorating Basics: Easy Double Barrel

Cake Decorating Basics: Stacking Cakes

Liz recently participated in the international Incredible India Collaboration presented by the Global Sugar Artists Network and hosted by Tina Scott Parashar's Cake Design.

Liz chose to create a beautiful Indian bride bust cake that is nothing short of jaw-dropping. The detail and realism in the piece is incredible! Much of the piece including the signature realistic eyes were made from Simi Cakes Isomalt and the fantastic veil known in India as an odani was created from Flexique Edible Fabric.

Liz has attended a couple sculpting classes this year which has really helped her up her sculpting game. Her newly honed sculpting skills definitely shine in this piece not only in the face but also in the insanely realistic hand.

The hand painted henna tattooing is gorgeous and must've taken just short of forever.

This shimmery sequin board really brings the whole piece together, I absolutely love it! The sequins look as if they were individually cut out and stuck on there and while Liz is crazy enough to do that, she actually used the Marvelous Molds Sequin Jubilee Simpress. That is definitely on my wish list!

Overall the piece is phenomenal and really added to a brilliant collaboration for a wonderful cause. Check out the timelapse making of this piece in the video at the end of the post!

When talking with Tina Scott Parashar she explained that Incredible India is an international cake collaboration born out of the collective effort of over a hundred very talented cake artists who have come together to create visual works of brilliance through their favorite medium, sugar. India has been the nurturer of tradition and culture for long. When so many cultures amalgamate together, a rich heritage is born. It is from that heritage that the artists drew their inspiration. This is a collaboration with a cause. They have released a book/ magazine which includes all the collaboration cakes, recipes, interviews and tutorials. It has an interview with our very own Liz Marek and if you'd like to purchase a copy email Tina Scott Parashar at tinaparashar@gmail.com. The e-mag is available now and hard copies will be available December 1st. Every cent that was raised so far through magazine advertisements (Indian Rupees 1,50,000 /€ 1959/ $2313) has been donated to the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (India). Given all the hard work that was put into this collaboration, it was gratifying to receive such overwhelming response from the industry. They were also very pleased with the significant amount of money they were able to raise for a very worthy cause.

The mystifying Double Barrel Cake. How in the heck do you make a cake SO tall?! With straight sides and a level top nonetheless?! Then always comes the question, "How do you serve a cake that tall? Aren't the slices way too big?!" Alright, settle down. Today we are going to show you exactly how to create this mystical cake creature and I promise all of your questions will be answered.

Step 1

Take one of two (same-sized) cakes you've finished icing using the Upside Down Method and stick a fat milkshake straw STRAIGHT down in the center pushing it all the way to the cake board.

Step 2

Measure the straw with your thumb at the top of the cake and cut it off at that mark. Be sure to cut as straight as you can.

Step 3

Use that straw to measure and cut your remaining support straws. The general rule of thumb is to put the same number of supports as the size of cake that will be stacked on top of that cake. In this case we are doing a 6" double barrel cake which is two 6" cakes stacked on top of one another so we will be putting 6 support straws in the bottom tier.

Step 4

Place all of the support straws into the cake as evenly spaced as possible. You always want to put your supports as close to the edge of the cake it will be supporting as possible to get the most support. A mistake we often see beginners make is putting their supports too far in the center which can still cause the outside of your cake to collapse. About ¼" in from the edge is a good number to shoot for. With a double barrel cake you must be extra sure to place your straw straight down so that it doesn't poke out the side of your cake. Placing one straw in the center is always a good idea.

Step 5

Cover your straws with a thin layer of buttercream to glue the next cake board on.

Step 6

Take a cardboard round the size of the cake you are stacking and cut about ¼" off the edge, this way the board will not stick out or be seen in between the layers.

Step 7

Place the cake board on top of your bottom tier.

Step 8

Take your second finished cake and with a knife loosen the cake from the cake board you have iced it on.

Step 9

Peel the cake board away from the bottom of your cake. Because shortening and oil do not get firm when refrigerated you must use a butter cake iced with a real butter buttercream that has been chilled in the refrigerator until nice and firm.

Step 10

Once your original cake board is removed, place the cake onto the trimmed cake board you've placed on top of the supports in your bottom tier. Make sure the sides are lined up all around. Because we are using two finished cakes using the upside down method, the sides are already nice and straight and line up perfectly.

Step 11

Fill in the gap between the cake boards with some more buttercream.

Step 12

Using a tall bench scraper, smooth out the excess icing until smooth. Add any additional icing in any areas necessary and continue smoothing until you have one cohesive, straight side and it looks like one ginormous cake.

You should end up with something like this. Pretty sweet right? There is something mega cool about a ridiculously tall cake.

Now that you've been through the process you know that a double barrel cake is not actually one insanely tall cake that would be impossible to cut and serve but instead it is two regular sized tiers stacked on top of one another. So to answer the question of how you cut and serve this beast, well, you do it just as you would any other stacked cake. Cut and serve the top cake, remove the support board and cut and serve the bottom. No sweat.

Let us know what your experience with double barrel cakes has been. Have you struggled getting them nice and neat? Have you been too afraid to try one altogether? Either way we hope this post helps your double barrel dreams come true! Next week's post will show you how to cover this baby in fondant.

Wanna see the basics in action? Don't forget, the entire set of Cake Decorating Basics Video Tutorials are available to Premium and Elite Members of the Sugar Geek Show!

Going over the basics? Check out these!

Cake Decorating Basics: Must Have Tool Review

Cake Decorating Basics: Airless Space Buttercream

Cake Decorating Basics: Leveling and Torting

Cake Decorating Basics: Filling and Crumb Coating

Cake Decorating Basics: Avoiding Cake Blowouts

Cake Decorating Basics: Smooth Final Coat of Buttercream

Cake Decorating Basics: The Upside Down Method

Cake Decorating Basics: The Secret to Small Cakes

Cake Decorating Basics: Covering a Cake in Fondant

Cake Decorating Basics: How to Panel

Cake Decorating Basics: Stacking Cakes

How to get sharp fondant edges on your cakes

So you've gone to all the trouble to do the upside down method to ice your cake with buttercream (because we showed you how to do that in THIS blog post) and you put your fondant on your cake (and we showed you how to do that in THIS blog post) and you notice that all that hard work was a waste because the fondant just gave your cake rounded edges once again. What the heck man?! Don't fret, today's blog post shows you how to continue the upside down method to now get those sharp edges with your fondant.

Step 1

Cover your cake in fondant just as you normally would. Using an exacto blade, instead of cutting the fondant right to the edge of the cake, cut it about 1" long.

Step 2

Place a piece of parchment paper on top of your cake.

Step 3

Place a cake board at least a couple inches bigger than your cake on top of the parchment paper.

Step 4

Slide your cake off your turntable being sure to support the top and bottom well.

Step 5

Flip your cake upside down and place it back on your turntable. Once again, this should only be done with a chilled cake that contains butter in the cake as well as the buttercream because they both chill nice and firm. If those two things are in place, this will not hurt your cake at all!

Step 6

Fold those long edges up over the bottom of your cake for now.

Step 7

Using your fondant smoother, begin smoothing the top of your fondant down against the board until you no longer see a shadow. You are forming a nice sharp edge against the board.

Tip:

If you notice your fondant starting to sweat a little and it is causing your smoother to stick, dust the cake with a little bit of cornstarch to dry it up so you can continue smoothing without any resistance.

Step 8

Polish and smooth the bottom edge of your cake being sure to get a nice seal.

Step 9

Use an exacto blade to cut off your excess fondant.

Step 10

Place another cake board on the bottom of your cake and once again supporting it well, flip your cake back over. Remove the parchment paper and cake board and you will be left with a beautiful, clean sharp cake edge. So fast, so easy, so effective.

I mentioned before that the upside down method literally changed my life and I really meant it. For some, the idea of flipping your cake upside down gives your nightmares but trust us experts when we say, it is totally fine! Use a firm, chilled cake, do it carefully and you genuinely have nothing to lose except that rounded cake edge.

Going over the basics? Check out these!

Cake Decorating Basics: Must Have Tool Review

Cake Decorating Basics: Airless Space Buttercream

Cake Decorating Basics: Leveling and Torting

Cake Decorating Basics: Filling and Crumb Coating

Cake Decorating Basics: Avoiding Cake Blowouts

Cake Decorating Basics: Smooth Final Coat of Buttercream

Cake Decorating Basics: The Upside Down Method

Cake Decorating Basics: The Secret to Small Cakes

Cake Decorating Basics: Covering a Cake in Fondant

Cake Decorating Basics: Easy Double Barrel

Cake Decorating Basics: How to Panel

Cake Decorating Basics: Stacking Cakes

This year has brought us many cake shows including America's Cake Fair, SoFlo, That Takes the Cake, San Diego Cake Show, Show Me Sweets and more! Whether you have been watching via social media or taking part in some of these shows yourself, you have probably noticed the incredible cakes in the cake competition.

For years, I was deep in the cake competition world, my first competition taking place at Austin That Takes the Cake in 2014. That was my first cake show, my first time competing, my first time flying, my first time meeting a lot of my cake heroes! It was thrilling and the icing on top was that I won first place (by a few points). After that, I was hooked. I would say I have done well competing but I have had my ups and downs, and was even disqualified once for not following some basic rules! Stupid mistake on my part but still, I had so much fun.

Competing is a great way to push yourself, to strive for your personal best, to do the best work you've done so far.

Now that I am retired from competition, I really want to focus on teaching the next generation of competitors what it's like to compete. To win, to lose; to learn and grow. There are always a lot of questions coming my way regarding cake competition and I could definitely answer them from my perspective but really, the best person to ask is a judge.

Susan Trianos of Susan Trianos Custom Cakes in Toronto, CA has been competing and judging for 1 million years. She has graciously agreed to give us some insight into what goes into judging, how you can do your best and the most important tips to successfully competing at cake shows.

Cake Competitions, Why we do it?

You're on your way to a cake show, you decided not to enter the cake competition… you get there and spend the entire weekend wishing you did.

Why did you decide not to enter?
Was it fear?
Could it have been a lack of time?

Whatever the reason, you're kicking yourself now. So what is it that draws us in? Why do we do it?

#1: Enter For The Right Reasons

There are many answers to this question… but let me talk about why you should. It shouldn't be about outdoing your fellow competitors, it should be about outdoing yourself. Competing is a great way to push yourself, to strive for your personal best, to do the best work you've done so far. You are competing against your personal best, do it for you and be supportive with the other competitors, they are just as nervous as you are.

There is another great reason to enter. Many of us make cakes for a living, and often we are not making cakes WE want to make. Our clients choose… we may help them come up with a design, but ultimately we are designing cakes to suit their needs, to satisfy their vision. Competing in cake shows allows our creativity to thrive. It is here that we can truly showcase our style, try a new technique and blow the judges away or, we can use those techniques that we never get to use due to lack-of-budget or what your client wants. Creating something you love is almost like chicken soup for the soul, and allows us to be the artists that we are. If you've never competed, don't be afraid… take the plunge!

You want to grab the judges attention right way, with an attractive cohesive design. Remember, you never get a second chance to make a good first impression.

#2: What The Judges Are Looking For

You want to grab the judges attention right way, with an attractive cohesive design. Remember, you never get a second chance to make a good first impression. Once you have their attention, you want to keep it within your techniques, and techniques that have been executed well.

What are your strengths?
Is it painting?
Piping?
Sugar flowers?

#3: Multiple Techniques

Whatever your strengths, try and use as many techniques as you can, but remember… they all have to work together, your design needs to be cohesive. Clean work is also at the top of the list when it comes to what judges look for in a cake. For me, this is the magical formulation: an eye pleasing design, that has lots of techniques (it's even better if the techniques are innovative), and clean work.

Judges want to see a design that is eye-catching, cohesive and has multiple techniques.

Following these 3 simple rules will really increase your chances of a ribbon. Let's talk about what judges don't like.

There are so many tools and loads of time saving equipment out there… and I own them all, LOL. I'm talking about: molds, lace mats, flexible lace, stencils, edible printers, cutting machines, embossing mats, the list goes on and on. These tools are amazing, and really help decorators make beautiful cakes for their clients quickly, which earns you more mullah… time is money, after all.

When it comes to competing, I recommend staying away from using too many of these time-saving tools. I'm not saying don't use them at all on your cake, but be careful… they don't earn many points. They can help contribute to the overall look of your cake, which will get you points but that's about it. There's a term out there… "lick-and-stick." Don't make a lick-and-stick cake for a competition.

When it comes to competing, I recommend staying away from using too many of these time-saving tools.

Let me give you an example where one of these items can be used successfully in competition… let's say you want flexible lace draped on your cake. Well, use the edible lace mix, but rather than spreading it on a patterned silicone mat, flip the mat over to the flat side and pipe your own lace design (be sure to write that down in your description so the judges know). When I compete, I make a rule for myself and never use these items, but that's me. It's okay to incorporate some of these things… just don't rely on them. Make sure your hand-made work shines!

#4: Rules

READ THE RULES!!!!!! You can have an amazing cake (a first place contender even) but if you don't follow one of the rules you stand to lose a lot of points, or even worse… be disqualified. I have seen cakes that should have won first place, not place at all. This is so disappointing, for the competitor, and even for the judges… it kills us too.

I once entered a competition (one of my very first), and won first place, not because I had the best cake, but because the winning cake was docked so many points for breaking a rule, it took her right out of the running. A lot of time and effort went into her cake so, to say she was disappointed is an understatement. It's not the way I wanted to win either.

I once entered a competition (one of my very first), and won first place, not because I had the best cake, but because the winning cake was docked so many points for breaking a rule, it took her right out of the running.

The Unwritten Rules

Now, I'm going to talk about a little pet peeve of mine… unwritten rules.

Floral Wire

A few classic rules that apply at every competition, and often aren't written in the rules are things like not putting wires directly into the cake, you have to treat your cake as though it's real, so wires should be put into a floral pick or into a straw that's been inserted into the cake. Be sure that the straw or pic is slightly visible… if it's not, be sure to mention that you used them in your description, the judges need to know.

Cover Those Cake Dummies

Another rule that sometimes gets overlooked is to cover the underside of your dummy cake if it's visible. I usually cover the base well in advance with fondant, and allow it to dry. Some judges will be ok with a cake board covering the underside of the dummy, as that is what would be exposed if the cake was real. I play it safe and use fondant, it's also a nice clean look.

Cake Boards

The last one I'm going to mention is to cover your cake board. If you've spent all this time and effort on a beautiful cake, you don't want to spoil it with an exposed cake board.

When these rules aren't noted, it's points that a newbie will lose when they didn't even have a clue the rules existed (which I don't find fair) but, they'll never do it again, lol.

#5: Attitude

Your attitude towards competing is very important. There is no guarantee of a win, or even placement. Judging can be very subjective, and you may have an amazing cake that the judges just don't appreciate in the same way you or others do, for whatever reason.

Be proud of your work, and proud that you even had the guts to enter (it takes a lot of guts). It's very important to keep a positive attitude and understand you are opening yourself up to constructive criticism along with positive feedback. This is part of your growth as a decorator/designer and those comments will help you understand what areas you need to improve or practice.

Be proud of your work, and proud that you even had the guts to enter (it takes a lot of guts).

There are always competitors who disagree with the judging and will voice their opinions in a less than constructive way. It's important to take a step back, take a deep breath, and count to ten. After all, this is what you signed up for, isn't it?

Judges are quite open to discussing the scores and comments they've given, and you don't have to agree… just keep your composure and remember that judging is always final. Be kind and considerate with other competitors and congratulate those who've placed. This is their shining moment, don't be the one to burst their bubble, even if you don't agree. Take a look around… those that are at the top of their game always win with grace, but have just as much grace when they don't place. A positive attitude will bring positive results.

#6: How the Judges Feel

Judging is not easy. Last week, I spoke to someone who had just judged for the first time, she said it wasn't all that it was cracked up to be. Let's face it, judging is hard work. The last thing a judge wants to do is crush someone's spirit. A lot of time and care is taken for this very reason, which is tiring.

Judges do their very best, and really do worry about offending or hurting someone's feelings.

Judging takes a long time… sometimes an entire day, and often with little-to-no-compensation. They do it for the love of cake, to contribute to the community, and to help with the growth of the new up-and-comers in this industry we all love so much. Judges do their very best, and really do worry about offending or hurting someone's feelings.

I have a little story for you… I compete at OSSAS every year, and recently spoke to one of my judges from my most-recent entry. I mentioned that he had judged my cake and I saw first-hand what my face looks like when people say that to me. He winced, put his head down and asked "what did I write"? He looked like he wanted to run and hide, just like I have felt in that same situation. I immediately told him I really appreciated his feedback and that he didn't write anything I didn't agree with. So when you speak to a judge, thank them even if you disagree with some of their comments. They are human too.

I'm very thankful that there are so many shows and competitions available to us, and that I'm able to attend so many. I find the cakes so inspiring, and they make me want to go back home and create. So a big THANK YOU to those who go through all of the hard work making competition cakes, and traveling long distances to get them to shows. To those considering entering a competition, take that plunge… come join the fun!

The queen of realistic food cakes, Joyce Marcellus of Toxic Sweets Shop, has graced us with this fabulous Chocolate Oyster Shell Tutorial that requires no special mold! Liz recently used this in the Beachy Wedding Cake Tutorial and it couldn't be easier or more genius!

Take a large piece of foil and fold it twice, crumple it up, uncrumple it and spread a thin layer of shortening on it. Then shape the foil into an oyster shell shape.

Put a little bit of melted chocolate or candy melts into the foil and coat the foil. You don't want it to be too thick or too thin so try and gauge the amount according to the size of your shell.

Place it in the freezer until firm. Once firm, you can remove the foil and you're left with a beautifully textured shell! 

Paint the inside of the shell with some pearl and white color to give it that pretty sheen a real shell has.

Paint the outside with blue, ivory and more pearl to complete the look!

Then you're left with this beautiful realistic oyster shell perfect for all sorts of cakes! Check out the FREE Full Chocolate Oyster Shell Tutorial Video on the website to see the entire process!

Be sure to check out Joyce's YouTube Channel for her Chocolate Oyster Meat Tutorial to see how she creates the amazing insides you see here!

We hope you enjoy this tutorial and get a chance to use it in your creations!

Do you find yourself struggling while making little cakes? Do you ever just want to pick it up and throw it across the room? Hey, we've all been there, it's just the nature of small cakes. They don't have enough weight to stand up to being pushed around, it's not their fault. So put down the 4" cake, take a deep breath and read this blog post because we have a pretty amazing tip for you today!

Step 1

Using some painter's tape, tape down a piece of styrofoam to your turntable, you should be able to find some at your local craft store or you know there's always Amazon.

Step 2

Don't have 4" cake boards? Neither do we. Trace your cake pan and cut it out from another board.

Step 3

Torte and fill your cake like usual, you will have to hold your cake steady for this part.

Insert two wooden skewers (like the kind you use for kabobs from the grocery store) through your cake, through the cake board and into the styrofoam. This is going to make that little sucker nice and sturdy and repair your strained relationship.

Step 4

Proceed to crumb coat, chill and final coat your cake. Check out our other Basics Series blog posts if you need more info on the torting, filling and crumb coating steps! All links for the Basics Series can be found at the bottom of the post. That's my tactic to try to get you to finish.

Step 5

Once the side of your cake is complete, remove the skewers from your cake and smooth the edges with your offset spatula. Remember, this should be a chilled, firm cake so removing the skewers will not hurt the cake.

With any luck you will have some buttercream adhering your cake to the styrofoam for this part.

There ya go! You've successfully frosted a 4" round cake without any casualties and your sanity intact.

I would imagine you could also quickly stick a skewer back into the top of your cake after you lay your fondant on and smooth the top to help you keep the cake steady while you also smooth the sides of your fondant. Of course, that will only work if you will be able to cover your hole up with a decoration. We hope this little tidbit helps you with your small cake endeavors because honestly, the struggle is real.

Going over the basics? Check out these!

Cake Decorating Basics: Must Have Tool Review

Cake Decorating Basics: Airless Space Buttercream

Cake Decorating Basics: Leveling and Torting

Cake Decorating Basics: Filling and Crumb Coating

Cake Decorating Basics: Avoiding Cake Blowouts

Cake Decorating Basics: Smooth Final Coat of Buttercream

Cake Decorating Basics: The Upside Down Method

Cake Decorating Basics: Covering a Cake in Fondant

Cake Decorating Basics: How to get  Sharp Edges

Cake Decorating Basics: Easy Double Barrel

Cake Decorating Basics: How to Panel

Cake Decorating Basics: Stacking Cakes

How To do the upside down method to get super sharp buttercream edges

If you've been frustrated with the traditional way of icing a cake then you are going to want to give the upside down method a shot. I literally cannot go back. This way yields a PERFECT result so much faster than doing it the regular way. Just as long as you can put aside the fear of flipping your cake upside down, you're golden.

Step 1

Cover a turntable or cake drum with a layer of shortening.

Step 2

Place a piece of parchment paper onto your surface.

Step 3

Schlop a generous amount of buttercream onto the parchment and smooth it out just as you would a fill layer. You want this to be about a ½" thick to give you some wiggle room for adjusting your cake to be perfectly level.

Step 4

Take your chilled, crumb coated cake out of the fridge and flip it upside down onto your buttercream. CAUTION: Do not attempt this with a room temperature cake! As long as your cake is nice and firm there is absolutely no risk in doing this. You can also just stack the cake directly on the buttercream (see video) to do the upside down method

Step 5

Adjust your cake by pushing it down on any side that might need it until it reads level. Be sure to check it one way and then the other to make sure it is level both directions.

Step 6

Scrape any excess buttercream up onto your cake.

Step 7

Cover the sides in a generous amount of buttercream.

Step 8

Using a bench scraper, begin scraping the icing away.

Keep the scraper/smoother flat on your surface and straight up and down.

Eventually you will come to your cake board which should mean your sides are perfectly straight.

Once you've got it as smooth as possible place the whole thing in the freezer to chill until firm once again.

Step 9

Fill in any holes you may still have to get a smooth final coat. Chill once more if needed. If you have cake showing through it means you didn't quite trim your cake layers enough. If you're covering in fondant it's not too big of a deal but if you're not covering in fondant you will have to trim your cake down a bit or try to add more buttercream and freehand making the sides even without using the cake board as a guide. Moral of the story is be sure to trim your cakes enough to allow space for a good layer of buttercream.

Step 10

Slide your cake off your turntable and flip it over. Or if you're using a thin turntable or cake drum you can just flip it over. Again make sure your cake is plenty chilled to do this part!

Step 11

Peel off your parchment.

Step 12

Smooth and fill in any gaps that may be on the top.

You should have a pretty dang perfectly level and straight cake with sharp edges.

I love love love LOVE the upside down method. It basically provides tools for getting a level top, straight sides and a sharp edge automatically if you just follow the steps whereas the traditional way is a lot of free handing and guess work and if you're like me it still doesn't come out that perfect. The upside down method has become a commonly used technique nowadays. The original creator posted the tutorial on cake central years and years ago and it has since been taught and used by many. Liz learned it from Jessica Harris and I learned it from Liz. So hey, fear not the flipping of your cake. Once you jump that hurdle you'll be so glad you did.

Going over the basics? Check out these!

Cake Decorating Basics: Must Have Tool Review

Cake Decorating Basics: Airless Space Buttercream

Cake Decorating Basics: Leveling and Torting

Cake Decorating Basics: Filling and Crumb Coating

Cake Decorating Basics: Avoiding Cake Blowouts

Cake Decorating Basics: Smooth Final Coat of Buttercream

Cake Decorating Basics: The Secret to Small Cakes

Cake Decorating Basics: Covering a Cake in Fondant

Cake Decorating Basics: How to get  Sharp Edges

Cake Decorating Basics: Easy Double Barrel

Cake Decorating Basics: How to Panel

Cake Decorating Basics: Stacking Cakes

How to get sharp edges on your buttercream

So what comes after all the baking, torting, trimming, filling and crumb coating? The final glorious coat of buttercream! Today we will take you through the steps of how to do a basic smooth final coat of buttercream whether you plan to fondant your cake or not. If you've missed all the previous steps leading to this one, be sure to visit all the other Cake Decorating Basics blog posts to get caught up on how to get to this point!

What You Need

• Crumb-coated and chilled cake
• Turntable
• Buttercream
• Offset spatula
• Bench scraper
• Parchment paper

Step 1

Have your crumb coated cake chilled firm and ready to go.

Step 2

Add a generous amount of buttercream to the top of your cake. Here Liz is using her Easy Buttercream Recipe.

Step 3

Begin using your offset spatula to smooth out the buttercream on top. Try to keep your spatula level and keep working it until your top is also level and as smooth as possible.

Step 4

Begin adding another generous amount of buttercream to the sides of your cake. Don't worry, we will be taking most of this away soon in the smoothing process.

Step 5

Use a bench scraper or Innovative Sugarworks firm scraper like Liz is here to start smoothing out the sides of your buttercream. Hold your scraper so that it is slightly angled in toward you and not at a straight 90 degree angle from the cake.

Step 6

Scrape your buttercream smooth while turning your turntable making sure to keep your scraper level and straight. Scrape excess buttercream into bowl as you go.

Here you can see the correct angle the scraper should be at from your point of view. Continue scraping until you reach your cake board underneath and the sides look pretty good! If you have a few holes here and there at this point it's okay because we will fix them later.

Your sides should look something like this.

Step 7

Take your clean offset spatula and smooth your top edges in. Continue scraping the excess buttercream off your spatula to get a better result.

Here's what you should have at this point. Now we will chill this in the freezer until firm once again.

Step 8

Once your cake is nice and firm, add one final thin coat of buttercream to your top and sides to fill in any gaps or holes you might still have.

Continue scraping and adding until it is as smooth as possible!

MYTH: It doesn't matter what your buttercream looks like if you're putting fondant on your cake.

TRUTH: The smoother your buttercream is, the smoother and better your fondant will look. Take the time to create a nice base for your fondant because it will show large imperfections.

Using your clean offset spatula once again, smooth in the top edges of buttercream. This final coat process can take quite some time especially if you are new to it. Be patient and practice good techniques and the speed will come later!

After all that you should have something like this! A cake ready to be covered in fondant. If you aren't covering your cake in fondant, you'll want to take even more time to make sure it is flawless.

Now was that nearly as scary as you thought it'd be? You can do it! Patience really is the key. If you ever have any questions the Sugar Geek Team is always here to help! Next week we will cover an alternative technique for the final coat of buttercream called The Upside Down Method. This method can save mega time and frustration and yield a better result but it's not for everyone so if you want to stick to the basic method we've shown today, there's nothing wrong with that! No judgement here folks.

Going over the basics? Check out these!

Cake Decorating Basics: Must Have Tool Review

Cake Decorating Basics: Airless Space Buttercream

Cake Decorating Basics: Leveling and Torting

Cake Decorating Basics: Filling and Crumb Coating

Cake Decorating Basics: Avoiding Cake Blowouts

Cake Decorating Basics: The Upside Down Method

Cake Decorating Basics: The Secret to Small Cakes

Cake Decorating Basics: Covering a Cake in Fondant

Cake Decorating Basics: How to get  Sharp Edges

Cake Decorating Basics: Easy Double Barrel

Cake Decorating Basics: How to Panel

Cake Decorating Basics: Stacking Cakes

You've just finished the basic prep of your cake, the mixing, baking, leveling, torting, filling, crumb coating, final coating and fondanting, yes I am making that a word now, and you think everything is hunky dory and just as you go to add your final decorations you see it... a BLOWOUT, dun dun dunnnn. Or maybe the cake was totally finished and you're getting ready to load it up and you see it... a BLOWOUT, dun dun dunnnn. It is one of the worst feelings any cake decorator can encounter and we want to help you avoid ever having to see that and feel that way if we can. Today, we've got some tips for avoiding this situation because once it happens, well, there isn't much you can do about it so it's best to just never get there.

Tip #1 - Use Scratch Cake

Our first tip is to simply use a scratch cake recipe when you can. Scratch cake is always more dense and sturdier than box cake mix and has a lot less air trapped inside of it naturally. Because of these things it can better hold up to the weight of more cake, buttercream and fondant making it less likely to compress and push out air causing... a BLOWOUT, dun dun dunnnn. Okay, I will stop that now.

Tip #2 - Fix the Mix

If you prefer to use box mix then there are a few things you can do to help avoid a blowout and you will definitely want to do them because box mix is one of the main causes of cake blowouts. It's just so dang light and fluffy and full of air which is delicious but not so great for stability. That doesn't mean however that you can't use them! I've been using doctored cake mix for six years without a single blowout.

As we mentioned in the torting and filling post, you will want to start by replacing the oil with butter and the water with milk. This adds some nice stable fat to your cake that can firm up when chilled in the fridge making it sturdier.

Next, you will want to compress your cake as soon as it comes out of the oven. This will immediately get rid of a lot of that air that has accumulated in your cake during the baking process and create a more dense and sturdy cake. Simply press down on your hot cake (with a towel or glove or something of course) immediately after taking it out of the oven.

Here we have a cake that has not been compressed... 

And here we have one that has...

Same exact mix but the compressed one definitely has less air bubbles right? So you're off to a good start.

Tip #3 - Chill Man

I don't mean you, I mean your cake. Chill your cakes! The whole point of adding in the butter was so that it could firm up and make your cake more stable and easy to work with. Cakes at room temperature are soft and squishy and, well, just a huge pain. Trying to cut, fill, frost and especially cover them in fondant while at room temperature can cause lots of air release during the process causing...you guessed it, a BLOWOUT. I'll spare you the dun dun dunnnn. I guess I still said it though didn't I, ah I can't help it, dramatics are fun.

Tip #4 - Don't Add Too Much Filling

About ¼" of buttercream or filling is really all you need. Any more than that and the cake loses stability as it comes to room temperature.

Tip #5 - Level Filling to the Edge

When adding your buttercream between your cake layers, be sure to make it nice and smooth and level without holes or divots. If you have holes or divots, when you add your next layer of cake on top you are just trapping air inside your cake that may decide it wants to come out later.

You also want to make sure you bring your buttercream clear to the edge of your cake, even spilling out a bit. If you leave gaps you are also trapping air on the very outside of your cake and any little bit of settling or compression from the weight of more buttercream and cake and fondant will cause it to push out. This is what most blowout occur from. So don't be stingy with the buttercream! Fill that sucker out good.

All of that spilled out buttercream can just get pushed back in to the cake for the crumb coat and used to fill in any remaining gaps or bubbles so be sure to smooth it in good.

Tip #6 - Give it Time to Rest

After you've crumb coated your cakes, place them in the fridge to chill overnight if you can. This gives the cakes some time "chill out" and settle releasing some of that air before you've sealed it all in.

Tip #7 - Make an Airhole

After your cakes are all finished one last option for helping to ensure you won't have a blowout is to make a hole in the center of your cake with a straw giving the air somewhere to escape if it needs it.

The photo shows you in an unfinished cake but again you would do this after the cake is finished with it's final coat of buttercream and fondant if it's a fondanted cake. The photo is just for visual stimulation to give you an idea of what to do.

I hope these tips give you an idea of what causes blowouts and how to best prevent them! I mean, let's face it, sometimes the Cake Gods just seem to be angry with us and want something to go wrong no matter what we do, but for all the other times, these extra steps should give you some peace of mind and a better result!

Going over the basics? Check out these!

Cake Decorating Basics: Must Have Tool Review

Cake Decorating Basics: Airless Space Buttercream

Cake Decorating Basics: Leveling and Torting

Cake Decorating Basics: Filling and Crumb Coating

Cake Decorating Basics: Smooth Final Coat of Buttercream

Cake Decorating Basics: The Upside Down Method

Cake Decorating Basics: The Secret to Small Cakes

Cake Decorating Basics: Covering a Cake in Fondant

Cake Decorating Basics: How to get  Sharp Edges

Cake Decorating Basics: Easy Double Barrel

Cake Decorating Basics: How to Panel

Cake Decorating Basics: Stacking Cakes

I love to hear people's goals for their cake careers. Whether it's to open a bakery, start teaching more, compete or get published in a magazine. It's great to have a goal in your mind that drives your daily actions and gives you motivation to work towards something that means something to you AND get's you closer to your other goals.

People ask me all the time how I got noticed early in my career. Honestly, I got really lucky. I did the right thing at the right time without really knowing it! I was noticed by a local wedding vendor at a bridal show. She liked my cakes and approached me with her card asking if I would ever like to collaborate on a photo-shoot (inspiration shoot). I had NO idea what that was, but was thrilled!

How do you get noticed in this day and age of social media EVERYTHING. Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, twitter, snapchat. How do you even keep up? Well the good news is. You don't have to.

I made my first inspiration cake, the florist took photos, the wedding planner styled the room, the designer laid out the invitations, and the photographer took the photos. A few weeks later, I had some AMAZING photos of my cakes for my portfolio and the photographer submitted the photos to blogs and magazines. Soon other wedding vendors where asking me to make cakes for shoots, then magazines where asking me! In one short year I went from a small photo in the corner of a magazine to being on the cover.

BOY did that increase my customer base! That was the beginning for me.

During that year I learned something super valuable completely by accident. A beautiful cake, plus a great photographer, and a little exposure can change everything!

Now mind you, this is way before the Facebook and Instagram days. I had a website and a flickr page and that was it. I was clueless and was so thankful at the time to have more experienced business-minded folks helping me figure it out.

But what about today? How do you get noticed in this day and age of social media EVERYTHING. Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, twitter, snapchat. How do you even keep up? Well the good news is. You don't have to.

I spoke with the editor of American Cake Decorating Magazine, Rebekah Naomi Wilbur on how she finds fresh talent for her popular cake magazine. Rebekah has some amazing insight on how to get noticed, get published, and use that recognition to garner more paid work, more cake orders, and publicity.

Liz: So Rebekah, how do you find new cake decorators to feature in your magazine?

Rebekah: I discover people online in cake groups sometimes. I will pop in, as people post in those groups a lot and it's easier to find them there than on their own pages, which I might not follow. If I see someone's work I like, I'll reach out to them and ask them if they want to contribute. I have found people in sugar geeks, cake decorating 101, cake newbs etc.

Tip #1 Posting Your Cakes is Super Important!

I know some are afraid to post their work assuming no one will notice. Or they might post a photo with a messy background or badly lit photo. It's important to always be posting your best work, you never know who's looking!

Liz: That's so great that you are in the groups looking for hidden gems! That actually sounds like a lot of fun. If someone want's to contact a magazine directly to get their cake published, how would they go about doing that?

Cakes with accompanying tutorials are 8 times more likely to be on the cover.

Rebekah: Most websites will list a contribution contact. We have one on our website in the contribute tab along with our 2018 issue themes and deadlines. It's no secret! People always assume it is. It's always better to find out the name of the person in charge- do a bit of research - google, find out who the contact is and personally address them by name. Do a bit of research on the publication- subscribe even, purchase a few issues, find out what the publication style is, what they're looking for, and target your email. I'm always impressed by informed contributors who take the time to do a bit of background work. I'm much more likely to print articles and images from someone who says, "Hi Rebekah, love the magazine, I went online and saw you were looking for cakes for the January issue featuring royal icing, here's a cake I made for the issue. I used the Lambeth technique. I've attached my photos along with my business information. Would love to be featured!" Rather than, "To whom it may concern, I'm interested in being featured...how can I do this?"

Tip #2 Contact the Publication That You Want to be Featured in.

Do some leg work and find out how to submit content and better yet, find out who you are talking to and write a personalized email! Being prepared and professional will get your foot in the door. 

Liz: That seems so easy! I think many people will be surprised that anyone can get published with a little effort. You must have a lot of messages to sift through, do you pay more attention if you recognize the name or is it the photo that grabs your attention?

Rebekah: I'm not a cake snob, no editor is. You don't need to be "a name". You don't need to be previously published. You just need to be passionate about what you do, have confidence in your abilities, and send us a decent photo...that's really it!

Tip #3 Don't Wait Until You're "Famous" to Submit a Photo.

Great cakes speak for themselves! 

Liz: I know a lot of cakers out there who have a bad case of the "negative self-talk" and convince themselves they aren't good or well-known enough to be in a magazine. I hope after reading this they see that's not the case at all!

Rebekah: I think my main message is that people in our industry need to immediately abandon this idea that if you create amazing cakes and wait patiently, someone is going to discover you and make your dreams come true. We facilitate the dreams and goals of talented hard-working people, abso-friggin-lutely. In fact, we actively search for fresh faces to feature.

You don't need to be "a name". You don't need to be previously published. You just need to be passionate about what you do, have confidence in your abilities, and send us a decent photo...that's really it!

Liz: Ok! So I've got a cake photo, I've done my research on themes, I've made a great cake and now I'm going to submit! What can I do to increase my changes of being featured in the magazine or even (gasp) potentially make the cover!

Rebekah: For those who are interested in being on the cover, which let's face it is all of us, there are things you can do to make that more likely. You can send a tutorial with your cake pics. Cakes with accompanying tutorials are 8 times more likely to be on the cover.

Liz: WOW! 8 times more likely! That's really good to know! Should it be a tutorial of the whole cake or just a part of it?

Rebekah: Either, we like both short technique-based tutorials and full cake tutorials. It depends on the theme, some themes are better suited to technique-based tutorials and others, like our upcoming sculpted cakes issue is better suited to longer, more in-depth tutorials. If you reach out and express and interest in creating a tutorial for an issue, I can often assist and direct people to make sure they get featured, after all, no one wants to put in hours of their hard-earned time and walk away without a feature. The best thing to do is to plan ahead, most editorial calendars are planned 3- 6 months ahead, that means if it's September, we're already planning our January issue for the next year. So it's no good submitting a tutorial that is for Christmas, it's already too late.

Tip #4 Plan Ahead.

Think of up-coming holidays or themes listed on the publications website and work a project around that theme or make something specialized to that theme. Christmas cake coming up? Take some well-lit photos of each step of one of the pieces on the cake and submit as a tutorial. 

Liz: What kinds of cakes make it to the cover? It must be so hard to decide!

Rebekah: Our issue cover sells the theme, so a floral issue would feature a gorgeous floral cake, a royal icing issue might feature a cake with piped borders. etc. If you're making a tiered cake for an issue then a  cake three tiers or less is much more likely to be on the cover than a cake over three tiers because it's much harder to place a very tall, elongated cake on a cover. A colorful cake is more likely to be on the cover than a monochromatic one, unless the theme is monochromatic cakes, of course. A cover cake just HAS to be a professional quality photo and it has to sell the theme. White or plain/light backdrops are more likely to be a cover cake. A cake on a black backdrop will almost never make the cover. People always assume they have to go bigger and grander to get a cover, it's not the case. Covers are commercial in nature and have to have broader appeal. So, something a bit less intimidating and more marketable is going to be more popular. Something with New-stand appeal! Something that if you saw on a shelf, you'd immediately want to pick up and read.

Tip #5 KISS (Keep It Simple Silly!)

You don't have to go big to be on the cover! Mass appeal is what cake magazines are looking for. Think about those cakes that everyone tags you in and you've seen a million times. Anyone can appreciate them!

Liz: This information is SO valuable. I really appreciate you giving some insight into how getting published can lead to bigger and better things!

Rebekah: Sure, just a few examples of how it can make a difference: Sue Smith (name changed) pretty much an unknown- 2 years into her career in the industry. She emailed me with a cake, it was stunning and we featured her in the March issue. She emailed me again, another stunning cake, and she got our an issue cover. She wanted to do a tutorial, so I gave her some advice, and after using the advice I gave her, she sent me an incredible tutorial. I was so impressed I commissioned her to write another paid tutorial for the magazine because her first was just so good. Now she is being approached by publications left, right and center.

Tip #6 Build Momentum!

Once you get your foot in the door, keep going! Getting published is not the end, it's the beginning! 

Liz: So we've talked a lot about what to send in to be considered for publication but we haven't talked about quality of content. Of course a cake has to look nice but what are some tips on the photography specifically? Are phone pics OK? Background or no background?

Rebekah: Tammy Jones (name changed) She emailed me last year asking for some advice on how to get published. I like to respond to everyone, even if their cakes aren't quite ready for publication. Sometimes it's something really simple that they actually can fix. My advice was honest, "Your cakes are on point, your photography is terrible, it's the one thing holding you back."  I advised her about cameras, sending her links of affordable DSLR's and lenses, we discussed manual shooting setting and backdrops and lighting...she took that advice, and now she has been featured 4 times in print and was commissioned by a huge company to make and shoot all their cakes for their brochures and advertising. That advice made all the difference.

If you want to write an article, make sure you do your home-work. I often get emails from people with column and article suggestions for columns we already publish. It tells me straight away that they don't read the magazine and they don't know who we are or what we do.

Liz: So basically what you're saying is anyone can get published if they make some great cakes, take a great photo, or have someone take a great photo, do some research on upcoming themes and deadlines, write a warm and professional email with attached photos and stop waiting for magazines to come to them!? Crazy! I wish I had known this information back when I was starting out. Would have saved me a lot of headache. Thank you so much for giving us this super valuable information. Any parting words of wisdom?

Rebekah: If you want to write an article, make sure you do your home-work. I often get emails from people with column and article suggestions for columns we already publish. It tells me straight away that they don't read the magazine and they don't know who we are or what we do. Nine times out of ten times someone will say, I'd like to do a column on product testing, or a business column. We already have both of those in every issue. Lastly, I would implore people in the community to support cake magazines by subscribing. It depresses me how many people we feature in each issue who have never, or have no intention of, subscribing to the magazine they so desperately want to be featured in. Magazines are not safe from closure, if you want publication opportunities, start by supporting publications! And, remember that you're in control of your professional career, and only you can take the first steps to making those dreams a reality.

Tip #7 Be a Professional.

Professional looking cakes with professional photos are much more likely to be chosen. Keep your backdrops clean, preferably white.

Liz: That's such an important piece of info that not a lot people have probably thought about. Magazines are businesses just like everyone else! Their job is to put these cakes front and center, but if no one subscribes, those magazines go away. No more publicity opportunities. Support your favorite magazines and subscribe! Thank you again for your time and I hope people see this article and go out and submit a cake!

So last week we torted and trimmed our cake layers and they have been sitting in the fridge for a week waiting to be filled and crumb coated. I'm kidding, these videos were filmed awhile ago but the point is that the next step in the series is filling and crumb coating, woohoo! Liz takes you through the steps to creating a good base ready for a beautiful final coat of buttercream.

Each and every cake tier whether it's round, square or some custom carved shape needs to be on it's own cardboard cake round.

Things to Know...

Each and every cake tier whether it's round, square or some custom carved shape needs to be on it's own cardboard cake round. The cardboard round provides stability for the cake and a base for your structural supports to hold up as well as a way for you to pick up, move and transport a cake.

It's a good idea to put a little bit of buttercream on your cake board to help keep the cake from sliding off.

Filling

Add your first layer of cake to your board and begin adding a layer of buttercream. You want enough buttercream to create about a ¼" layer. Be sure to spread the buttercream clear to the edges of the cake. Keep your spatula level and do your best to make the layer of buttercream as level and even as possible.

Add your second layer of cake making sure to line up the edges of the cake. Press the layer of cake down to squash any air bubbles and even it up.

Repeat the previous process keeping your layers of buttercream about ¼" thick and everything straight and even.

Add your last layer and give it a final check to make sure it is even, straight and level. Getting down to the level of the cake helps!

Crumb Coating

Spread any excess buttercream that has come out from between the layers onto your cake.

Add more buttercream until the sides and top are completely covered with a THIN layer of buttercream. Thin being the point of a crumb coat. We just need enough to seal in the crumbs and keep them from getting in the final layer of buttercream. SO, this layer by no means needs to be pretty.

Once everywhere is covered just clean it up a little bit by smoothing the edges of buttercream in to the center and you're good! Your cake is ready to place in the refrigerator to chill until it's nice and firm and stable.

Using Fruit or Other Fillings

Want to fill your layers of cake with something other than buttercream? Of course you can! There are just a couple things you will want to do differently. Why you ask? Because fruits, custards, mousses and other fillings of the like are much runnier than buttercream and do not set up solid when refrigerated and therefore can cause oozing, bulging and shifting, none of which are on our list of things we want or love, am I right?

One option is to add a little buttercream to  your fruit or other filling to give it stability. Once you do this it will set up firm in the fridge and no longer cause the previously mentioned issues, problem solved. Then just proceed to use the filling as you would buttercream.

BUT, if you do not want to add buttercream to your filling you're going to want to create what's known as a dam, no that's not the swear word. The dam is simply a buttercream barrier to keep your filling from causing all of the bad things in the world from happening, well, bad cake filling things.

Just put some buttercream into a piping bag with the end cut off and pipe a nice thick line all around the edge of the cake. Remember, we really only want about ¼" of filling so don't get too crazy.

Then just add your filling to the center of your cake layer and fill up the circle of buttercream. Keep your filling amount level with or just below your buttercream dam, this way your cake layer has some buttercream to rest on and it can't escape out the sides.

Once you're finished adding your filled layers, move and shift things around to make sure they are even and you don't have any leakage.

Add your buttercream crumb coat just as before and again place the cake in the refrigerator to chill until completely firm. That's it! That's all there is to filling and crumb coating a cake.

Not too bad right? I mean we still haven't even had to care if the cake looked good yet so no sweat. Soon we will delve into the scary realm of adding the final coat of buttercream and the beginnings of the cake looking as professional and perfect as possible. BUT FIRST, we will cover all the ways to avoid blowouts.

In case you were wondering, Liz used her Easy Buttercream Recipe through this tutorial. Thanks for 'chilling' with me today and I hope you will join me next week! Don't judge my corny jokes.

Going over the basics? Check out these!

Cake Decorating Basics: Must Have Tool Review

Cake Decorating Basics: Airless Space Buttercream

Cake Decorating Basics: Leveling and Torting

Cake Decorating Basics: Avoiding Cake Blowouts

Cake Decorating Basics: Smooth Final Coat of Buttercream

Cake Decorating Basics: The Upside Down Method

Cake Decorating Basics: The Secret to Small Cakes

Cake Decorating Basics: Covering a Cake in Fondant

Cake Decorating Basics: How to get  Sharp Edges

Cake Decorating Basics: Easy Double Barrel

Cake Decorating Basics: How to Panel

Cake Decorating Basics: Stacking Cakes

What comes after making your airless buttercream? Baking your cakes of course! Well, I mean you could technically bake your cakes then make your buttercream but we had to pick an order so we did. Our next basics tutorial covers baking tips, leveling and torting your cakes.

Baking Tips

Prefer to use a box mix? Cool, no problem, but there are a couple of things you need to do first to yield a cake that will be workable at a professional level. Follow the instructions on the box EXCEPT replace the water with milk and the oil with butter equal to the amounts on the box.

This will yield a much sturdier more workable cake because when chilled, butter firms up making the cake easy to move, carve, stack, throw, whatever you're wanting to do with it.

After the box mix is finished baking, right out of the oven use a towel or oven glove to press down the dome firmly until the cake is flat. This will help the cake be more dense and also easier to work with.

Right out of the oven...

After being pressed...

Scratch cakes are usually dense enough on their own so there is no need to press them down after baking.

So that's it! Bake, (press if box cake), cool, wrap in plastic wrap and then chill in the fridge until firm. Then your cakes will be ready to level and torte!

Trimming

Once your cake is cool you are ready to trim it down to a prettier state. Using a serrated bread knife you are first going to trim off the dome of your cake.

Tip: If you've filled your cake pan enough, you should have a bit of a line around your cake where it came up over the pan as it baked. Use this line as a guide for trimming off the dome.

Slowly, make small cuts all around the edge of your cake to establish the even cut line and then gradually make deeper cuts until you have cut all the way through.

Next, you'll want to trim the bottom of your cake. This particular cake recipe, Yolanda Gampp's Vanilla Cake, has a lot of sugar in it and so it yields an extra brown outer layer which is totally normal! We just like to trim off all the brown so that it's a bit purdier when we cut into it.

Again, right at the top (bottom?) of the cake make small cuts all the way around to establish a cut line and then you will basically scalp the cake and cut all the way across.

BOOM.

Now we can cut off all the brown on the side of the cake. Simply trim it off in pieces being careful to just trim off the brown and not any of the cake we want to keep. This also allows enough space for buttercream on the outside of your cake

BOOM AGAIN. Now your cake is ready to torte!

Torting

So typically, cake layers are 1" thick. Here, Liz is working with a 3" tall cake that came out of a 3" tall Fat Daddio's Pan so she will be cutting this cake into (3) 1" cake layers. If you're like me and only have 2" cake pans you're outta luck. Juuusst kidding! The principle is the same, so I bake (2) 2" cake layers and torte them in half giving me an extra layer of cake, extra layer of buttercream and making my cake about an inch to two inches taller. That's just how I like to roll. You do you.

Measure your cake layer at one inch placing toothpicks at that mark all the way around your cake. Put a toothpick every couple inches or so. This will give you a straight guideline to go by for torting your first layer. By the way, torting is just a hoity toity way of saying cutting your cake into layers, 'cause we so fancy.

Once you've placed all of your toothpick marks, using your serrated knife make a small cut at your guide all the way around your cake, just like when you trimmed the dome and bottom off your cake.

Then remove your toothpicks (or leave them in, whichever makes you feel more comfortable) and begin making deeper cuts while keeping your knife in the guideline cut you've made, again, just like before. Do this until you cut clean through the cake.

With any luck you will have a perfectly even 1" layer of cake!

Repeat these steps once again to separate your final 1" layers of cake.

Okay this picture deserves a BOOM more than the other two. How about a bigger boom?

BOOM.

Now you have 3 (or 4 if you've used (2) 2" pans) perfectly torted layers of cake ready to fill. Now that wasn't nearly as scary as you thought now was it? I knew you could do it.

Remember! Sign up as a Premium or Elite Sugar Geek Member to get access to the full basics video series along with hundreds of other tutorials!

Going over the basics? Check out these!

Cake Decorating Basics: Must Have Tool Review

Cake Decorating Basics: Airless Space Buttercream

Cake Decorating Basics: Filling and Crumb Coating

Cake Decorating Basics: Avoiding Cake Blowouts

Cake Decorating Basics: Smooth Final Coat of Buttercream

Cake Decorating Basics: The Upside Down Method

Cake Decorating Basics: The Secret to Small Cakes

Cake Decorating Basics: Covering a Cake in Fondant

Cake Decorating Basics: How to get  Sharp Edges

Cake Decorating Basics: Easy Double Barrel

Cake Decorating Basics: How to Panel

Cake Decorating Basics: Stacking Cakes