I'd have never guessed a spoon could be handy in dressing up one of my favorite desserts. But I'm here to tell you all about it. This guide to cake-decorating with a spoon will walk you through the surprisingly simple process of using this utensil to make a cake look fancy without much effort. This is a design you'll want to keep in mind, especially if you're short on time because it comes together fairly quickly.
Why I Love This Design Technique for Cakes
I've been down many a rabbit hole on cake-decorating videos. Whether it be on YouTube or Instagram, there are truly infinite possibilities when it comes to designs! I kept coming across photos and videos of mermaid, scalloped, and petal cakes, all names used for this design. I loved the rounded look of them and couldn't help but give it a shot. If you have a cake, frosting, piping bag with an open circular tip, and a spoon or teaspoon, you're in business.
How to Use a Spoon to Decorate Cake
Whatever you want to name or call this style, it’s pretty and simple to make! After piping dots of frosting in rows around the cake, you take the back of a spoon and swipe upward in a straight line. I like using a teaspoon for a smaller design. However, if you prefer to pipe larger dots, use a regular spoon to swipe upward instead.
Different Frostings and Colors for this Cake-Decorating with a Spoon
So far, I've tried a few different looks and colors for this. I've done an ombre style, one that fades from dark to light orange and another cake in fading shades of blue. For a friend's baby announcement, I also did random pink, white, and blue dots for a unique and playful design.
I was surprised with how nicely the orange cake turned out because I used cream cheese frosting. I was expecting to encounter issues with the texture, but it's turned out the smoothest of my spoon styles!
In light of that, I think cream cheese frostings work well for this look. But because I normally use buttercream, I do have some tips on that. Swiping your spoon or teaspoon upward more gently creates a smoother scallop or petal. Pressing down too much on the buttercream results in more tears and jagged marks in it. I would also recommend smoothing out your buttercream in your bowl before inserting it into your piping bag and piping these dots. I have suggestions on how to get smooth buttercream in the post for my vanilla buttercream, if you need additional insight on how to go about that.
As you can imagine, any number of colors and shades of one color works so well for this. Even piping and swiping dots of frosting all in one color would look really nice and clean. I can easily envision an all-white cake like this for a bridal party, engagement, or even wedding celebration! And everyone knows: All parties and occasions are improved with cake. The versatility and possibilities with cakes are truly infinite, and getting to come up with a design that is all YOU is so satisfying!
Videos of Cake-Decorating with a Spoon
If you're on Instagram, you can see some of the process videos there for the cakes I showed and described above. I've linked them here to give you more visuals on cake-decorating with a spoon.
I really love making cakes this way and think they're so fun and relaxing. Get out there and give it a shot - I bet you'll enjoy creating this design, too!
A Cake Idea for a Baby Announcement or Shower
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