Birthday Cake Decoration Ideas for Chocolate Icing

Chocolate frosting can be used in a number of ways.

Baking a cake at home for a party or birthday can save the cost of buying a professional cake, and it can show off your baking skills. If you're decorating with chocolate icing, try some techniques to ensure the cake looks like it was finished by a professional baker.

Frosting Layer

All cakes need an initial layer of frosting to act as the foundation for the other decorations. Use a flat spatula or butter knife to apply an even layer of chocolate frosting to a vanilla or chocolate cake, then place it in the refrigerator to let the icing harden and set before adding other frosting decorations.

Border

Along the border edges of a cake, you can create lines of chocolate frosting that create either a straight line of icing or rounded, scalloped swags for more flair. You can create this with any icing tip and an icing bag. Or put the chocolate frosting into a sandwich bag, then snip a tip off one of the bottom corners to apply a border line of frosting to your cake.

Basket Weave

Basket weave on a cake is made by crisscrossing thick lines of frosting to create a pattern that looks almost like a woven basket. You can accomplish this with a flat icing tip and icing bag, and make a chocolate basket weave border along the sides of a round, square or rectangle cake.

Flowers

Make decorative frosting flowers to add to the corners or center of your cake. Using a frosting tip and an icing bag, you can make small buds by twirling your wrist and creating a small spiral of icing. Dark chocolate flowers are ideal on top of a light-colored chocolate background, making a pretty contrast.

References

• Good Housekeeping: Frosting Piping Techniques
• Fun and Food Cafe: How to Frost a Cake