February 13th, 2014

Scalloped cake edges

First, I have a small site update! I added a new category called “Tips/Recommends” with 3 subcategories: Baking, Gaming, and Photography. I want to continue writing helpful articles once in a while and wanted an easy way for people to find them again 🙂

And so, I have another baking tutorial today! I really like doing scalloped cake edges right now. They’re simple, yet have that “wow” factor that make people think it’s hard or time consuming to do. Hopefully with this tutorial, you’ll see that it’s actually fairly easy.

cake-scalloped_12

1. You’ll need: a cake, frosting, icing spatula, and a pastry bag. Optionally, you can also use a large round frosting tip. If I had one, I’d use it, but all of my large tips are star or flower shaped =/

cake-scalloped_01

2. Start by crumbcoating the cake. I’ve mentioned it before, but crumbcoating is where you put a thin layer of frosting on your cake, and then you refrigerate it for about an hour. Afterwards, the frosting becomes a solid layer with the crumbs trapped inside. This gives you a clean surface to work off of.

cake-scalloped_02


3. You can also scallop the top of the cake, but I want to write on it. After the crumbcoat has set, I put a thicker layer of frosting on the top.

cake-scalloped_03

4. Cut the tip of your pastry bag off. (If you have a frosting tip, set that up on the bag.)

cake-scalloped_04

Fold down the top edge of the bag, and then fill with frosting. Flip the edges back up, and twirl the top of the bag shut. When piping the frosting, you want to push with the area of your palm that’s close to your thumb. This will give you more control.

cake-scalloped_05

5. Now to make the scalloped design. If you’re new to this, you’ll probably want to practice. Pipe a small round blob onto your practice surface.

cake-scalloped_06

6. Use the icing spatula to smear the blob. You’ll want to lightly push it at first, and then gradually push down more as you spread it out. This is the basis of the whole design!

cake-scalloped_07

7. Now let’s try it on the cake. Start by making one column of equally sized blobs.

cake-scalloped_08

8. Doing what was shown in practice, smear each one.

cake-scalloped_09

9. Make another column, slightly overlapping the previous one.

cake-scalloped_10

10. Repeat the scalloping process. You should clean your spatula between each column. (You can just wipe it against a bowl edge to get the frosting off.)

cake-scalloped_11

And that’s it! Just continue doing it all the way around the cake 🙂 It does get a little awkward when you get back to your starting column. You do the same thing as before, but you can’t smear the blob as far.

cake-scalloped_13

Not too bad right? It’s not hard, but it does take patience. Take your time so that you have nice equally spaced and sized scallops. I hope this was a useful tutorial! 😀

25 Responses to “Scalloped cake edges”

  • Jenny says:

    What a yummy looking cake! Your tutorial makes it look so easy, though I’m sure if I ever tried my cake probably wouldn’t look like that at all =w= Looking forward to reading posts in your new category!

  • Erin Nicole says:

    Looks delicious!!!

    That was easier to do than I thought it was. What inspired you to write this tutorial?

  • Mija says:

    Oh wow you make it look so easy XD I might have to try this out!!! Looks yummy and really does have a huge wow factor!

  • Tara says:

    Ahahahaha! That really does look easy, but at the same time looks complicatedly done! That’s so neat! I’ll probably never attempt that (I just do not have the steady hand or the patience!), but if I ever do, I can maybe convince my mum to help with the blob part while I smear it 😀

  • Nancy says:

    I’m liking this cake tutorial! At first, I thought the frosting is made out of scallop XD. The edges look really decorative and gives something new than the traditional smooth sides. I think it’s harder to master the art of making smooth edges so the scalloped edge sounds extremely handy for beginners :3.

    I thought the whole process of making the scalloped edges are done 100% by the pastry bag :o. That is creative! This tutorial is definitely helpful :3. Hopefully I’ll bake a cake one of these days so I can try this neat-o trick out :D.

  • Liz says:

    Ah! That doesn’t sound hard at all! I always feel like a lot of the cake decorations take hours and hours because they have that picture-perfect look to them.

    I also like your cake tutorials more than the Food Network’s tutorials, because yours are easier to follow.

  • Alyssa says:

    Wow, that’s so simple, I think I could try it at the very least! I love simple, easy ways to spice up an ordinary cake! I can’t wait to see more tutorials like this =)

  • Carolynne says:

    Whoa! That cake looks amazing. It seems easier than I thought it would be too! I’d love to try it one day. Do you have a favourite frosting and/or cake recipe?

  • Becca says:

    That is so cool! It does look pretty complicated, but it really doesn’t seem like it would take too much time and I think that it’s actually something I could do, too. Thanks for sharing this! 🙂

  • Amy says:

    That’s a really cool effect! I may try it when I next bake a birthday cake 😀 Seems so easy to do 🙂

    Is that a cake turntable? Where did you get it from? I think it would make icing cake so much easier O_O

    • Cat says:

      Ah, it’s actually not a turntable. It’s the bottom of a cake carrier 🙂 There’s another part that goes on top and snaps to it. I’ve seen cake turntables in the cake aisle of craft stores though! I’ve been thinking about getting one 🙂

  • Karin says:

    That’s a very pretty effect, and it looks easy too from your tutorial. Not to mention delicious!
    Now if I could just learn to bake… ;P

  • Shar says:

    Ooooh!! I like that tutorial!! I love baking but HORRIBLE at decorating. That’s why I have just been sticking to cookies because I don’t have to decorate them. I have always wanted to be fancy with decorating since I am artsy and all but decorating baked goods have always been one of my top challenged when it comes to creativity.

  • Uglyfish says:

    That looks so impressive! So much work goes into making pretty looking cakes, that’s such a talent. I bet it’s harder than it looks though, even with your helpful tutorial. When I get a spare second I might just try it, it looks so professional!I’m going to show my sister this tutorial, she’d love it.

  • Joy says:

    That looks awesome!

    I think I’m definitely going to try doing it. Now that I have a buttercream recipe =)

    Is baking and cake decorating just a hobby? With all of the work and effort you put into cakes, I could definitely see you doing this for money. You’re just amazing!

  • Holly says:

    Now I just want to make a cake!! That looks really impressive but I can see how simple it is to do. I’d love to give it a go. 🙂

  • Carrie says:

    Wow! That looks soooo delicious! 🙂 Makes me want a cake now.

  • Amanda says:

    Scalloped cakes are adorable! I would try this, but I’m sure I’ll end up with something hilarious instead of cute at the end, haha. I’m so tempted to try anyway because it seems so simple.

  • Agent Q says:

    That is amazing. While the design appears simple to the naked eye, I can see the meticulous effort you put into making this. The scalloping steps, especially, require extra patience. Speaking of which, how do you handle the last set of scallop without smearing it over the first set?

    Aaand now I want to eat some cake. xD

    • Cat says:

      I still haven’t quite mastered the last column, haha. I just try to do a shorter smear, so it doesn’t touch the first set 🙂

  • Tiff says:

    Yay helpful categories, I’m excited. I’m not much of a baker, but I like reading about new techniques or at least helpful ones I may store away to use in the future.

    I don’t think I’ve ever seen a scalloped cake edge before so this was an interesting tutorial & it doesn’t seem toooo difficult to do, but knowing me, I’ll probably take a million years to even get one side done & your cake is so… ummmm perfect? Everything looks symmetrical & even!

    I’m gonna go snoop on your photography tips now. 🙂

  • Georgia Kate says:

    Oh man, I have got to try this. As you say it’s got a really “wow” factor.

Sorry! This entry is old, so comments are closed. Check out my recent blog posts though!