Made this one yesterday at work and it’s fairly shaky but I still really like how it turned out. Any tips from fellow shaky-handed decorators on how to keep steady when drawing on cakes would be greatly appreciated! I’m quite tall so I keep my turntable on top of a bucket to avoid having to hunch over my work. There’s really nothing for me to rest my elbows or wrists on.
by shandalf_thegrey
6 Comments
Very nicely done, especially for being new to this type of decorating. I have the opposite issue from you; I’m 4’10’ and have a horrible time getting my cakes low enough to decorate easily.
The one thing I notice in your snowflake design is that the lines do not end smoothly. Let off the pressure on your pastry bag when you reach the end of a line and lightly push the tip back into the icing to help hide the ending. You can also lightly wet a small paint brush with water and tap it against the tail left at the end of your lines (the residual from lifting your pastry tip). This gets rid of the distinct end of the line. A moist fingertips also works. That will make your pieces look more professional and will also take away from the signs of shakiness.
All decorators have issues, at one time or another, with their hands being unsteady. There are a number of ways you can compensate for this while learning. As a beginning tool, you may want to lightly trace the design onto the icing before placing the actual design onto the cake. Also, you can take a small piping tip and draw out the design with a thin line of icing. It is very easy to then follow those lines with the pastry tip you will use for your final design. For making snowflakes, you can lightly lay a cookie cutter against the icing and trace that design with the pastry tip of your choice.
It is difficult to make the time to learn, as time is money, but if you start out with a template, of sorts, you will then be able to eyeball your designs (for the most part) in no time.
Again, you should be proud of the cake you created. It really is very nice and will only get better as you progress.
Cute! Great job!
Your hand will get used to it. The more you do it, the more your grip strength will improve and you’ll learn how to control/release the pressure on the bag, which will allow you to move your hand faster, which makes for cleaner lines. It looks like you’ve got the skills. It’s just a matter of letting your muscles get used to doing a new thing 🙂
Looks great for an early attempt! Keep up the good work and soon you’ll be doing it in your sleep! 😻
I would absolutely buy this from a grocery store! The colors are perfect.
Looks pretty good