5 Ways to Frost a Cake for People Who Hate Frosting Cakes
I’m not a talented decorator. Any decorating that I do is generally the result of covering up what I've previously screwed up. I do not have the patience—nor the steady hands—to make beautiful cupcakes, breathtaking cakes, or professional-looking sugar cookies.
But don’t be fooled: you don't need to be a master of the piping bag or a creative genius to make pastries that people want to eat.
Frost your cake lightly with a thin crumb coat layer, then stick that sucker in the fridge for 15 minutes or so. When you’re ready, pull your cake out and slap the rest of your frosting all over the top and sides. Then, take a bench scraper (or some other similar-looking thing) and scrape the frosting right off of that damn cake.
Ah yes, old faithful, as I like to call this style of cake. It’s the easiest way to frost a three-layer cake, by far. The best part is that you don't even have to bother leveling the son-of-a-bitch. Throw down your first layer, scoop a ton of frosting on it, add the next layer, do the same, and then actually apply a little effort on the last frosting layer to make it look presentable.
Frost your cake as you normally would, chill it in the fridge for a bit, and then pull it out and drizzle melted chocolate all over the top. The goal here is to make it look a little messy, but as everyone knows, drips of milk chocolate always look delicious and tempting. Dust the end result with a little powdered sugar if you feel like walking in a winter wonderland.
.I think that a dark, almost black chocolate cake looks best with stark white buttercream on top, or vice-versa. This is a case where I must insist upon the use of sprinkles—you’re only making a one-layer cake, after all. It needs a little something extra.
Hey, guess what? Sometimes you don’t need frosting at all. If you make a moist, rich cake, a simple dusting of powdered sugar, and perhaps a little something for texture (see: crushed candy canes, sprinkles, crumbled graham crackers, etc.) is all that’s standing between you and a beautifully decorated cake.