Before I decorate, shouldn't I learn to perfect the cake?

[Winterybella]

I am knocking on the door for advice yet again. I am thinking that before I start to look at decorating any of my baking I should be seeking to perfect the outcome of my cake whatever that cake may be.

Some months ago, one of my staff members decided to call in some of her friends to prepare some cupcakes for a sale we were having. When the cakes arrived they looked yummy and so inviting. The taste however, fell quite short of what I was expecting.

I suspect so much time was spent on presentation, taste was overlooked. Especially for persons not too full of confidence, shouldn't they first be looking to master the art of texture and taste before looking to decorate?

 

[coffeemug]

I agree on this one. I was struggling with this many times. But now i created a few basic types of cake/pie batter, and there i got starting to decorate them. I used different bakingtrays, different kind of nuts/fruit, different toppings etc... It take some time to find out what suits you best.

 

[NThomas]

Thing should look good ,but ther are many simple ways to dress up your baked goods. However the point is to eat baked goods and if they don't taste good there is nothing that can make up for that. No one wants some thing that taste bad , you can't slap some frosting on something to fix the taste,

 

[Trellum]

I always try to focus a lot on the making of my baked goods, the decoration is secondary for me. I try to keep things simple and nice tho Specially when I make cup cakes, they are so easy to decorate! You can use colored liners with patters too, that helps with the presentation!

 

[ACSAPA]

Yes, you should concentrate on the taste first. But I can't relate to the trouble that you are having with taste because baking is like chemistry.
If you follow the directions in the recipe to the letter, the cake should turn out perfectly. If you are turning out cakes that taste bad, either you are not following the recipes exactly or they're not good recipes to begin with. Start with a highly rated recipe that has a lot of good feedback and follow the directions exactly. If you do that, you should have a good result.

 

[Winterybella]

Yes, you should concentrate on the taste first. But I can't relate to the trouble that you are having with taste because baking is like chemistry.
If you follow the directions in the recipe to the letter, the cake should turn out perfectly. If you are turning out cakes that taste bad, either you are not following the recipes exactly or they're not good recipes to begin with. Start with a highly rated recipe that has a lot of good feedback and follow the directions exactly. If you do that, you should have a good result.

My box cakes almost always come out just fine. Most of the people around me who put out a good cake don't usually rely on recipes. I only brought the subject up to see how persons felt.. In the example I mentioned I am sure the young ladies didn't use a recipe. I suppose it was a batch gone wrong. People bought them anyway. I just hope no one thought I was responsible.

 

[JessiFox]

I agree you should concentrate on the cake itself first before getting too into decorations...you've got to get walking down before you can run, right? In theory at least . But there are plenty of simple recipes to "master" the basics at least and move on to the fun stuff pretty quickly, too.

 

[Winterybella]

It looks like it is unanimous. We all seem to agree that we need to focus first on our texture and taste. Even in my own case I can't remember having a problem with taste.

My "from scratch cakes" might not have risen enough etc. Those were my issues as I remember it. In time I will be decorating.

 

[tangela]

Yeah I would. I heard this quote from a comic book (I know, weird right?) about how it doesn't matter what it looks like on the outside, because once you eat it the "look" of the cake is all mushed up and looks the same anyway. What matters is how good it tastes.

So even the cake looks beautiful and gorgeous on the outside and has like 3 different colors, it doesn't mean a thing if the cake itself tastes really bad or tastes mediocre. So yeah, I would definitely try to get the cake part down (consistency, taste, flavor, etc etc) before applying the decoration.

But you should also take the decoration into consideration too because if your decoration is going to be a really sweet fondant or cream then you may not want the cake base to be too sweet. Otherwise it'll be overkill :/

 

[Winterybella]

Yeah I would. I heard this quote from a comic book (I know, weird right?) about how it doesn't matter what it looks like on the outside, because once you eat it the "look" of the cake is all mushed up and looks the same anyway. What matters is how good it tastes.

So even the cake looks beautiful and gorgeous on the outside and has like 3 different colors, it doesn't mean a thing if the cake itself tastes really bad or tastes mediocre. So yeah, I would definitely try to get the cake part down (consistency, taste, flavor, etc etc) before applying the decoration.

But you should also take the decoration into consideration too because if your decoration is going to be a really sweet fondant or cream then you may not want the cake base to be too sweet. Otherwise it'll be overkill :/

I agree the ideal thing would be mastering all areas. Taste. texture and the "icing" on top. I am still going to focus more on the baking quality. In time I will be decorating.

 

[Tina Nord]

The taste is the most important element of baking. If your baked item tastes amazing, most people will overlook the fact that it might look a little sloppy in appearance. I am the queen of things that taste great, but will not appear on the cover of any magazine any time soon.

 

[Winterybella]

The taste is the most important element of baking. If your baked item tastes amazing, most people will overlook the fact that it might look a little sloppy in appearance. I am the queen of things that taste great, but will not appear on the cover of any magazine any time soon.

I couldn't agree with you more. I am the queen of things that taste great when it comes to cooking but I am in training when it comes to being the Baking Queen. The truth is that my cakes do taste great but they are straight from a box. Until I can do something from scratch and have the same great results I won't be able to sit on the throne.

 

[Eileen101]

I also agree with getting that recipe down first. Because there is nothing worse than something looking good and tasting awful. Follow recipe's and make sure you're not over sifting the flour that can make your cake a disaster.

 

[Zyni]

It looks like it is unanimous. We all seem to agree that we need to focus first on our texture and taste. Even in my own case I can't remember having a problem with taste.

My "from scratch cakes" might not have risen enough etc. Those were my issues as I remember it. In time I will be decorating.

Hmmm... I was having this issue as well, and I decided to check my baking powder. It was out of date. You might want to try replacing your baking powder with a fresh canister to see if that helps with the cakes rising properly. Just a thought.

 

[tangela]

I agree the ideal thing would be mastering all areas. Taste. texture and the "icing" on top. I am still going to focus more on the baking quality. In time I will be decorating.

Here's to practice! To be honest I need to practice my decorating too, but sadly I don't know if I want to splurge and get all these tools when I'm not baking professionally.

I'm always the type of person who thinks that if the food tastes good, the decor shouldn't matter too much. Unless, you know, you're really trying to wow someone