Sketching in .NET

Make Code 128B in .NET Sketching

If you opt to do a freehand illustration on the cake, use a bamboo skewer to sketch out the design or artwork that you ll fill in later with piped stars, smooth frosting, or some other material For the best sketching surface, level the cake, apply a crumb coat of frosting, and refrigerate to seal Frost the cake and refrigerate it again before you start sketching It s much easier to carve a sketch into refrigerated frosting because it firms up If you mess up your sketch, just frost the cake again, refrigerate it, and then have another go at it (Check out 8 for tips on smooth frosting techniques)

Tracing a design on your cake is a relatively easy way to decorate with a onedimensional design Just cut out the shape or picture of the object you want to have on your cake, lay it on the frosted and refrigerated cake, and trace around it with a bamboo skewer If tracing around a paper cutout proves too cumbersome, use the skewer or a toothpick to poke holes around (or even through) the cutout You can get as detailed as you want by poking holes all over the cake, following the lines and nuances of the design Tracing in this manner gives you a connect-the-dots design that you can outline by piping over with a pastry bag outfitted with a round tip

Templates are line art that you can blow up or reduce to fit the dimensions of your cake Follow the tracing process covered in the preceding section to transfer the template design to the cake Then fill in the template with piped stars or beads, for example Templates usually come with color suggestions and tell you what frosting to put where, but the choice really is up to you I categorize templates more in the free-rein arena of cake decorating because you get the outline but make your own choices about how to complete it

Patterns are a more regimented approach to cake decorating in that they include suggested frosting colors and placement Cake decorating patterns usually involve a conventional shape or design or the licensed artwork of a cartoon character A pattern for an entire cake usually doesn t come with a template that you trace; rather, you draw the basic design by hand If you select a specialty pan in a specific shape, like a pineapple, a piano keyboard, or a cartoon character, the pan s packaging is likely to include a photo of the finished cake to show suggested colors and outlines

Color is a key component of the cake design process Putting together the right contrasting and complementary colors makes your cake visually exciting and appealing and makes your design pop Unfortunately, no matter how good your cake tastes, the wrong combination of colors can make your cake distracting and uninviting

The key to great cake design colors is experimentation Working with colored frostings is like working with paints in that your options are unlimited Particularly if you don t have a lot of experience with tinting frostings, don t be afraid to mix and mess around with colors as you coordinate your design options You may find colors that you never thought you d like and fall in love with them when you see them paired with others If you mix up colored frosting for your cake and find that the colors just don t go well together after all or aren t what you had in mind, start fresh Make more frosting and tint another batch, or try mixing a different shade Just because you make colored frosting doesn t mean you have to use it!