Make any cake look fancy with these 10 easy cake decorating ideas that don't require piping and are perfect for beginners.
You don't need intricate piping skills and you don't need to spend hours in the kitchen to create a cake that looks like it came from a bakery.
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There are some easy cake decorating tricks and hacks you can use to make simple yet, impressive and totally doable cakes for birthdays, get-togethers and more. Plus, you can do this whether you're baking from scratch, using a cake mix, are a beginner or already a pro.
Let’s get to the options:
1. Add flowers
Adding just a few flowers to the top of the cake or even around the base of it can really make a big difference.
You can use fresh flowers or faux flowers. I've used both.
If you use fresh flowers, though, make sure you're safe about it. Some flowers have pesticides, and some flowers are actually toxic like baby's breath. I see people with cakes on Facebook that have baby’s breath all over them and it just makes me cringe.
Be sure to look up what type of flower you’re using so that you can be safe.
Tips
- You don’t want to stick real flower stems directly into the cake. What I like to do is put the stems of the flower into a straw and then place the straw into the cake. You can see more on how I do this in this post: How to Attach Gumpaste Flowers to Cakes
- Another way you can add fresh flowers is to just cut a piece of wax paper or parchment paper where you’re going to be setting the flower onto the cake and it can serve as a barrier between the cake and the flowers.
I really prefer using faux flowers. You still have to make sure you don’t stick the stems directly into the cake without putting them in some type of regular straw or bubble tea straw, but they don’t wilt and you know that they’re generally not poisonous.
2. Add a simple drip to the top of the cake
Adding a simple drip to the top of the cake can really take it over the top and it’s actually pretty easy to do if you just know a few tips.
Tips:
- Make sure to chill the cake first before adding any type of drip on it. The drip will likely be warm and you want the cake to be cold so that the drip does not melt the buttercream off of the cake.
- Use a squeeze bottle to easily add the drip to the top of the cake, or a spoon works as well.
- You can easily melt chocolate and add a bit of cream to it and use that as a drip, or you can warm up a bit of caramel sauce, then drip on top of the cake. In addition, if you really want a quick drip, you can grab a can of premade frosting at the grocery store and heat it a bit in the microwave, then use that as a drip.
Here’s a recipe on how to make ganache and here is another option on how to do the drip on top of a cake.
3. Decorate with fresh fruit
You can never go wrong with just using fresh fruit. It adds color and elegance. You can use mixed berries for vanilla cake, white cake or lemon cake and raspberries are good on chocolate and lemon cake.
Tips:
- Make sure fruit is washed and fully dried before adding to the cake to prevent bleeding or soggy spots.
- If you don’t have a lot of fruit, forming a cluster of fruit slightly off-center helps give it that professional look.
Here are a few cake recipes that would be perfect with fruit on top.
4. Add metallics
Using edible glitter, sprinkles, or even a metallic topper can really make your cake look fancy.
You can add the sprinkles or edible glitter all around the edge of the cake for a fancy touch.
If you want to get even fancier and you have piping tools, you can add a few piped rosettes on the top of a cake, spray with edible glitter, or sprinkle with colorful metallic sprinkles and it instantly looks polished.
Here’s a tutorial on how to pipe easy buttercream rosettes: Better Buttercream Rosettes
Tips:
- It's not necessary to pipe buttercream designs and rosettes if you don’t want to do any piping. That’s just extra. Just adding sprinkles around the edges of the cake will make it look great!
- Another tip is to add sprinkles by holding the cake over the sink because we all know that sprinkles go everywhere.
- Metallic cake toppers are really a great addition to any cake, especially celebration cakes. They just make everything look so fancy because they’re so shiny and well…metallic.
You can find custom metallic cake toppers on Etsy and have them made with specific phrases or names and they’re really not very expensive either.
You don’t even have to go with the kind that are inserted into the top of the cake. Now days they have those cute cake toppers that are more like plaques, where you don’t have to insert them, but they just sit right on top of the cake, which makes it super easy.
Below is an example of the type of cake topper I’m referring to:
5. Dust with confectioner’s sugar or cocoa powder
This is an old-school trick, but it's still one of the easiest and prettiest. Just dust a cooled cake with powdered sugar using a fine mesh strainer or sifter. You can even use a stencil if you really want to get fancy.
Tip
- You could use some of those paper doilies that you can get at a craft supply store. Just set one on the top of the cake and sprinkle over it with confectioner’s sugar or cocoa powder and then remove the doily. Make sure you get one that has some of the larger holes in it so there will be a place for the sugar or cocoa to go and still leave enough of a pattern.
Here is my favorite cake to add a confectioner’s sugar dusting to: Easy Cream Cheese Cake
6. Go with a monochromatic color scheme
Try going with different shades of the same color. This also works in floral design and in clothing. It always looks modern and elegant.
For example, just pick one shade (like dusty pink, pale blue, or cream) and decorate the cake with tone-on-tone textures: one shade (or just plain white) for the buttercream covering the entire cake, then other shades of that color for any piping or borders that you do. You can even add sprinkles in the same tones.
7. Don’t forget the cake base
Use a pretty cake stand, a platter, or a cake base. This can really make or break the entire presentation of your cake.
If you do choose to use a cake stand, it's good to use a cake base even if you're going to use a cake stand as well. Cakes aren't easy to cut while sitting on stands and that's just a disaster waiting to happen.
You’ll want the cake to be sitting on something, so you can remove if from the cake stand to cut it.
Tip:
- If you don't have a cake base laying around and don’t want to buy one, you can make one out of cardboard or styrofoam poster boards and just cover it with food-safe wrapping. Keep in mind how heavy your cake will be, because you might need to glue a couple layers of cardboard together.
Having a cake base really makes a huge difference. Go for a nice, understated cake base rather than a shiny foil-covered base that can sometimes make a cake look unprofessional.
There are many ways to cover a cake base. I have an entire post on how to do that here: How to Cover a Cake Base
8. Add candy or cookies
Line the bottom or top edge of the cake with candy or cookies or just pile it onto the top of the cake. Ideas are: mini cookies, store-bought macarons, Ferrero Rocher, mini Reese's cups, Oreos, or a combination of several different things.
Tip:
- Try to add as much as you can, though. If you're only going to add a few pieces, it won't look great. If that's all you have, just add them on about a quarter of the cake in a crescent pattern; otherwise, it'll look sparse.
To add a border of candy all around the cake, just chop up the candy first and add A LOT. More will look much fancier. Bonus points for adding a drip with candy on top of it. That's a win-win situation.
9. Add texture
Use the back of a spoon, a knife, or an offset icing spatula to create rustic swoops in the frosting. You can also make ridges in the frosting, either horizontally or vertically. It's a very simple design, but it creates a "hand-crafted with love" look.
This is one of the very first cake decorating styles I learned as a kid. My mom taught me how to use the back of a spoon to do swoops all over the buttercream. It's still one of my favorite ways to decorate a homemade cake. It's just so nostalgic and very easy to do.
10. Use a simple glaze
A simple bundt cake with a simple glaze always looks fancy to me and the good news is that it's just about the easiest way to go.
Just mix up an easy confectioner's sugar glaze by adding confectioner's sugar and water, milk, lemon juice, whatever liquid and flavor you want. Once the cake is cool, just spoon the glaze on top.
If you want an exact recipe for easy glaze variations, I have them here: 3 Easy Cake Glazes
Final thoughts
You really do not need to have cake decorating tools, skills, or get stressed out in order to make a fancy looking cake. I hope these ideas spark some creativity and maybe give you a push to make your next cake!
Madelyn
Love this! Thanks
Kara
So glad you liked it!