Easy Cake Decorating Ideas {Beginners}
This is a collection of lots of easy cake decorating ideas for beginners. These simple cakes are made with no fancy tools and require very little time.
Easy cake decorating ideas for beginners is probably one of the most common requests I get from my readers a.k.a YOU!
I have listened to you and made a lot of easy cakes over the years and I finally went through my blog archives and put together this collection of DIY easy cake decorating ideas in one place to help you.
You DON’T need any fancy tools to make these simple cakes.
Many of these QUICK and EASY cake decorating ideas can be completed in 30 minutes.
There are even some easy cake decorating ideas for KIDS that would be fun to make for birthday parties.
Most of these cakes are decorated with items that you can easily find at your grocery store.
Use these SIMPLE cake decorating ideas/simple cake designs for birthdays or any other event by matching the colors of frosting and decorations to the color scheme of the events.
You will see easy cake decorating ideas with icing, fondant, fruit, candy, chocolate PLUS so many other easy homemade cake decorations.
There are easy cake decorating ideas for:
- Thanksgiving
- Halloween
- Easter
- Baby shower
- Birthday (girl birthday and boy birthday)
How to decorate a cake? How to decorate a birthday cake?
Here are some different ways to decorate a cake:
- Icing (buttercream frosting)
- Fondant
- Different tips (star tip, leaf tip, circle tip are the most popular)
- Spatulas
- Candy
- Chocolate
- Cereal
- Popcorn
- Fresh flowers
- Fresh fruits
- Edible sprays
- Edible markers
- Icing comb
How do you make fondant for cakes?
You can use my homemade marshmallow fondant recipe that uses marshmallows, powdered sugar and water.
How do you decorate a cake with fresh flowers?
- Make sure to use flowers that are SAFE and EDIBLE and not exposed to any pesticides.
- Roses, lavender and pansies are safe edible flowers and very popular on wedding cakes.
- AVOID flowers that have a very strong fragrance because that can transfer over to the cake too.
- WASH flowers in cold water and pat them dry.
- CUT the stalks so they are about 3 inches long.
- Insert plastic straws in the cake in which you will insert the stalks. Use bubble tea straws to insert thicker stalks. This also prevents the stem from weeping into the cake.
- You can also use an elastic band to hold a few stalks together to create a very FULL flower and use those to decorate some parts of the cake as well.
What do you need to decorate a cake?
Here are some ESSENTIAL cake decorating supplies:
- Cake pans
- Spatula
- Gel food coloring
- Rolling pin
- Sharp knife or blades
- Pizza cutter
- Shortening
- Turntable or Lazy Susan
- Cake boards
- Powdered sugar
- Parchment paper or wax paper
- Fondant smoothers
- Paintbrushes
- Corn syrup
- Sprinkles
- Chocolate
Let’s get started with this collection of easy cake decorating ideas for BEGINNERS….
*The pictures of decorated cakes all have a link above them. Click on that to get more details about the cake. Many of those links also have video or picture tutorials.*
Never underestimate the power of FRESH BERRIES and a little bit of edible spray to add a bit of sparkle to any cake.
Stack CAKE SLICES in this whimsical way and you will end up with a gorgeous cake tower.
Using FRESH FLOWERS to decorate cakes is classic and timeless.
CEREAL is another one of those super easy cake decorating ideas. There are so many shapes and colors of cereal that the possibilities are endless!
This SURPRISE-INSIDE batman cake from my friend Katalina @peasandpeonies is so easy to make for boys birthday parties.
Don’t know how to frost smoothly? No problem! Just cover all the crumbs and bumps with KIT KATS and top it all off with fresh berries.
Grab a black EDIBLE MARKER and some heart sprinkles to make this cute and romantic Valentine’s Day cake.
Throw some MARSHMALLOWS on top of your cake and put that creme brulee torch to good use.
Add a few maraschino cherries to brighten everything! This is another great idea from my friend, Katalina@ peasandpeonies.
Marshmallow Chocolate Caramel Cheesecake
Cover your entire cake with finely shredded COCONUT and top it off candied nuts and edible silver pearls. This is beautiful way to decorate a Winter wonderland cake.
Cranberry Coconut and Candied Nut Cake
This easy beach cake was made with CHOCOLATE SEASHELLS (made in simple candy mold), brown sugar and while edible pearls.
Run the spatula diagonally around your frosted cake. Then, top it off with ganache drips and POPCORN. Spray some red color on the popcorn to give it a pop of color.
Use leftover CANDY CANES to make candy cane shards and stick them on top of your cake. This is a great Christmas cake decorating idea.
Cover your cake in brown fondant or chocolate buttercream icing and decorate it with HERSHEY’S KISSES. You can unwrap them, if you like but the wrapper was so pretty that i just left them, as is.
PRETZEL RODS, peanut butter energy balls and chocolate pieces were used to decorate this elegant and brown cake.
Use colored MELTED CHOCOLATE, sparkling sugar and sprinkles to make chocolate loops and stick them on top of your cake… prefect abstract cake design.
Mango Cake with Mango frosting and Chocolate Loops
Use colorful JELLY CANDIES and shredded coconut to make this cute Easter bunny cake.
Use different colors of FROSTINGS and a small star tip to make this adorable pencil cake.
Use broken and crushed CANDY CANES to make this stylish Christmas cake or even Valentine’s Day cake.
Store bought HALVA (which is already pre-cut in diamond shapes) and gold edible spray was used to decorate this Oscar party cake.
Another way to cover all those flaws on cakes is to to use TWIZZLERS and candies…This is a Christmas version.
And this one is a rainbow candy cake (perfect for rainbow themed birthday parties or St.Patrick’s Day)
Just use a round decorating tip to make these cute peaks on any cake! Toss a few sprinkles and voila!
And this one is decorated with the small star tip and I also tossed a few red candy balls to give this cake a pop of color.
And this rose cake is made with just the big star tip (Tip # 1M).
Carrot Cake with the Rose Technique
Use a fork to give your cake a cool rough appearance. Then, top it off with seasonal pumpkin candies and sprinkles for a pretty Autumn/ Fall cake.
Pumpkin Cake with Pumpkin Candies
Grab an edible marker and draw faces on M&M CANDIES and use them to decorate a cute kids cake!
Best Banana Chocolate Chip Cake
Make this Mummy cake with buttercream icing, chopped Oreos and candy worms.
Use different colors of frostings and a toothpick to make this groovy tie dye cake.
Use marshmallow PEEPS and seasonal sprinkles to make this simple Easter cake.
Make a spooky Halloween cake, using OREO spider cookies and a Twizzler Spider web.
Oreo Spiders and Twizzler Spider Web Cake
Buy or make apple MARSHMALLOW POPS and stick them into your cake for this easy Autumn or Fall cake.
Pencil Cake {Back to School Cake}
Use leftover Halloween candies or any candies you like to make “chocolate blobs” and stick them on top of your cake.
Make a cute Easter cake with an Oreo cookie nest and egg candies.
Well, that’s all for today.
I hope this collection of easy cake decorating ideas for beginners is useful to you guys.
So, which of these easy cake decorating ideas did you like the most?
Oh my gosh. I wish I had the skills to do any of these cakes! My cakes are always so sad looking. That’s why I never post cakes. 😉 Off to check out a few of the easier looking ones!
You are being too hard on yourself. I have seen your desserts and they are always gorgeous! 🙂