• Decorated cakecake image by blaine stiger from Fotolia.com
  
  Decorating a cake is a great way to add a little something special to an important occasion. Professional cake decorators have many tools and products at their disposal, but cake decorating isn't limited to the professionals. There are many tips and tricks for making impressive decorated cakes at home with simple tools.
  
  

Icing

• Many cake designs require a smooth finish to the icing. With a regular knife or spatula, this can be quite hard to achieve. However, placing the knife or spatula in a cup of hot water for a couple of seconds will get a perfect smooth surface as the heat and moisture will smooth out the ridges. Glazing or crumb coating a cake before icing it is another way to help get the icing to sit smoothly atop the cake without picking up crumbs or seeping into cracks.
  
  

Piping

• Piping is a basic decorating method that is used for hundreds of different decorating applications. Piping requires a steady hand and confidence. If very straight lines are needed on a cake, setting the line with a ruler into the icing gives a good guide for piping to go on straight. Always have a piece of paper handy to test out the piping bag and piping head attachment before applying to the actual cake. Piping should always be done with the piping bag head perpendicular to the cake--this is especially important when piping on flowers or stars using a toothed head attachment. Hold the tip ¼ inch above the cake surface for best results.
  
  

Flowers

• Flowers can be made of icing, cream, marzipan or hard sugars--they can of course also be the real deal. For large flower designs on the cake, outline each petal with piping and fill in the centers, smoothing out any ridges with a warm spatula. Small flowers are easy to make with toothed attachments on piping bags. For an extra-special flower look try gently twisting the piping bag in a 45-degree counterclockwise turn as you squeeze.
  
  Sugared flowers are easy to make at home with sugar paste (a fondant much like putty). To make a rose, simply squash a small piece of sugar paste between the thumb and index finger to make a petal; do this several times and allow the pieces to set. Arrange the petals into a rose shape and connect them at the base with a small sugar paste ball. Real flowers are an excellent addition to a cake decoration. To stop flowers from wilting or going brown, spray them with hairspray, well away from any food items, and let them set before arranging on the cake--this is best for flowers that are on the side of the cake.
  
  

Themes

• For castle cakes, take mini Swiss rolls and top them with an upside-down ice cream cone for towers; dip the outside of the cones in chocolate for a better effect. Making ancient ruins, like Stonehenge, on the top of a cake is easily achievable using Flake bars cut to size as monoliths or columns. A fairy garden cake isn't complete without mushroom houses; simply attach an upside down cupcake to a Swiss roll with a toothpick and cover with pink, purple and blue icing for a truly magical effect. Doors and windows can be piped on.