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A boxed cake mix and extra ingredients to make it taste homemade.

Make Boxed Cake Taste HomemadeSometimes I bump into a boxed cake mix on sale for SO cheap, I can't say no. Having it handy helps save precious time, but it just doesn't taste nearly as good as a cake made from scratch. Here are some tips on getting your boxed cake tasting homemade.

 

A homemade cake with frosting on a plate.

Dessert in a JifIf I make a regular cake, my husband and I eat more than we should. Sometimes, I just crave something sweet without the guilt. I made a Jiffy cake for the two of us. When I made it, I sifted the mix and when I prepared it, I put in a tablespoon of mayo.

 

Sprinkle Hearts on a Cake - cake with heart decorations on pink frosting

Sprinkle Hearts on a CakeAn easy way to decorate a cake is to use cookie cutters to make sprinkle designs. It's a great option for kids too!

 

Leftover Fondant Candle Holders

Leftover Fondant Candle HoldersI made loads of fresh homemade fondant for my husband's birthday cake. I spent so much time decorating it (this one took me hours!), there was no way I would be okay with even a drop of candle wax dripping on his silhouette. I used the leftover fondant to mold into candle holders to place in front of the cake.

 

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Add Pizzazz to Chocolate Cake MixTo add flavor to a chocolate cake mix add a tablespoon of powdered cocoa to your cake mix before blending. Personally I use anywhere from one to two tablespoons of cocoa depending on the flavor of the cake mix. I suggest you start with one then add or subtract from there.

 

Fixing a Failed Crumb Coat

Fixing a Failed Crumb CoatI recently made our daughter a red and blue velvet cake for her birthday. The cake was horribly crumbly and I had a really hard time crumb coating it. I was running low on frosting and decided that instead of making more to add a thicker coating to cover all of the crumbs, I would embrace my mess!

 

4th of July Red and Blue Velvet Cake

4th of July Red and Blue Velvet CakeWe recently bought a boxed cake mix for red and blue velvet cake. I made a buttercream frosting for the filling, sides, and shell border. I topped it with stabilized whipped cream. Then covered it in sliced strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries. It was the perfect balance of sweet!

 

Chocolate Chips for Easy Frosting

Chocolate Chips for Easy FrostingUse chocolate chips for an easy frosting. While your cake or brownies are still warm, put chocolate chips on let sit a few minutes to warm them. Once they begin to melt, spread with a table knife.

 

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Freeze Cakes Before FrostingAfter baking a cake, put your cake pans in the freezer for an hour before frosting them. They will not crack and crumble when you put on the frosting.

 

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Use Wax Paper for Non-stick Cake PansTrace the bottom of cake pan onto wax paper and cut out the circle. Cut wax paper strips the height of sides of your pan. Coat inside and bottom with oil. Put wax paper circle and strips inside pan.

 

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Towels to Make Level CakesTake old (low loop nap) towels. Cut them at two times the height of the side of your pan. Wet towel strips and pin to sides of pan. Use large safety pins.

 

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Easy Flavored FrostingHere is a tip when having to prepare a quick powdered sugar frosting, whether your recipe is homemade or store bought. I take a spoonful of Jello powder and add it to the beginning mix.

 

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No Frost CupcakesNext time you make cupcakes instead of icing them, just put a marshmallow on each cupcake about 10 minutes before your cupcakes are done. Instant frosting and they taste great!

 

4th of July Heart Cake

4th of July Heart CakeI made this birthday cake for my daughter last year. She is so lucky to have a 4th of July birthday, so I tend to go a little crazy playing on the red, white, and blue theme.

 

Soccer Ball Cake

Soccer Ball CakeThis soccer ball cake is easy to make and is perfect for a birthday party. All you need is buttercream icing and a variety of tips to make this fun cake.

 

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Tiered Daisy Cake

Decorating Cakes With FondantI made this two tiered birthday cake and decorated the the whole thing with fondant. I really enjoy marbling fondant so I chose to marble a teal and a blue color together. It was for a young girl so I wanted to make funky yet beautiful, so I chose to make the bow and dots in a bright pink.

 

Sushi Cake

Sushi CakeI made this birthday cake for a friend's daughter. I love working with fondant and really enjoyed making this cake. I made the inside of the sushi rolls with rice crispies and then covered them in fondant.

 

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Preserving the Tops of Frosted CakesDo you hate it when you have a lovely frosted cake and you don't know how to cover it without the frosting sticking to the foil or other covering? The little plastic "tripods" that come with your pizza are ideal.

 

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Professional Looking FrostingAfter you have frosted your cake, use a hair dryer to go over the icing just until it begins to melt. Your cake will have a shiny, professional look.

 

Full photo of Angry Birds cake.

Angry Birds CakeI recently made an Angry Birds cake for my son's 10th birthday. I made all of the decorations out of fondant. In total it took me about 10 hours to complete it. I sculpted each piece by hand.

 

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Easy FrostingLemon juice and some powdered sugar will make a nice glaze for a plain cake or quick bread. Just put a cup of sifted powdered sugar and a teaspoon of lemon juice in a bowl.

 

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Add Cake Trimmings To Frosted Middle LayerWhen making cake frosting and filling, set aside a portion of it for the filling. When you have to level your cake layers, just make the trimmings into crumbs and add them to the filling portion.

 

Frosting in Ziploc bag.

Use Ziploc Bag For FrostingWhen making powder sugar frosting, why wash a bowl and utensil to stir with? Slip a plastic bag in a coffee mug and turn the top edge down over the rim of the cup. Put your ingredients in and zip the bag closed, mixing the frosting by hand.

 

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Making a Lacy Pattern on a CakeA simple technique for decorating a chocolate cake is to lay a paper doily on top, sift on powdered sugar, then lift doily off carefully to leave a design.

 

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Make A Heart Cake Without A Heart Shaped PanNo need to buy a special heart-shaped pan when you want to make a heart-shaped cake. Use one 8 or 9 inch round pan plus one 8 or 9 inch square pan. When the baked cake is cooled, cut the round cake in half.

 

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Decorate Your Own Birthday CupcakesFor a fun birthday party activity, bring out cupcakes that have not been decorated. Let each guest decorate his or her own cupcake. Provide frosting, jellybeans, sprinkles, candies, coconut, chocolate bits, etc.

 

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Use a Marshmallow as Cupcake FrostingNeed a quick frosting for your cupcakes? Three minutes before they are done carefully open the door to the oven, slip a large marshmallow on top of each one. Use rainbow marshmallows for some color or the flavored ones for some flavor.

 

cake tools

Cake Decorating Tool HolderWhile learning how to decorate cakes online, I thought of a way of organizing some of my supplies. I used two silverware baskets that were saved from several old dishwashers.

 

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Keep Special Birthday Cake Photo With RecipeFor birthdays I love to make a special cake that really speaks to the recipient's interests. Along with the birthday card and gift I buy, when I see something I know they will really enjoy, I tuck the picture and recipe for that special cake away.

 

Winnie The Pooh Cake

Winnie The Pooh CakeHere is the cake I made for my one son's first birthday. I'm not a pro and never made many decorated cakes before till I had kids. He really likes Winnie the Pooh, so I gave it a shot.

 

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Stretching FrostingWhen you buy cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double the size and frost more cake or cupcakes with same amount. You also reduce sugar and calories.

 

Lion Decorated Birthday Cake

Lion Decorated Birthday CakeMy son's 4th birthday party had an animal theme, but living overseas presents difficulties in finding cute cake pans. So, I created my own lion. It's one round cake, ears and muzzle from a second cake, and 12 cupcakes.

 

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Add Powdered Drink Mix to Cake And IcingTired of the same old cake and icing? Take vanilla cake mix or vanilla icing and add unsweetened drink mix. You can add food coloring to match the flavor. It adds a lot of flavor and interest.

 

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Learn Cake Decorating OnlineI'm in my early 60's and smart enough to know that if I took a course at my age, it would take me longer to catch on now than when I was younger. I made up my mind to learn at my own pace. I found numerous cake decorating videos on YouTube.

 

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Paper Under Cooling Rack to Collect CrumbsHello everyone. I hope you had a very happy Holiday. While I was baking cookies with my 8 year old grandson, I complained about all the crumbs left under the cooling rack when I was finished baking and what a chore it was to clean it up.

 

Chocolate Birthday CupcakesThese are chocolate cupcakes I made for my little sisters birthday. I used the cake recipe on the bake of the Hersheys coco powder box, but instead of making a cake I made cupcakes.

 

Football Cake

Football CakeThis is more of a food idea, rather than a food recipe. We decided we wanted to make a cake for a football party.

 

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Dust Cakes With Powdered Sugar Instead of FrostingWhen my mother used to have friends over in the evening she wanted to serve a snack (cake and coffee) but most of them were elderly and would turn down the cake because of the frosting.

 

tackle box cake

Tackle Box CakeThis is a birthday cake a friend (Denise) made for my husband, an avid fisherman. Yes, the fish were edible.

 

A cake made with blue jello to mimic an aquarium.

Aquarium Jello CakeI made this aquarium cake with Jello. I made a regular rectangle cake and cut a center after the cake had chilled overnight. I poured the blue jello in and let it set for 2 hours.

 

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Decorate Your Cake With 3-D WritingWhen you are making a birthday cake and need to do some writing, like a name, etc., try writing it with the original frosting first, if it looks OK then go over it with a different color. It will give the words a 3-D effect as well as make the job easier on you.

 

Use the cake mix bag as a frosting bag.

Reuse Cake Mix Bag For DecoratingWhen I make cupcakes from a cake mix, I always save the bag. I rinse the bag out, dry it, clip a corner and insert a decorating tip inside. It makes a perfect disposable frosting bag and these bags are super strong.

 

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Make Your Own Fondant for Cake DecoratingA wonderful and inexpensive way to have a beautiful cake at any function is to make it yourself. I've begun using a recipe for home made fondant (sugary "dough" icing for cakes) using powdered sugar and mini marshmallows!

 

"Grill" Decorated CakeThis is my grill cake I made for a cook out. I baked a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. Then I used decorator frosting to make the grill. I purchased 3 chocolate mint patties to represent the hamburger patties.

 

White Frosting on Cake

Making Smooth White FrostingThis makes a silky smooth pure white frosting. Simply replace the butter with white shortening in your favorite vanilla frosting recipe and add clear butter flavoring and clear vanilla.

 

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Sponge Bob Birthday Cake

Cartoon Birthday Cakes Made EasyKids always want cartoon birthday cakes. Make your own cake decorations! Mine were cut out of kids Valentine cards. Make your own cake and stick the cutouts on the cake.

 

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Add Whipped Topping to Stretch FrostingWhen using canned frosting mix, place the mix in a bowl and add 1/2 cup of whipped topping with it and whip with mixer for about a minute. It doubles the amount and makes it easier to spread.

 

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Cupcake in a ConeGreat for children's parties! Instead of preparing cupcakes using the paper liners, you can eliminate a waste of paper as well as making the cleanup a snap when serving them to your little guests with this tip I have used.

 

Farewell Party Cake

Farewell Party Cake for an Irish PriestOur beloved priest is leaving the R.C. Catholic Church where both my husband and I regularly attend. This Godly man has a heart of gold and we really hate to see him leave.

 

Decorate Holiday CupcakesI decorate cup cakes with cute little marshmallow holiday treats. I just make my own icing from powdered sugar (1 box), 1 cup Crisco, a few Tbsp. milk and 1 tsp vanilla flavoring.

 

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Use Warm Water When Frosting CakeWhen frosting a cake with a rubber spatula, first dip in some warm water then proceed to frost. It helps apply smoothly and and preventing little pieces of the cake from coming off. Reapply the dipping method as needed.

 

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Serve Cupcakes For BirthdaysThis isn't my tip but I thought it was clever. Instead of cake at a kid's birthday party, make cupcakes. You can push them together if you want and ice the whole lot to look like one cake or do what my daughter did. She saw in a magazine a barnyard cake ...

 

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Happy Birthday USA CupcakesWhen my kids were tiny, I wondered how to teach them the significance of Independence Day. I was reading Sesame Street Magazine with my kids, and saw a page that was entitled, "Happy Birthday, USA!" Then a great idea hit me, what's a birthday without CAKE?

 

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Tips For Baking a Flat, Even CakeThis is in response to baking a flatter cake. All you have to do is either torte the mound off, torting means to cut the cake in several layers or just the top or in half horizontally (not up and down).

 

Girl holding license with cookie topped with car cutout.

Driver's License Cake TopperI was short on time, but wanted to have a little after school surprise for my daughter who her passed her driver's test today. So I whipped out a chocolate chip cookie mix, spread it in a square pan and made this funny topper, which includes the new driver and her older sister, with my photo software.

 

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Place Wet Towel Around a Cake Pan for Flatter CakesCut old towel the height of the cake pan and length of the circumference or perimeter of the pan. If the towel is thin, make it twice the height and fold in in half lengthwise.

 

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Use Toothpicks to Transport CakesIf you have an iced cake you need to save or transport, and you don't have a special carrier, you can prevent smashed icing by sticking toothpicks in the surface of the cake before covering it with plastic wrap or foil.

 

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Freeze Cake Before FrostingTo frost a cake easier, after baking, cool and remove the cake from the pan, wrap a layer in wax paper, and freeze.

 

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Condiment Bottles for Decorating with IcingUse condiment bottles, the kind with the pointed lids, to decorate cakes and cookies. Simply fill them with icing and squeeze to decorate your cakes and cookies.

 

A beautifully decorated cake.

Making Roses for Decorated CakesI have decorated cakes for 30+ years and recently developed a way to make beautiful roses for wedding and specialty cakes by hand, using regular icing instead of fondant.

 

Birthday Cake With Chocolate CurlsI made this cake for my nephew's second birthday. For the chocolate shavings, I used chocolate at room temperature and a vegetable peeler.

 

Ball and Chain Cake

Ball and Chain Wedding Shower CakeI made this for my daughter's wedding shower. The ball was a Styrofoam ball that I just covered in a #32 tip with black royal icing. I purchased some chain link at a local hardware store, it went over very well!

 

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Laminate Wrapping Paper For Themed Cake DecorationQuickly, easily, and inexpensively, create a cake decoration for your child's birthday cake. Find gift wrap or other paper with a themed picture on it such as Spiderman or Barbie. Cut it out and laminate it. Just before presenting the cake, lay the laminated picture on the cake, and pipe a little icing around the edges, if desired. The picture can be as large or small as you like. I have done this for my twins' birthday (two cakes!) and used wrapping paper with 5-inch pictures of the various Disney princesses.

 

Dump Truck Cake

Dump Truck Birthday CakeFor my son's second birthday, we had a construction zone theme. We put a new toy plastic dumptruck on the table to fill with chips (until my son wanted to play with it!), the invitations were made with hard-hat die cuts, and the cake was a truck with donut wheels.

 

baby shower cake

Quick And Easy Decorated Baby...Bake a cake (either mix or from scratch) in an 11x15 inch pan. This size requires 2 cake mixes to fill. Invert onto cardboard or plastic cake board immediately after baking.

 

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Easy Cake DecoratorFor an easy way to decorate a cake is get cake icing and a plastic bag (zip lock or sandwich bag). Cut a small hole in the tip of the bag and pour the icing in the bag and push the icing down to the tip of the bag where the hole is. . .

 

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Silky Looking CakesProfessionally decorated cakes always seem to have a molten, silky look. To achieve this look at home, frost as usual and then use a hair dryer to "blow-dry" the frosted surfaces (on low) until it looks right.

 

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Quick Tips for Decorating Kids Birthday CakesLifesaver candies work well as candle holders. Fun toppings are Gummy Bears, Gummy Worms and Animal Crackers...

 

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Easy Frosting for Cake or CupcakesSprinkle chocolate chips on your cake/cupcakes just a few minutes before they are done. Then just spread the chocolate across the top after they are melted and the cake is baked.

 

Cake castle

Castle CakeCastle cake for your little prince or princess: Mix as directed 1 1/2 box favorite cake mix. Pour into oval pan or regular rectangle pan and cut into oval after baking as directed on box. Make sure to save enough batter for 4 cupcakes.

 

A cake decorated with Hello Kitty.

Hello Kitty CakeMy daughter said to me "you're the best mom in the whole world!"

 

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Uses Stencils for Cake DecoratingI often see stencils on sale and would love to have them, but I can only stencil so many walls! They are great for cake decorating.

 

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Cake Decorations from Candy MoldsI recently used the Wilton Roses and Buds candy mold to make decorations for cupcakes and a cake. Use candy melts in whatever color you want, or make your own color, form the small rosebuds and chill. These can be made ahead and placed on the iced cakes later.

 

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