How beautiful to decorate a cake with fruits?
Each holiday is of great importance for those who celebrate it, and therefore all preparations are carefully planned. Often the crown of the event is a cake that is baked on their own or ordered for each specific occasion. To achieve an original and beautiful appearance, juicy and healthy filling, it is best to use fruits. To apply them correctly, you need to know the patterns of selection of decorative material and the principles of its layout on the cake.
What fruits are suitable?
Decorating a cake for any holiday is a fascinating process, but the result of such work can turn out to be different if decorative elements are used incorrectly. Fruit is the most common way to complement a confection and give it a savory taste, so you need to know exactly what can and cannot be used. The most convenient for decorating the cake will be:
- pineapple cut into cubes or rings;
- mango in any form;
- citrus fruits - tangerines with oranges;
- ripe but not overripe pears;
- apples of different colors and varieties;
- kiwi;
- peaches, nectarines and apricots.
The least desirable fruits that are used in the decoration of desserts are:
- melons and watermelons containing excess moisture;
- persimmon;
- pomegranate;
- lime;
- berries such as cranberries, blackberries, blueberries and gooseberries.
In the summer it is best to use fresh fruits and berries, which will become a real decoration of the table, but for other seasons there are other, more suitable options. If you have a freezer that can hold a large amount of food, you can freeze a lot of useful things, which is useful in cold weather for preparing certain dishes. Frozen fruits can be made in syrup and effectively placed on the cake, citrus pieces in jelly or gelatin will look beautiful.
If desired, you can combine the fruit component and the cream to achieve even greater effect and taste richness.
How to cut?
In order to properly and beautifully decorate the cake with fruits, you need to properly prepare them and cut them beautifully. First of all, it is necessary to thoroughly wash all the ingredients and remove those that are spoiled or do not have an acceptable appearance for decoration. The next step is to remove all the unnecessary parts that the fruit has: seeds, leaves, stalks. It is easiest to work with cut fruits, because large fruits are divided into two parts, and small ones, such as berries, can be left whole.
Once all the ingredients are prepared, you can proceed to one of the most important procedures - slicing fruit. The cut may vary.
- In the form of slices, which is suitable for apples and pears, which are initially divided in half, after which they are cut into thin layers along the fruit.
- In the form of quarters, for which peaches are best suited. If desired, you can cut them into slices, as long as the pulp is quite dense.
- In the form of halves, for which it is best to use apricots that open, a stone is removed from them, and they are neatly laid out on the cake.
- In the form of rings or circles, which is most suitable for bananas, which are peeled and cut into rings of the same width, which are later beautifully placed on the dessert.
- In its original form, with regard to berries that are small in size and have a special structure, which is undesirable to violate.
By choosing the right type of cut for each particular fruit, you can achieve the most beautiful results, and any dessert or birthday cake will look amazing.
Suitable cream
To make the fruit cake more interesting and original, it is best to supplement it with some kind of cream, from which you can not only make a base for berries and other fruits, but also lay out roses or write something special with a culinary syringe. There are not so many options for a cream suitable for such a task, let's consider the main ones.
- Oily - for the preparation of which you need butter, condensed milk and dye. The resulting mass is applied to a special syringe with various nozzles. From an oily cream, you can create a decor in the form of roses, decorate the cake with an original rim of a fancy shape, which will also stand out in color.
- Creamy - for which it will be necessary to purchase a jar of cream, cool them and beat, then add vanillin and gelatin, after which the cream will be ready. When everything is done, it is important to quickly place it in the syringe and begin the decorating procedure. The decoration can look like roses, a frame in the form of a single curly strip along the edge of the cake will look beautiful, you can also completely cover the dessert with such a cream, decorating it under the waves, which will look very impressive.
- Will match well chocolate and sour cream, which can cover the entire product or some of its individual parts. The rest of the cream options are less suitable for working with fruits due to their structure and compatibility with fruits. In addition to having a creamy addition, there are many more options for how you can further decorate the dessert.
Add-on options
In the event that you want to make a spectacular cake, unlike all the others, you can use jelly or gelatin and make a varnished dessert. Outwardly, it will have an original and very appetizing look, and the simplicity of execution will give everyone the opportunity to try their hand. Melted chocolate will be a very effective addition, with which the entire dessert is completely poured, and fruits are already placed on top. In addition to filling, it can also be used as a supplement, thanks to which a mesh is applied that covers the fruit.
In addition to the top of the cake, do not forget about its side surfaces. They can be lined with fruit or topped with cream, but more interesting options may be coconut flakes, grated chocolate, or crushed biscuits. Any fruit cakes go well with nuts, which can be included in the filling and placed as decorative elements on the top and side. However, this is not all, there are several other options.
Chocolate
Any of the chocolate options is suitable for decorating the cake: black, milk and even white. You can melt it in a water bath and cover part or all of the surface, as well as rub and evenly sprinkle the surface of the dessert. Another spectacular decoration option can be chocolate figurines, the preparation technology of which is simple, these can be: butterflies, leaves, roses.The cobweb that frames the cake from the sides looks very impressive.
Thanks to the variety of tastes and colors, you can create original decorations using several options at once, combining white chocolate with dark or milk chocolate. Thanks to the addition of colorants to white chocolate, a wide variety of shades can be achieved, while maintaining the authentic taste of the coating. Additional elements in decorating the cake can be nuts and marshmallows, which will organically fit into the design invented for a particular cake.
Meringue
To make the cake not only with an abundance of flavors and colors, you can complement it with meringue decor. At first glance, airy figurines have a denser texture, which makes them stand out in the dessert, and the taste is more original. The color of such elements can be either traditionally white or any other, if a dye is added to it. Making meringues with helium dye will end up with a shiny treat that is smooth in appearance and slightly sticky. When using a powdered color additive, the meringue or meringue will have a matte color and the texture will not be sticky.
If there is meringue on the outside, it makes sense to add it a little to the filling, which will add an element of piquancy to the dessert and definitely improve the taste. Since the structure of the meringue is quite dense and does not always stretch, and sometimes just crumbles, you should not get too carried away with them in decorating confectionery, otherwise eating them will not be as pleasant as it should be, due to the abundance of hard pieces.
Natural flowers
In the case of a particularly important event, such as a wedding, for example, it is worth preparing a cake that will be remembered for a long time.The most suitable and beautiful option for this would be fresh flowers that are placed on top of the cream or what the cake is decorated with. In order for the products to hold well and not fall, they are strung on skewers and the dessert is pierced with them. The procedure for decorating with flowers occurs at the very end, when the cake is covered with icing, mastic or cream.
The choice of colors in each case is unique and is selected taking into account those who order a festive treat. It is important to choose the right color and size of decorative products so that they are in harmony with the cake coating and the fruits that will be located on it. When it comes to tasting a culinary masterpiece, the flowers are extracted from it and the cake is cut for the guests.
Candies
For big sweet lovers, cake decoration is suitable not only with fruits, but also with sweets. The most common are: chocolate sticks, wafer rolls, dragees covered with multi-colored icing, chocolates of various shapes and varieties of chocolate, jelly sweets and so on. In the case of such decoration, it is worth choosing original products that will fit into the concept of dessert decoration, complement it and improve the taste range.
Such a decoration for the cake can be made independently, without resorting to the help of specialists. Thanks to the simplest things that are at home, you can transform the cake beyond recognition. A dessert decorated with sweets will be a real culmination of the holiday.
Glaze
Using icing is a convenient option for decorating a cake, as melted chocolate will look spectacular and fruit placed on it will be a great addition.In addition to the decorative function, the icing allows you to hide the shortcomings of the dessert, in the case of not entirely successful cakes that look unaesthetic, you can correct the situation by covering the entire surface of the dessert with chocolate.
It is not necessary to fill the entire surface, you can place the main part of the composition on top and allow thin streams to drain to the side parts. This option looks very impressive. The use of glaze from different types of chocolate: white and black on one product, allows you to achieve an interesting combination. So, you can make a yin-yang or day-night cake by diversifying the chocolate icing with suitable fruits.
Cake Decorating Step by Step Guide
To properly decorate a cake with your own hands at home, you need to know some rules and secrets of this process. The first step is to prepare all the ingredients for work. It is important to decide on the cream that will be on the cake, with the fruits that will be used for decoration, and with additional elements, without which it will not be possible to achieve the desired result.
If the cake is planned to be chocolate, you will need to stock up on several chocolate bars, their number depends on the size of the cake and the degree of its coating with icing. The first step is to prepare the glaze. Next is the preparation of the fruit, they must be washed and cut. If there is a desire to do something original, you can create fruit roses from apples, for which thin plates are dipped in sugar syrup and wrapped, after which they are supplemented with the next row and so on until the desired flower is obtained. The final step is to place the decoration on the cake and complement it with other fruits, which should contrast in color with the main decorative element.
When everything is ready, you can sprinkle such a cake with powdered sugar or coconut flakes, which will add zest to the appearance of the product. On a dark cake, not only bright berries and fruits look good, but light varieties are also clearly visible.
As for protein, creamy and similar creams, they are decorated with contrasting fruit additions so that the decor is clearly visible.
Single storey
If you need to decorate a one-story cake, then you can use a variety of options, these are:
- exclusively berry decoration of the product;
- a combination of strawberries and cream;
- tandem of strawberries with chocolate;
- putting fruit in jelly;
- creating roses with fruits;
- various combinations of the above options.
For each specific case, a specific design of a one-story cake can be selected, the main condition is the moderate use of one or another ingredient.
Double decker
A cake that has two tiers can be decorated exclusively with berries, for which whipped cream is ideal. The lack of mastic makes it necessary to choose the structure of the cakes correctly so that they can withstand the load, therefore, instead of a biscuit, it is better to bake something dense.
If you want to create a unique two-story dessert, then mastic is the best decor solution, thanks to which you can achieve a wide variety of solutions. The processing process starts from the lower tier, after which the upper tier is decorated and both parts are installed on top of each other. Only after the complete completion of work with mastic, you can start decorating with berries, fruits and other decorative elements.
Using different colors of mastic allows you to achieve very beautiful options for decorating a dessert.In addition, you can use chocolate, which looks no less impressive on a two-story product.
Square
For a square-shaped cake, the same ingredients can be used as in the previous cases, but the type of placement of elements may vary. Such desserts are usually richly decorated with sliced fruits, complementing them with colorful berries. For the edges, a protein cream is often used, which allows the entire structure to sit securely on top. The decorative element that is used for the sides of such products are nuts, often peanuts.
The combination of fruits of different colors allows you to achieve the best result. If necessary, you can add chocolate icing or decorate the cake with congratulatory inscriptions.
Round
Decorate in the same way as any of the above options. It looks great in chocolate icing, mastic, in any cream, the main thing is to create a suitable composition. The combination of bright colors on top and on the sides of the cake allows you to make it beautiful and appetizing without much effort in decorating the product.
Rectangular
The rectangular shape of the cake is usually ordered for large celebrations where many guests are expected. Fruit decoration in this case can be varied: from a complete picture to portioned elements that will be repeated on each piece. The original presentation, an interesting pattern laid out on the product, allow you to achieve a unique design and especially pleasant taste sensations.
How to beautifully decorate a cake with fruits, see the next video.