Are you new to cake decorating and want to improve your craft? Do you feel intimidated by the different cakes you see on social media and competition shows? Are you thinking of experimenting with a new design but don’t know where to start? Well, this post is for you!
I have a list of 10 easy yet stunning cake design ideas for beginners that are sure to impress your friends and family! Some of these cake designs take no time at all!
To get started, check out our Cake Decorating for Beginners post for the tools you need as a new cake decorator. Also, our YouTube video below teaches you to properly assemble and cover a cake in smooth buttercream.
Naked Cake
I think naked cakes are by far the easiest cakes, and there’s something so elegant about them. They are actually a very popular wedding cake design, with the addition of fresh or fake flowers, and a beautiful cake topper.
Naked cakes are basically your crumb-coated cake, but a lot more “clean”. It’s best to trim the cake board edge so it doesn’t peek out of the bottom of your cake.
With naked cakes, you can add a custom cake topper (like an acrylic topper, or one made of cardstock), fresh or fake flowers, a chocolate drip, or edible gold leaf – the possibilities are endless! It’s a great simple buttercream cake design.
Watch us make this naked cake on Instagram!
Rustic Cake
A rustic cake can be interpreted in many ways, but the type of rustic cake design to which I’m referring is covered in buttercream and decorated with an offset spatula or palette knife going all around it.
This has been a popular smash cake design for me lately. It’s also a versatile cake design since it’s so clean and simple.
We made this simple and beautiful rustic cake with a gold topper and fake eucalyptus for a cake smash session!
You can make your own cake toppers using a Cricut Cutting Machine and paper cardstock, but using this machine needs a whole different type of expertise!
Ombre Cake
Ombre cakes are so mesmerizing in the way the shades blend into each other so seamlessly! And you don’t need multiple bowls with different amounts of food colouring added to your buttercream frosting!
If you’re starting with the darkest shade, use that shade at the bottom of your cake (whether you’re piping some buttercream around the cake, or spreading the buttercream with a large offset spatula).
You want to make sure you have just enough of that shade to almost cover your cake entirely because you’re going to continue using that original shade and gradually make it lighter in colour with white buttercream.
Keep adding white buttercream to lighten the buttercream colour, and add the lightest shade at the top (or you can just add white buttercream at the top).
But if you’re starting with the lightest shade, continue to add food colouring little by little 🙂
You can keep your buttercream smooth, or make it look more rustic like the last design! This cake design is great for birthday cakes!
We made this gorgeous yellow ombre cake for an 80th birthday! We added an “80” topper, some fresh roses, and eucalyptus to make this elegant cake!
Rosette Cake
Rosette cakes might take a little more practice since you want your rosettes to look uniform without the cake showing underneath.
This buttercream cake decoration stands so beautifully on its own and has been a popular cake design for mother’s day and birthday cakes for moms among my clients.
Add some white, gold, or silver pearl sprinkles/dragees to add even more chic decor to this cake design.
We made this simple Beauty and the Beast cake with yellow rosettes and a fondant rose on top. All you need is a piping bag and a closed star tip to create these rosettes all around the cake!
A good tip to prevent the cake from showing behind the rosettes is to lightly mask the cake with the same colour of buttercream as the rosettes. Just like we did with the Beauty and the Beast cake!
Edible Image Cake
Edible images are such an easy decoration for cakes! Just print and apply it to the cake. You can use edible images on both buttercream and fondant cakes.
Some clients like to keep it simple and have an edible image flat over the top of the cake, with some buttercream piping and sprinkles. Like this cake below.
Another option is to cut out smaller images, apply them to fondant and let them dry. Then, stick a toothpick or wooden skewer to the back of the fondant – after that dries you can stick them upright onto the cake.
To help the fondant dry faster, mix a little bit of CMC powder into the fondant. This saves you some time and the fondant dries within hours instead of days!
This method helps keep costs low for your clients, instead of paying for a fondant or gum paste figure that you have to make by hand.
Take a look at how we made edible image cake toppers for an LOL Surprise birthday cake!
Painted Buttercream Cake
Using a palette knife or an offset spatula to apply brush-like strokes of buttercream is a great technique that is guaranteed to impress! Also, it’ll really make you feel like an artist – a cake artist, to be exact!
We created this pretty baptism cake using this painted buttercream method! We used a combination of white and pink buttercream.
To create this look, add a little bit of buttercream to the tip of the spatula and gently spread it onto the cake, and repeat. A little goes a long way, so don’t get carried away with the design. Keep looking at the cake as a whole as you decorate so you get a better idea of how it looks 🙂
If you’re not comfortable with this technique, I would definitely practice it first. Practice with different levels of pressure applying buttercream with the palette knife, and also practice with the amount of buttercream you use.
The best part is: if you make a mistake, just apply more buttercream! “Mistakes” are more artistic and less noticeable with this design.
Chocolate Drip Cakes
Drip cakes may also take some practice, but I would look at our complete guide to drip cakes for some great tips that can help!
This cake design is so versatile! You can make a cake with a chocolate drip alone, add rosettes, add fresh or gum paste flowers, add gold leaf, add sprinkles, or add a combination of any of these decorations! There’s something so impressive and satisfying about seeing a chocolate drip.
This Instagram reel shows you how we made this white chocolate pink drip for a birthday cake!
Marble Buttercream Cake
There are a couple of different techniques to make a marble buttercream cake! And they’re both so easy! My personal favourite is to start with a base colour of buttercream frosting, then sporadically add spots of another. Lightly blend and smooth with a cake scraper and voila!
Just like this 60th birthday cake we made with a pink marble buttercream, a white chocolate drip, a cake topper, french macarons, and fresh roses!
Another method combines different colours of buttercream in a bowl. Marble together and spread onto a sheet of acetate. Wrap around the cake, chill then unwrap. Watch how @sweetjosiebakes uses this cake-decorating technique!
Classic Sprinkled Cake
This may be the easiest cake design, as there are so many medleys of sprinkles available to purchase these days! They can really elevate the look of a cake.
You can choose to keep a cake simple, pipe some rosettes on top, and top it with sprinkles. Or make a chocolate drip and sprinkle it all over the top of the cake. Or add sprinkles around the bottom of the cake.
Plus, there are new types of sprinkles: like dragees, rods, sequins, and different shapes! Check out Sweetapolita, she has the best sprinkle medleys!
An easy example of a cake decorated with sprinkles is this donut and sprinkles cake! We added sprinkles as a trim around the bottom of the cake 🙂
Here’s a quick tip: Put the whole cake in a larger cake pan for easy sprinkle clean up – like we did in another donut and sprinkles cake!
Chocolate Explosion Drip Cake
This has to be the most decadent cake design yet! The cake itself can be any flavour, but to make a “chocolate explosion”, all you really need is all of your favourite chocolate!
Make a chocolate drip (check out our complete guide to drip cakes for recipes!), apply the chocolate drip to the cake with a pastry bag or spoon, and add ALLLLLLLLLL the chocolate you want! Yes, please!
We made this chocolate explosion cake for a special birthday girl and added her favourite chocolates on top!
It was a chocolate hazelnut cake using our chocolate cake recipe and chocolate drip recipe! Soooooo yummy!
SO WHICH CAKE DESIGN WILL YOU MAKE FIRST??
We’ve outlined a bunch of easy cake designs and included tips for success! With the right tools and tips, anyone can make any of these cakes (even if it takes a little practice!). We all have to start somewhere!
You can even combine some ideas, like making an edible image cake with a chocolate drip. Or making a sprinkle cake with a chocolate explosion! I hope this post helped bring out your creativity 🙂
Let us know which one you make first! We’d love to hear about it and see pictures!
Happy cake decorating!
Mich
Wow! These are terrific!
Thank you so much!! 🙂
I have always wanted to learn creative cake baking! Appeals to my artistic side! You are an artist for sure.
Baking is such a great creative outlet! 🙂 And thank you, that’s so sweet 🙂
Thanks
Java Bean: “Mmmmm, cake!”
Charlee: “Yes, aren’t they pretty?”
Java Bean: “I just want to eat them!”
Haha awwww I love this! 🙂