Online Class: Cake Decorating 101

no certificate
with CEU Certificate*
-
18Lessons
-
30Exams &
Assignments -
6,693Students
have taken this course -
14Hours
average time -
1.4CEUs
Course Description
Why do you want to learn to make great cakes?
- An upcoming wedding (you've seen what a purchased wedding cake can cost)
- Did you agree to be a "classroom mother" and want to make special cakes for the holidays or specific units?
- Is there a baker in the family you're dying to out-do?
- Are you looking for the appeal offered by more traditional domestic skills?
- Are you hoping to enter a local or regional baking competition?
- Are you thinking of baking to earn some extra dough?
- Is your organization looking for new fundraising opportunities like an upper scale cake walk, perhaps?
These are only a few of the reasons that may have attracted you to this course. However, whatever your motives may be, here are the skills you can look forward to gaining in the following lessons:
- Equipment, utensils, tools and preparations
- The basics of cake-baking: decorating techniques, planning and designing your cake, lining your tines, and more
- Working with Marzipan, Icing, Glaze and Filling Choices
- Decorating your cake with butter cream icing
- Decorating your cake with royal icing
- How to make and use a piping bag
- Decorating with Sugar Flowers (and Other Gum Paste Creations)
- Making and Decorating Wedding Cakes
- Creating decorative children's cakes
- Holiday and celebration cakes
- Theme Cakes
- Beloved Cupcakes
- And More Cake and frosting recipes to express your creativity
With practice and patience, cake decorating can be learned. This exclusive course starts you out with the basics from designing your work space, cake baking, decorating tools, prepping a cake for decorating and many tips of the trade to help you create delectable cakes, icings and fillings. You'll learn the importance of texture and the temperament of icings, how to avoid cake catastrophes, ways to fix them and still keep your cake looking perfect.
Whether you're looking to start a cake decorating business or just make cakes for family and friends, Cake Decorating 101 will teach you all you need to know to turn out professionally decorated cakes. You'll develop techniques practiced by professional cake decorators such as applying buttercream icing, how to make a rose, level a cake, pour ganache and master a piping bag.
From breath taking designs to whimsy, all the latest cake decorating trends are disclosed, with instructions and ideas about how to bake and decorate the darlings of the cake world, finger licking cupcakes.
Course Motivation
- Mixers - Different recipes will call for different kinds of mixers. There are large, stand-up heavy-duty mixers (ideal for recipes that require extensive mixing times), or smaller, portable hand-held electric mixers (ideal for quick mixing and/or smaller quantities.)
- Mixing bowls - We recommend that you invest in a graduated set of stainless steel bowls. Not only can they be heated and cooled, they also don't break and can be quickly and easily cleaned up. An added bonus? You can use the extra-large variety for sifting dry ingredients. Other uses? As a double boiler.
- Double boilers - If you can find one (and you have the money to spare), double boilers are a necessity. However, you can create your own makeshift version easily, and without busting your budget. Just set a large stainless steel bowl over a large pot of boiling water (paying attention to any instructions as to whether you should allow the pan to touch water or not.) These are great, because you'll be using gentle, indirect heat to melt or cook a given ingredient (instead of burning it.) Uses: for melting chocolate, heating whipped cream for sauces and fillings, or heating eggs for a Genoise cake.
- Pastry brushes - Opt for natural bristles, versus synthetic ones. They're more flexible and maneuverable, and they hold more liquid (making brushing syrups less frustrating.) Uses: greasing pans, brushing syrup onto layer cakes.
- Wax and parchment paper
- 8-inch, 9-inch, and 10-inch round cake pans
- Spring-form cake pans
- Jellyroll pans
- Cooling racks
- A candy thermometer
- Cake boards - They give your cake a more professional appearance and can be found in most baking supply stores. Remember to choose boards that are at least an inch larger than your cake pans.
- Long serrated knife (at least 12 to 14 inches long, 1 inch wide and 1/8 inch thick) - This is needed to help split cakes into layers, to decorate the tops of frosted cakes, as well as to help lift cakes and other deserts off of your revolving cake stand.
- Revolving cake stand - This single tool will significantly simplify the decoration stage. You can find plastic or metal models. Opt for one with a heavy-based stand, for balance and support, and a removable turntable disk. (Substitutions: plastic, metal, wooden, or marble Lazy Susans)
- Spatulas (straight and angled) - Don't confuse these with rubber scrapers. This type more resembles a butter knife than a spatula. The angled variety is great for spreading and applying frosting.
- Rubber scrapers - These are good for getting all of your mixes from your pots, pans, and bowls.
- Drywall/Construction spatulas - You'll find these at a hardware store, not a baking supply chain. Created for drywall and cement, they also work well for frosting cakes and making fancy chocolate decorations on marble slabs.
- Plastic bottles - These are like the kind restaurants use for ketchup, mustard, and barbecue sauce. You can use them to apply syrup, thinned jellies, and sauces.
- Pastry triangle comb - it's about 3" in size with troweled teeth of various sizes and depths around the perimeter. Ideal for a clean, perfect, decorative flair for your icing.
- Pastry bag and tips - These are for piping decorative designs and shapes, such as stars, swirls, tubes, rosettes, and other decorations onto your cake.
- Sieves (small, medium, and large) - These are for sifting, mixing and straining mixtures.
- Zester
- Grater
- Cake boxes
- Various cake and candy molds
- What is the theme of this cake? Is it a wedding cake? A birthday cake? A kid's cake?
- What flavors will you use? What colors?
- What kind of finish are you looking for (buttercream vs. fondant)?
- How many people will the cake need to feed?
- Are there any dietary restrictions that you need to keep in mind (for instance, will you need to substitute Splenda , for sugar, or omit nuts from the recipe)?
Only after you've done all of these things will you be ready to get started baking that cake!
- Completely Online
- Self-Paced
- Printable Lessons
- Full HD Video
- 6 Months to Complete
- 24/7 Availability
- Start Anytime
- PC & Mac Compatible
- Android & iOS Friendly
- Accredited CEUs

Course Lessons
Lesson 1: Getting Started
Lesson 1 Video
Lesson discussions: Your interest in Cake Decorating; Reasons for Taking this Course
Complete Assignment: An Introduction
Complete: Lesson 1 Assignment: Gathering Basic Supplies to begin Baking a Cake
Lesson 2 : Cake Decorating Tools and Work Space
Lesson 2 Video
Complete: Lesson 2 Assignment: Cake Decorating tools and Creating your Cake Decorating Workspace
Assessment: Lesson 2 : Cake Decorating Tools and Work Space
Lesson 3 : Baking Your First Cake
Lesson 3 Video
Complete: Lesson 3 Assignment: Make Yourself Some Quick Reference Cards
Assessment: Lesson 3 : Planning and Designing Your Cake
Lesson 4: The 411 on Cake Baking Basics
Lesson 4 Video
Lesson discussions: The design or the taste?
Complete: Lesson 4 Assignment: Try Baking and Decorating a Cake
Lesson 5: Basic Cake Decorating Recipes
Lesson 5 Video
Complete: Lesson 5 Assignment: Prepare a 2 Layer Box Cake
Assessment: Lesson 5 : Planning and Designing
Lesson 6 : Icing, Glaze, and Filling Choices
Lesson 6 Video
Complete: Lesson 6 Assignment: Practice Working with Fondant
Assessment: Lesson 6 : Icing, Glaze and Filling Choices
Lesson 7: Decorating With Buttercream Icing
Lesson 7 Video
Complete: Lesson 7 Assignment: Working with ButterCream Icing
Lesson 8: Decorating With Royal Icing
Lesson 8 Video
Complete: Lesson 8 Assignment: Working with Royal Icing
Lesson 9: The Piping Bag
Lesson 9 Video
Complete: Lesson 9 Assignment: Practicing Making a Pastry Bag
Assessment: Lesson 9: The Scary Piping Bag
Lesson 10: Decorating With Sugar Flowers (And Other Gum Paste Creations)
Lesson 10 Video
Complete: Lesson 10 Assignment: Working with Flowers
Lesson 11 : Fruits, Flowers, Fun, and Fancy
Lesson 11 Video
Complete: Lesson 11 Assignment: Practice Making Leafs
Assessment: Lesson 11 : Fruits, Flowers, Fun and Fancy
Lesson 12 : Wedding Cakes
Lesson 12 Video
Complete: Lesson 12 Assignment: Cake Decorating Expertise
Assessment: Lesson 12 : Wedding Cakes
Lesson 13: Decorative Children's Cakes
Lesson 13 Video
Lesson discussions: For your First Cake...
Complete: Lesson 13 Assignment: Making Children's Cakes
Lesson 14: Holiday and Celebration Cakes
Lesson 14 Video
Lesson discussions: Your Cake Decorating Future
Complete: Lesson 14 Assignment: Decorating a Holiday Cake
Lesson 15: Cool Theme Cakes
Lesson 15 Video
Complete: Lesson 15 Assignment: Making Memories
Assessment: Lesson 15 : Cool Theme Cakes
Lesson 16 : Beloved Cupcakes
Lesson 16 Video
Complete: Lesson 16 Assignment: Make Some Cupcakes
Assessment: Lesson 16 : Beloved Cupcakes
Lesson 17: Express Your Creativity
Lesson 17 Video
Complete: Lesson 17 Assignment: Ganache Decorations
Complete Assignment: New Things
Assessment: Lesson 17 : Express Your Creativity
Lesson 18: Some More Cake and Frosting Recipes
Lesson 18 Video
Lesson discussions: End of Course Poll; Program Evaluation Follow-up Survey (End of Course); Course Comments
Complete: Final Assignment
Learning Outcomes
- Describe the tools and workspace needed to decorate a cake.
- Describe how to plan and design a cake.
- Summarize the best cake decorating recipes.
- Describe icing, glazing and filling techniques.
- Demonstrate decorating cakes with butter cream icing.
- Demonstrate decorating cakes with royal icing.
- Demonstrate creating cake decorations using a piping bag.
- Summarize methods used to decorate cakes with gum paste.
- Describe procedures involved in decorating wedding cakes, children's cakes, holiday and celebration cakes.
- Demonstrate mastery of lesson content at levels of 70% or higher.
Additional Course Information

- Document Your Lifelong Learning Achievements
- Earn an Official Certificate Documenting Course Hours and CEUs
- Verify Your Certificate with a Unique Serial Number Online
- View and Share Your Certificate Online or Download/Print as PDF
- Display Your Certificate on Your Resume and Promote Your Achievements Using Social Media

Choose Your Subscription Plan
No Certificate / No CEUs
This course only
Includes certificate | X |
Includes CEUs | X |
Self-paced |
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Instructor support |
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Time to complete | 6 months |
No. of courses | 1 course |
Certificate & CEUs
This course only
Includes certificate |
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Includes CEUs |
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Self-paced |
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Instructor support |
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Time to complete | 6 months |
No. of courses | 1 course |
Certificates & CEUs
Includes all 600+ courses
Includes certificate |
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Includes CEUs |
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Self-paced |
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Instructor support |
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Time to complete | 12 Months |
No. of courses | 600+ |
Certificates & CEUs
Includes all 600+ courses
Includes certificate |
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Includes CEUs |
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Self-paced |
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Instructor support |
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Time to complete | 24 Months |
No. of courses | 600+ |
Student Testimonials
- "This was an excellent class. I learned quite a bit--especially in the last class. I can't really think of anything that would improve it." -- Susan D.
- "This course was excellent, really helped build my confidence to be able to go forward with skills I learnt, Nancy was so knowledgeable and encouraging." -- Fiona B.
- "I had a great time. I loved this course and will be taking others, I really enjoyed the instructor." -- Connie C.
- "This course was very helpful and was lots of fun." -- Melanie S.
- "She was super nice and helpful." -- Gina B.
- "I think the instructor was great....she answered my questions and has been patient in waiting for the pictures. I found the reading material helpful as well as the videos." -- Sandra R.
- "You're a great instructor! :)" -- Sheri S.
- "I found all parts of the course very helpful, as it was easy to understand more about icing, fondants...storage of cakes...also the links were a great guideline in finding what I need to." -- Sheri S.
- "This whole course was very helpful to me, I really did enjoy the whole course, I learned so much, taking this class and I do plan on enrolling in another one just as soon as I complete this course." -- Vanessa J.
- "Having my instructor on hand at all times to help was great. Great fun great instructor, wish I'd done it earlier." -- Nikki W.
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