# Basic Sheet Cake Decorating



## cheftux (Oct 12, 2011)

Hello my pastry friends! I am currently the chef for a new dining hall that does bakery production for the entire campus. I have limited pastry experience, mostly garde manager so making my own puff dough, lava cakes, tarts, etc.

I want to start making all of my product taste and look a little bit nicer, start getting away from so many frozen items and start making doughs and batters from scratch (this part is for future questions I may post on here /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif)

First and foremost though I need a little bit of help making my sheet cakes (and brownies with frosting, etc.) look a little bit nicer than just one colour of icing over the top. I've tried Uncle Google to no avail, so I'm coming here for some help. If someone could give me either an easy step-by-step direction or pictures I would be eternally grateful.

I'm not working with any _spectacular_ talent, so nothing super fancy is needed.

:cheftux


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## joelzer0 (May 30, 2013)

What makes anything look better in our field? GARNISH!

Betting you need to keep it simple and cheap so I would suggest 

sprinkles! 

Red velvet has nice contrast and people love that.

Glitter even. It doesn't digest so it even looks pretty after the eight hours it takes to move through your body.

Chocolate chips

Chocolate curls

Nuts (beware of allergies)

Fruits 

glazes

Swirling your batters.

Frosting combs add texture. 

Mix ins. Nuts fruits 
sprinkles in a white cake batter make confetti cake yay!


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## chefross (May 5, 2010)

cheftux said:


> Hello my pastry friends! I am currently the chef for a new dining hall that does bakery production for the entire campus. I have limited pastry experience, mostly garde manager so making my own puff dough, lava cakes, tarts, etc.
> 
> I want to start making all of my product taste and look a little bit nicer, start getting away from so many frozen items and start making doughs and batters from scratch (this part is for future questions I may post on here /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif)
> 
> ...


How cool, but good luck with that.

If you're not working with "spectacular talent" and you have limited bakery pastry knowledge, it would not be cost effective nor wise to bake from scratch. The fact that the place is using pre-made products is because there is no talent that can produce consistently.

Funny............I "Googled" pastry products and sheet cakes and found more then enough information.

What in particular are you looking for?


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## cheftux (Oct 12, 2011)

Joelzer0 said:


> What makes anything look better in our field? GARNISH!
> 
> Betting you need to keep it simple and cheap so I would suggest
> 
> ...


We are currently doing everything you mentioned asside from nuts (we do have many allergies), chocolate curls and frosting combs. Thanks a bunch, all I needed were a few ideas to get me started!!


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## cheftux (Oct 12, 2011)

@Chefross,

Maybe I didn't give my team enough credit, since I asked mentioned doing things from scratch they are definitely skilled enough to do that, however something like the chocolate curls mentioned above is something they've never seen before. Maybe lack in talent is the wrong phrase, but more "set in their old ways" if that helps.

And obviously your "googling" skills are the stuff of ledgends, teach me your ways! Sorry I did a quick search at work and couldn't find anything after two searches.http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=sheet+cake+decoration


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## laurenlulu (Sep 9, 2012)

Check out cakecentral.com, there are forums, tutorials and galleries of photos for inspiration. Set aside an hour or two before you begin, you'll get hooked in.


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