8 Ingenious Ideas to Decorate a Cake Without Using Frosting

Even as an experienced pastry chef and wedding cake designer, creating a cake may be difficult at times. You must mix the frosting and get it to the appropriate consistency, sometimes colour the frosting, precisely ice the cake, and then swap pastry tips and piping bags as you meticulously adorn the cake.

Sometimes you simply don’t have time for everything (and sometimes, as much as I love decorating cakes, I just dont want to do all that). If decorating a cake with icing doesn’t sound like fun or isn’t an option for any reason, don’t worry- there are lots of other methods to adorn a cake.

1 – Make it Fruity

Fresh fruit is a simple and elegant method to garnish a cake. Fruit is easy to chop up and arrange on a cake in whatever way you choose. You may even avoid chopping it altogether and serve the fruit intact!

Whole berries appear particularly appealing when piled on top of a dessert. Even some fresh lemon slices or orange segments may offer a splash of color to a cake display.

Utilize fresh fruit that corresponds to the sort of cake you produced. For example, if you created a strawberry cake, decorate the exterior with real strawberries. When decorating a cake with fresh fruit, it is ideal to do it just before serving the cake to keep it appearing fresh.

If you must decorate the cake ahead of time, use a transparent gel glaze over the top of the fruit to keep it fresh. Glaze will also give the fruit a lovely gloss, making it ideal for cake decoration!

2 – Chocolate and More Chocolate

Although this decorating method works best with a chocolate cake, you may use chocolate to design almost any cake.

My first chocolate decorating suggestion is just chocolate chips. Put a few chocolate chips on top of a cake and around it on a platter, and you’ve adorned your baking masterpiece in a mouthwatering fashion in 30 seconds (who can resist chocolate chips?).

Grated or shaved chocolate works similarly- throw a few chocolate curls over the cake and you’re done! While you may meticulously lay chocolate sticks and chips around the cake to decorate it precisely, I like the simple, random technique!

Melting chocolate and pouring it over your cake is another fantastic technique to utilize it when decorating a cake without icing. This works even better if you prepare a chocolate ganache (equal parts chocolate and heavy cream) and drizzle it over the top for a glossy, drippy, and delicious-looking chocolate topping.

When it comes to decorating a cake with chocolate, you truly can’t go wrong.

3 – Pretty, Pretty Flowers

Do you have a beautiful flower garden? Or how about a field with a few dandelions in your back yard? Go ahead and choose some to put on top of your cake. That’s all for the decoration. Flowers do not have to be confined to vases; they may also add beauty to your dessert.

Have you ever observed that the majority of wedding cakes are adorned with flowers? Why not include this traditional decorative method into your regular cake baking? Just be sure you chose flowers that are edible or non-toxic (this is critical!).

4 – Glaze…OooooOOOO

Applying a glaze to garnish your cake is quite simple and will make your cake appear delicious. Most glazes can be whipped up in minutes and poured over the top of a cake in, what, 15 seconds? You can’t top it for cake decorating! Glaze is the way to go when you’re in a hurry!

To make a simple glaze that will fit with practically any fruity cake, whisk together powdered sugar and lemon juice till the consistency you want- runny but not extremely watery.

Two basic ingredients for a quick and easy way to decorate a cake without icing!

5 – Add Some Sugar

Cakes are delicious and often created with a lot of sugar (after all, this is dessert! ), so utilizing powdered sugar as decorating is a natural choice. This decorating approach requires just a sifter and powdered confectioners sugar.

Fill the sifter halfway with powdered sugar and softly tap it over the cake to create a snow shower of sugar. Make it more fancier by cutting a piece of paper into a heart (or any other form you like), placing it on top of the cake, and then dusting powdered sugar over it.

Remove the sheet of paper to see a perfectly formed heart in the middle of your cake where the powdered sugar did not fall. Gorgeous! Simple! It’s fantastic.

Here’s a little movie that shows the technique:

6 – I Like Candy…

Grab some candy and adorn your cake sans icing in the most luxurious manner possible!

Kit Kats can be used to stand up around the exterior of the cake, Skittles can be used to create rainbows on the cake, candy corn can be used to form sunflowers, and Hershey kisses can be used to look like mountains with blue M&Ms as the water below. When you’re loaded with sweets, you can be quite creative!

I usually aim to match the outer designing of a cake to the inside, so if you intend on decorating with candy, avoid cake flavors that will clash (Whoppers and lemon cake may be a no go).

7 – Sprinkles!!

Sprinkles are visually appealing, available in almost any hue, and have no overpowering taste that will clash with your cake. Sprinkles may be as simple as shaking the jar over the top of the cake or dipping the whole sides and top of the cake in a dish of sprinkles to fully cover the cake.

Sprinkles are my favorite way to decorate cakes since they encapsulate the joyous atmosphere of the occasion. When you see sparkles, you know it’s time to celebrate!

8 – Just Skip It

Not every cake requires decoration, and some cakes are probably better left unadorned. Did you spend a long time marbling a cheesecake or slicing fruit to bake in a cake?

Why should you cover up your effort with decorations? In its simplicity, an undecorated cake may be magnificent. A lovely tray or clear glass cover may transform an unadorned cake into a work of beauty. You may sometimes simply like the simplistic approach.

I’m sure you have a lot of ideas for how to adorn your next cake now that you’re equipped with a variety of non-frosting decorating methods.

If you choose one of these ways, you will have a lovely, handcrafted cake without the work and talent necessary for icing decoration. Now it’s time to be creative!

Have you used any of these methods? Which of them is your favorite? Please let us know in the comments!