Cake! magazine by Australian Cake Decorating Network Februrary 2019 Cake! Magazine | Page 55

"I've been decorating as a hobby for 8 months and I feel like my cakes should look better by now. How can I quickly perfect my cake decorat- ing skills?". - Kayla Hi Kayla, Firstly, please don't be too hard on yourself - ev- eryone learns at their own pace, and usually, we are our own worst enemy when it comes to critiqu- ing our work. Ultimately though, it takes time to de- velop your skill set and to perfect your decorating techniques - it’s not something you can fast track. It really is all about 'practice makes perfect', it's just knowing where to start! I struggle with picking colours for my cakes, any tips? - Stefanie If you don’t trust your own judgement with selecting colours, rely on the ba- sics of colour theory to help you. It all starts with the colour wheel! You can use the colour wheel to understand the context of colour, discover colour harmonies and ultimately have ac- cess to the go-to formulas for those perfect colour schemes. Mastering the basics of cake decorating is 100% the key to success. It’s common for people to try and rush through the basics so they can learn more interesting cake techniques - this is ultimately their downfall.The main difference between professional and amateur cake decorators, is that the profes- sional is much more adept at basic skills which are fundamental for success in cake decorating. Take your time to REALLY learn the basics. You'll start to notice that your work will look more fine tuned and polished. Once you've aced the basics, you can dedicate more time to learning all those fancy cake decorating techniques you've been dy- ing to try! Investigate different types of colour schemes and allow the colour wheel to guide you. A three colour com- bination is a good starting point for creating a varied and interesting co- lour palette. Hot tip: ‘Split Complementary’ is the perfect colour scheme choice for beginners - it always looks good and it’s hard to muck up! ASK A QUESTION! Submit your question for Amber to answer in our next issue of Cake! Magazine at [email protected]