Whether you’re just starting out on your cake-making journey or you’ve been decorating cakes for years, you’ve probably wondered at some point: how can I make my cakes look more professional and really stand out from the crowd?
After more than 30 years in the cake industry, I can honestly say that it isn’t always the most complicated cake that gets noticed. Often, it’s the little details – a beautifully smooth finish, clean edges, thoughtful presentation and those finishing touches that make a cake look polished and professional.
Over the years, I’ve learnt plenty about what makes a cake go from looking good to looking really special, so I’m sharing some of my favourite tips to help your cakes stand out and attract the attention they deserve.
Start With a Professional Cake Finish
Smooth sides, clean edges and an even finish are some of the quickest ways to make a homemade cake look more professional.
You might not think this but imagine having two almost identical cakes besides each other. One you can see fingerprints on or has some dents and the other is perfectly smooth with no lumps and bumps. It’s kind of similar to when you go shopping and there are two loaves of bread on the shelf. One is a bit squashed and doesn’t look that appealing, the other one looks perfect. Which one would you buy?
So I guess what I am trying to say is, when you ice your cake make sure you smooth out any fingerprints or lumps and bumps. This will certainly make a difference when people are looking at your cakes.
Clean sides and sharp edges are one of the quickest ways to make a cake look professional rather than homemade. To achieve that level of finish, I use a combination of tools and technique rather than relying on one thing alone.
The Sharp Edge Smoother helps get the cake sides beautifully smooth, while acrylic plates are used during the covering process to support the fondant and create clean, crisp edges at the top of the cake. Over the years, I’ve pulled together everything I’ve learned about sharp cake edges, including tips, techniques, and videos, into one place for anyone wanting to improve their finishing.
Don’t Forget Your Cake Board
Your cake board isn’t just something your cake sits on – think of it as an extension of your design.
This is something that I have done from the very beginning (well apart from the one on the left below) It took me ages to find a cake where I hadn’t iced the board. Icing the cake board also finishes the cake. You can include the board in the design for example it could be iced to look like grass, water or a floorboard.
You can see below with the two cakes what I mean by finishing the cake.
Your imagination can really go wild with ideas. Sometimes you may not have enough room on your cake for models/characters so this is where having an iced board will come in handy as you can place them on there.
Wood or floorboard is a great effect, really easy to create and can be done in a few colours too.
Water or a grass board is excellent if you don’t have enough room on your cake for the sugar models. Your cake can look too busy if it was covered with the characters.
Painting the board can really make an impact on your cake especially if there is anything on the cake the same colour. As you can see on the Roller skate cake, the name is in the rainbow colours.
Who doesn’t love the Minions, here we have created the floor that you can see in the very first Minion film. There are many texture and embossing sheets that will help you create these effects.
Develop Your Own Cake Decorating Style and Try Not to Copy!
Now I’m not saying that YOU have to be different but what I am saying is that make your STYLE different from the rest. Be unique, make your cakes look different from everyone else’s. There are so many cake makers now and most will be offering the same designs, so this is where you can be different.
But if you want to make a name for yourself and get people to sit up and take notice, then you gotta push yourself to think outside the box and INVENT or REINVENT something to create a style that is distinctly YOU.
When it comes to designing your cakes, try not to copy other cake makers designs but use your own creativity, your customer will be very grateful for this. I am often sent pictures of cakes from clients and I always say that ‘I can do something similar to that design’ My reason for saying SIMILAR is that the picture they sent me wasn’t my design and how I decorate a cake will be different from the original designer.
For example: I was asked to recreate the cake on the left which is one of Peggy Porschen stunning Wedding cakes. The one on the right is the one I recreated. As you can see they are different (mine did also have fresh flowers on too)
Invest in the Right Cake Decorating Tools – Not Every Tool!
We all know that setting up a cake business can be expensive. Not only do you have cake tins to purchase you will also need the cake decorating tools. When I first started, some of my cake tins were second hand which I still have to this day.
You can often find tools that can be used for cake decorating in DIY stores or craft shops that aren’t sold as cake tools
For example – Paint palettes these are perfect for making flowers and shaping flower petals.
Plastic scrubbing brush – great for grass, sand and snow texture.
There’s no need to buy every cake tool you see as the chances are you’ll not use them. You need to look at the tool and say to yourself ‘do I really need it and would I use it.’ If the answer is no, PUT IT BACK ON THE SHELF!
Some of the most useful tools aren’t even sold specifically for cake decorating. I’ve found plenty of things in craft and DIY shops over the years that work brilliantly – paint palettes can be perfect for shaping flower petals, while something as simple as a plastic scrubbing brush can create fantastic grass, sand and snow textures.
The key is to invest in tools that genuinely make your life easier, help you achieve a more professional finish or give you the freedom to be more creative.
If you’re wondering which tools are genuinely worth having, take a look at my Top Cake Decorating Tools guide, where I share some of the tools I find most useful.
You can also browse my range of cake decorating tools if you’re looking for specialist tools I personally use and recommend like my award winning Cake Edge Smoother.
Want to Learn How to Get More From Your Cake Tools?
Of course, having the right tools is only half the story – knowing how to use them can make all the difference!
If you’d like to develop your skills, you can explore my cake decorating video tutorials for practical demonstrations and step-by-step help, or join my free cake making community to ask questions, share ideas and connect with other cake makers.
And if you’re looking for more ongoing support with both your cake decorating skills and growing your cake business, take a look inside The Wedding Cake Lounge, where I share tutorials, expert guidance, live support and lots more.
Professional Cake Presentation Makes a Huge Difference
To me this again is something that I take pride in. Now don’t get me wrong I’m not saying that others don’t but to me the end result is what your potential client will see.
Finish Your Cake Board
Ribbon your board – this may not seem that important but can make a huge difference. You can tie the colour of the ribbon with the design on the cake- something that will enhance or bring out the colours on the cake. You can see in the image below I used a lilac colour which was also part of the cake design.
Take Better Photos of Your Cakes
You want to get these right as in, if you post a pic on your website or social media and it’s blurry , this won’t get much attention. Whereas if you have a good quality and well presented picture of your cake it will stand out from the crowd!
Gone are the days where we just plonk the cake on the table and hope for the best, taking pictures of your cakes is something of an art within itself.
Choose a Simple Backdrop
Get a backdrop – try not to get anything too fussy as this will distract the eye from the cake
There are many that you can buy and to start with you’ll only need the one as you can use the reverse side too!
You can also use wallpaper especially on the smaller cakes. Again try to keep it quite plain as you want to show off your cake not the wallpaper, a brick wall is a great backing.
Some examples:
TOP TIP : Go and get wallpaper samples from your local DIY store they’re free!
Try different backings with your cake as what you think will look great doesn’t always show off your cake.
You can see in the below picture what I mean. I really thought that the black one would be best but as you can see the White one showed it off more, so that’s the one I used.
You can get backdrops from The Cake Decorating Company, Cake Stuff or Vanilla Valley
Keep Developing Your Cake Decorating Skills
Making your cakes look more professional doesn’t mean you need to master every technique overnight or buy every cake tool you can find!
Concentrate on getting the basics right – beautiful finishes, thoughtful presentation and attention to detail – while continuing to develop your own style. It’s often those little things that make the biggest difference and help your cakes become instantly recognisable as your work.
And remember, we’re all still learning. Even after all my years in the cake industry, there’s always something new to discover!
If you’d like to keep learning with me, there are lots of ways you can take your cake-making skills further:
Join The Wedding Cake Lounge – develop your cake decorating skills, learn from cake and business experts, and get ongoing support as you grow your confidence and your cake business.
Explore My Cake Tutorials – browse my range of tutorials and step-by-step guides covering everything from professional finishes and sharp edges to structured cakes and decorating techniques.
Join My Free Cake-Making Community – connect with fellow cake makers, share ideas, ask questions and enjoy free tips and resources.
Whichever stage of your cake-making journey you’re at, there’s always something new to learn – and I’d love to be part of your journey!
