Square Cake Decorating Without Nozzles

Take one look at Pinterest, and it seems like everyone is making drop-dead gorgeous cakes these days. You want on that train (or more like your kids want you on that train, for their birthdays, like NOW).

And sure, that unicorn cake is beautiful. But if you're looking for easy cake decorating ideas, there's good news: you don't necessarily need a ton of fancy tools or fancy ingredients to make a stunning cake. In fact, all you need is a spoon. Seriously.

Because while pro tools can certainly help create a smooth buttercream canvas for your cake, all you really need to finish it like a pro is a humble spoon.

Gather the Supplies

These techniques will work on any size cake—you can use them to decorate the frosting on a sheet cake or any type of single-layer cake. But I find the height helps show off design, so I suggest using a standard two-layer cake here.

Here's a list of all the supplies you need for these spoon-based easy cake decorating ideas:

Two 8-inch round cakes
5 cups buttercream (halve this recipe)
Food coloring (optional)
Rotating cake stand, which makes frosting way easier
Cake board, which makes moving the cake easy (if you don't have one, simply cut an 8-inch circle from a piece of cardboard)
Long and small offset spatulas, for frosting (you can always use a butter knife if you don't have these)
10-inch serrated knife, for trimming the cakes
OPTIONAL, for technique #4: Piping bag with 1/2-inch round tip

Apply the Base Coat

The first step of decorating a cake is covering it with a thin, even layer of frosting called the "crumb coat". This thin coat helps smooth the frosting surface and trap stray crumbs before you add the rest of the frosting. For step-by-step photos of this process, check out my more comprehensive guide, but here's the basic process:

Image may contain: Food, Dessert, Cake, Creme, Cream, and Icing

Secure your cake board to the cake stand by placing a wet paper towel, folded in half, under it. Tint the buttercream to your preferred color. If the cake layers have baked up a bit domed (most of them do), use the serrated knife to shave off the domed part, creating a completely flat surface. Place a small dollop of frosting on the cake board to anchor the cake, then place a cake on top, trimmed-side down. Add 1 1/4 cups buttercream to the center of the cake, and use a small offset spatula (or butter knife) to spread the buttercream evenly to the edges.