Store Cupboard Cake Decorations
The best supplies to have in your cupboard to make any cake a showstopper.
Ever since I started making cakes I’ve always loved to make them as pretty as possible whilst also looking like they taste good! Now, I’m a more is more kind of girl and often get a bit carried away with decorations, I love using fresh edible flowers, chocolate decorations and fresh fruits but you don’t have to rely on these things to make your cake special!
I first really started focusing on store cupboard cake decorations during lockdown when I was making a lot of postal cakes, I really wanted them to still look and feel like celebration cakes but obviously normal cake decorations simply would not withstand being posted, and I couldn’t get my hands on them even if I’d wanted to! This made me get creative with decorations and now I love using all of these decorations for their convenience! So, here is a rundown of all of my most used store cupboard cake decorations and where to buy them!
Dried Edible Flowers
Let’s start with one of the most common and the cheapest, rose petals, these are such an easy win, they’re pretty, they last well and they’re not too expensive (as long as you get them from the right place), I get mine from my local Middle Eastern shop, they’re way better quality than the ones you find in “fancier” shops like Waitrose or Lakeland and a fraction of the price. While we’re talking about rose petals I’d also like to give Uncle Roy’s a huge shout out, this is a company that does not get enough love, their freeze dried edible rose petals are a staple in my decorations box. Because they’re freeze dried rather than traditionally dried they look just like fresh rose petals but will keep indefinitely. They’re on the pricey side but I find I only need a few petals per cake meaning a jar lasts me forever. They also have a tonne of different colours my favourites are copper and vintage pink. Dried pressed flowers are also a great option, of course you can press them yourself but the whole point of this post is easy decorations! I buy my pressed edible flowers from Nurtured in Norfolk.
Crispy Pearls
These are basically what you get in a muller corner yoghurt. They’re little biscuit balls covered in chocolate, a few different brands do them, I use Mona Lisa Crispearls in both white and dark. I basically use these instead of traditional sprinkles, they don’t break your teeth and they add a nice crunch. I also love to add a bit of lustre dust to make them shiny and achieve different colours depending on the cake I’m using them on. The best way to add lustre to these is either by using lustre spray like this PME one or by adding a teeny tiny bit of oil to the pearls, I mean a really tiny bit! I use a tiny bit of grease spray, just enough to coat them in the thinnest layer possible, this helps the lustre to stick and stops them from looking a bit patchy and weird.
They come in quite a big packet so it might take a while to get through them if you’re only using them to decorate but I also love to use these inside layer cakes to add a bit of crunch, they’re perfect for this because the chocolate on the outside protects the biscuit on the inside meaning they don’t get soggy.
Lustre Dust
This brings me onto lustre dust. This is perfect for adding a bit of sparkle if you don’t want to drop the big bucks on a pack of gold leaf, this can be brushed onto chocolate or fruits, I find this works best with a soft make up brush (obviously one that hasn’t touched my face). It also works well mixed with vodka and used like a paint, you can splatter it or add brush strokes to your cake, just make sure the icing is fully set before brushing!
Gold/Silver Leaf
This is for the fancy people among you, yes it’s extravagant but there really isn’t anything more special than a tiny bit of gold leaf, it adds such lovely sparkle, I especially like using it on cakes that aren’t naturally pretty colours like coffee or caramel cakes, such boring, brown cakes often need a bit of help to really shine ✨. Even though it’s expensive I really think it’s worth it, I only tend to use a tiny bit so a booklet of gold leaf lasts me FOREVER. I find the best way to pick it up is with the point of a sharp knife, it’s best if the knife is very slightly sticky, I just dip my knife in buttercream then wipe it, this helps the gold leaf to stick.
Nuts
This one is fairly obvious but nuts are always a nice decoration, especially if the colours are in contrast to the icing. Special shout out to pistachios, a pop of green always looks good, I like to use slivered pistachios that I get from my local Middle Eastern supermarket, these are pretty expensive so I only ever use them as a decoration, if i’m using pistachios as an ingredient I always get the cheaper kind. If you can’t get hold of slivered pistachios but have regular pistachios in your cupboard I have a little tutorial for you!
Bring a pan of water to the boil.
Boil the pistachios for 1 minute and then strain and run under cold water.
Dry the pistachios between two bits of kitchen roll, giving them a good rub, the skins should start to peel away.
Peel off the remaining skins, this will probably take a while…
And now you’re left with beautiful, vibrant green pistachios perfect for decorating!
Freeze Dried Fruit
Freeze dried fruit is absolutely perfect for adding a pop of colour to cakes, my favourites are slices of freeze dried strawberry and freeze dried raspberry chunks!
Fondant/Marzipan
Now we’re keeping things simple here, of course if you’re a ninja with fondant or sugar paste you can completely transform a cake but don’t underestimate to power of some simple daisies or my absolute favourite, marzipan bees! The bees are so cute and easy, I first saw Rosalind Miller Cakes adding golden bees to their wedding cakes and I think they add such a nice touch. I especially like to use them on honey cakes, to make them you simply press the marzipan into the mould and then pop out and dust with gold lustre, I bought my mould years ago and can’t find the exact one but I’ve linked a similar one here.
Jam Rivers
Now although jam isn’t technically a store cupboard item I’m going to include it here, I love adding a jam or caramel river, pond or waterfall to my cakes, you can use jam, curd, caramel, honey, basically whatever is inside the cake. It adds colour, texture depth and MORE JAM which is always a plus, here are a few examples of jam rivers on my cakes but also Elisa of Salted Rye is the queen of jam rivers so I’ve included one of her beautiful cakes.
I think that concludes all of my store cupboard cake decorations! There are so many amazing options out there. And if you can’t wait to make your own jam pond or caramel waterfall here are a few recipes that might interest you:
I loved reading about your store cupboard decorations. You decorated these cakes beautifully! I've never tried using gold leaf, but I enjoy decorating with crispy pearls. Excited for your next post!
Thank you for this - it’s been a while since I made a layer cake but will bookmark these ideas for my next one!