The Genius Spoon Trick For Beautiful Bakery-Worthy Cakes

Beyond convenience, one reason people may opt to purchase a cake rather than make one themselves is the skill often involved in cake decorating. While some decorating techniques aren't particularly complex — a generous sprinkling of Oreo crumbles, for example, is one of our favorite ways to decorate a sheet cake — others may require hours of practice to perfect. Not to mention, many techniques require specialized baking tools like piping bags and tips. So, we always appreciate a beginner-friendly cake-decorating hack that doesn't require dedicated gadgets or too much time. In this case, all you need is some white chocolate melting wafers and plastic spoons.

After melting the chocolate (using indirect heat to reduce the risk of burning) and letting it cool for around 10 minutes, you can start dipping your spoons. You can either dip just the back of the spoon (making sure to clean the edges of excess chocolate) or dip the entire spoon and use your finger to remove the chocolate from the underside. Whichever method you choose, you'll then place each spoon on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, chocolate-covered side facing up. Repeat until you've used all the chocolate. Once all your spoons are prepared, refrigerate or freeze them for 10 to 15 minutes until the chocolate solidifies. At that point, slide the chocolate off the spoons — you've now created chocolate petals you can arrange into flowers. You can also add your favorite color of sugar pearls in the center of your flowers to enhance the illusion.

If you're having trouble removing the chocolate from the spoon, it may be too warm or too cold. If the chocolate isn't popping off easily and you find your finger is kind of "smudging" it as you attempt to slide it off, return it to the fridge. If it's too brittle or otherwise difficult to remove, you may need to leave the spoons on the counter for a few minutes to let them soften slightly. If your chocolate seems too delicate altogether, consider dipping the spoons again to create a second layer. The thicker chocolate should be easier to work with.

To turn your petals into flowers, either stick them directly into your frosted cake or cupcake, arranging them as you go, or build your flowers separately on a sheet of parchment paper in a small bowl (to prop the petals up), using additional melted white chocolate as you go to hold everything together. In either case, you may want to make some smaller petals for the inside of your flowers. To do this, simply dip half of the back of your spoon into the melted chocolate, rather than the entire thing.

If you're working with a particular color palette, feel free to use colored candy melts instead of white chocolate or add some food coloring to the white chocolate. Oil-based or powdered dyes will work best. Add powdered dyes during the melting process, but save oil-based dyes for after the chocolate is melted. You can also mix any color of melted chocolate into melted white chocolate to create a swirl effect for your petals.