Top Tips for Tidy Cakes & Beautiful Presentation

Congratulations!  You can make one killer cake.  It tastes amazing, but unfortunately, it looks just a bit messy.  Does this sound familiar?  Making a delicious cake is only half the battle.  Now let’s talk about how to make neat and tidy cakes with beautiful presentation.

 

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This post was originally published on January 21, 2021.  It was republished on July 10, 2025 with updates.

 

Before You Can Make a Tidy Cake…

 

But before we dive in, let’s make sure we’re all on the same page.  Making cakes that are as beautiful as they are tasty means having the right cake tools and making sure you’re not sabotaging yourself. 

If you still need help on the “baking delicious cakes” part, make sure to check out my free cake baking course (no sign up or subscription required).  You can also check out the tips in this post because there’s no reason you can’t work on your cake presentation at the same time.  Heck, you’ll find some of the same tips pop up time and time again because they are just so important.

 

 

1. Have a Plan

 

This bit of advice is a pretty important one, as far as I’m concerned.  Hastily decorating a cake with a slap dash approach is almost guaranteed to produce a mess.  Sometimes I like to sketch my cake ideas, but even just a strong mental image can help.

Beyond sketching, I suggest having at least one back up idea in case one of your decorating elements ends up not working out.  For example, the sugar sheet did not wrap all the way around this mini cake, so I added a cascade of frosting in the gap.  

 

Beyond sketching, I suggest having at least one back up idea in case one of your decorating elements ends up not working out. Poop happens, if ya know what I mean and even a vague back up plan can be handy.  The first time you run into this issue, you’ll be glad you were prepared.

 

2. Cover Your Cake Board

 

No judgement, I promise, but one of my biggest cake pet peeves is a naked, ugly cardboard round sticking out from under a beautiful cake.  They totally take away from the beauty of your bake, plus some of them aren’t grease proof and end up looking stained and nasty.  Ick.

But this is one of the easiest ways to improve your cake presentation.  Some cakers like to cover their boards in fondant or special foil, but I don’t care for those options myself.  Instead, grab some supplies from the dollar store and create your own custom cake boards in minutes. Don’t want to cover your board? Place it directly onto a cake stand that is pretty and sturdy.

 

 

3. Crumb Coat

 

A crumb coat is important for two reasons.  One, it will help provide structure to your cake while you add the final coat of frosting.  After you chill the crumb coat, your cake will be firmer and it won’t slide around.  

Two, a crumb coat traps the crumbs.  Kinda obvious I guess, but crumbs in your final coat of buttercream will really mess up your beautiful presentation.  Chocolate and red velvet cakes are especially important to crumb coat!  After that first coat, chill your cake until firm, usually 20- 30 minutes.  Now you can add the final coat of buttercream.

 

Related Reading: FREE Buttercream Course for Beginners

 

4. Frosting Consistency

 

And while we’re talking about crumb coats, your frosting consistency matters too!  For filling and stacking, I like it a bit stiff.  But when you’re adding a crumb coat, stiff buttercream will just shred your cake and make a mess.  

After I fill and stack my cake layers, I test the consistency of my remaining buttercream.  Most of the time it’s loosened up from the warmth of my kitchen. If it’s still pretty stiff, you can always microwave your buttercream, or just a portion of it, in 5 second intervals until it is loose.  It should be easy to stir with a spatula, but not soupy. Be VERY careful to not overheat the buttercream!

 

5. Use a Hot Scraper

 

Neat and tidy cakes with beautiful smooth sides are the key to a stunning presentation.  When you’re smoothing the sides of your cake with a bench scraper, get down level with it and make sure it is perpendicular to the turntable.  Otherwise, your cake will have an angle.

Once you’ve got straight sides and feel like the cake is almost done, use a hot bench scraper to get it perfectly smooth.  Dip your scraper in recently boiled water, run it under a hot faucet, or hit it with your kitchen torch (metal scrapers only and be super careful!!).  The heat will gently melt a bit of the butter in the frosting, deepening the color, and getting rid of air bubbles.

 

 

Bonus Tips for Adorable Cake Pics

 

These first 5 tips for tidy cakes are great for just about any home baker who wants to improve their cake presentation.  But if you are also interested in how to improve your cake pictures, keep reading!

 

6. Cute Cake Stands

 

Adorable cake stands are a must have if you want gorgeous Insta- worthy cake pics.  Buying cake stands can easily become an expensive hobby, just ask my husband.  Luckily, you don’t actually have to spend a ton.

Check out the Target dollar section (which I just learned is called Bullseye’s Playground).  I’ve gotten several cute cake stands there, like my pink one, yellow one, a two tiered stand, and several mini cupcake stands.  I also like to scope out TJMaxx, Marshalls, and Home Goods. 

 

 

7. Pretty Backdrops

 

For pretty cake pictures, you absolutely must have nice backdrops.  I just got some great ones from Bessie Bakes (including this chevron one), but you can make do with more economical ones, like these ones made out of laminated paper that I’ve used a lot.  

I got several blank wooden signs from Michaels and used them as my base for a very long time.  This $9 IKEA table top is an even better option!  And all you need are two white foam core boards from the dollar store to use as a backdrop and to reflect light back onto the cake.  You can see my photography set up in this Instagram post.  

 

Related Reading: The Best Gifts for Bakers

 

Are You Ready?

 

Now that you’ve got the information you need to make your delicious cakes look beautiful, are you ready to get back in the kitchen and start baking?  I’d love to see your next cakes, so be sure to tag @bakesandblunders on Facebook or Instagram if these tips help you out.

And if you want even more baking tips, tools, and recipes, you can find over a dozen free resources in the Bakes & Blunders Resource Library.  Email subscribers have access to this vault and I love adding to it!