How to Decorate a Cake With Swiss Dots
Simple Cake Decoration Tips: Perfect for Wedding or Birthday Cakes
Aug 12, 2008
Cake decorating does not have to be elaborate and can, in fact, be more tasteful with less frosting.
Swiss dots are sweet, timeless and easy to make. They may be familiar to you from the fashion world and from your grandmother's hankies, but these little dots and their variations are just as comfortable in confection as they are in thread.
Steps to Decorating with Swiss Dots
- Start with a frosted and smoothed cake. If you are decorating several layers with the same decoration, wait until all of the layers are frosted before you begin decorating. The end result will be more consistent if you are in the same physical position and in the same mindset the for the entire decoration process.
- Space toothpicks around the top or bottom edge of the cake. The spacing will be easier to gauge if you use the top edge, but you will need to use the bottom edge if there will be no top border to cover the toothpick holes. Evenly space 8 toothpicks around a 4" cake. Use 10 toothpicks around a 6" cake. Use 12 toothpicks around an 8" cake. Continue to add two toothpicks for every larger cake size.
- For a cake 4" high, begin making dots about 1/2" below the top of the cake, lining each dot up with one of the toothpicks. For this spacing, a dot approximately the size of the top of a pencil eraser will be nice. Place a row of dots around the entire cake. Make sure that they are level with each other.
- The next row of dots will be placed about 1" below the first row, but they will be offset. Using the first row as a guide, center each dot in the second row between two of the dots in the first row. If you were to connect the dots, you would make a zigzag pattern.
- Make two more rows of dots, each spaced 1" below the one above. The third row will line up with the first row as well as with the toothpicks. The fourth row will line up with the second row and will be about 1/2" from the bottom of the cake.
- Finish with borders. A natural choice for this cake is a pearl border. Keep the beads the same size as the Swiss dots.
By following the simple steps above, you can easily and accurately decorate a cake with Swiss dots. The above mentioned spacing and style is not your only option, however. When you are comfortable with the basic design, try the following variations:
- Use smaller spaces between the dots. The smaller the spacing you use, the smaller your dots should be to avoid a messy look.
- Use a set of three dots in the shape of a triangle in place of the single dot.
- Use a different color for the Swiss dots than for the cake frosting.
- Cover the sides as well as the top of the cake with Swiss dots. In this case, omit the top border.
The copyright of the article How to Decorate a Cake With Swiss Dots in Baking/Decorating Cakes is owned by Mary Hudlemeyer. Permission to republish How to Decorate a Cake With Swiss Dots in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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