Kat Thompson is the audience editor of Eater’s Southern California/Southwest region. Despite the fact that I’m a cooking editor, I don’t have much experience with cake decorating. I bake a lot, sure, ...

Get the foundations right. For a super smooth surface, ready to decorate or pipe on, start with a polished crumb coat and a fab final coat: Trim your cakes to level. Add a spoonful of buttercream (see ...