Birthday Cake, step 5

  

The bottom row of scallops.

Now that you have a nicely iced cake, chill it again.  Then you can really decorate it however you want.  May I suggest doing the scalloped edging that most grocery store birthday cakes have.  It's pretty, not too hard, and quite professional looking.  Plus, it covers any imperfections on the edges of the cake.

Basically, there isn't much help I can give you with this...practice is really the key.  Put the left over plain icing in a pastry bag fitted with a star tip that has many points (I use Ateco #32).  Go around the bottom and top edges of the cake making a scalloped edge.  To do this squeeze the bag harder and go slightly backwards, then as you are bringing the bag forwards gradually lighten the pressure on the bag and speed up moving it.  I realize this isn't the most technical language, but hopefully it will give you the idea, and then you can work it out from this base yourself.  I highly recommend practicing before you start on the cake (I did)!  If you mess up a scallop, don't worry it is the same icing as you used for the cake, so you can just try to lift it off and smooth out any excess and redo it.  

Coming soon: decorate the top of the cake.