How To Make Homemade Desserts Look Professional With Simple Hacks
Written by jheelum basu | October 22, 2025
What does a dessert do?
While satisfying the taste buds, desserts bring in an unmatched level of feel-good factor. And that doesn’t come alone from how it tastes. The enticing visual appeal of a dessert has a lot to do with making us fall for it. Here, we will discuss
how to make homemade desserts look professional
.
Be it a luscious chocolate cake, a delicious panna cotta, or even a simple scoop of ice cream, while the homemade desserts are delicious on their own, what further adds to their smooth and decadent appearance is the fine art of decoration and presentation to give them a professional touch.
From preparing a smooth and creamy frosting and adding sprinkles or powdered sugar atop the luxurious dessert items, to plating the dessert in a clean yet creative manner, the arduous art of dessert decoration decides the final look.
While scrolling through the Instagram feed, don’t we all wonder how tempting the professionally prepared desserts look? Indeed, the well-trained pastry chefs are behind those effortless finishing touches. But, even at home, one can
master the basic skills to make the homemade desserts look picture-perfect.
This article is all about showing you
how to make desserts look professional
. So, where are your baker’s essentials? Let’s delve into the self-indulgent art of decorating desserts.
How To Make Desserts Look Professional: Tips & Tricks
Plating and Presentation: Keep it clean
For your dessert, the plate does what a canvas does for a painting. It serves as the backdrop of your dessert. And sometimes, simplicity works best. If the dessert brings a burst of colors to the table, a clean white plate is often recommended as it accentuates the contrast and highlights the colors best. Similarly, if the dessert is of a lighter color, a dark-shaded plate will complement it.
Garnishing: Balance Is Important, Don’t Overdo It
When it comes to garnishing desserts, the options are endless. From chocolates, fruits, and marshmallows to dry fruits, edible flowers, sauces, icing sugar, and sprinkles- garnishing indeed uplifts the overall visual appeal of a dessert.
However, while garnishing makes the dessert look tempting, it is crucial to avoid overdoing it. Too much garnishing can make the plate look cluttered. Drenching a dessert in toppings often takes away the true essence of the dessert. Striking the right kind of balance is therefore extremely important.
Be Creative With Sauces and Drizzles
Don’t we all love how fancy the desserts look at restaurants when served with a gentle and creative touch of sauce? They enhance the visual appeal of a beautifully plated dessert like nothing else.
Using a squeeze bottle is the best option to place chocolate ganache, fruit compote, or rabri subtly over the desserts. The back of a spoon often helps when you want to spread the sauce instead of drizzling it.
Apply Crumb Frosting For Flawless Finish
Imagine you have baked a perfect cake, and it is all set for frosting and decoration. But the cake crumbs are being the spoilsport. Isn’t it disappointing? Crummy frosting often ruins a perfectly baked cake. However, the good news is there’s a simple way to get rid of this problem. Before applying the actual layers, just go for a thin coat of frosting to even out the stray cake crumbs.
This is considered a crucial and non-negotiable step in cake decoration as it efficiently prevents the unruly crumbs from getting into your actual frosting. The crumb coat application can be even smoother when the cake is placed on a turntable or revolving cake stand. When the table is turned, the circular motion makes the frosting application flawless.
Allowing the cake to chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes after the crumb coat application is essential. This allows the frosting to harden, which in turn makes spreading the rest of the frosting onto your cake a lot easier.
Use The Right Tools for Professional Decoration
Piping bags and nozzles:
These are essential for professional baking. The piping bags contain creamy fillings for decorations on cakes, while the different tips or nozzles are used for creating different designs.
Bench scraper:
The large, flat blade is required for applying a crumb coat on a cake and a smooth finish on the final outer frosting.
Spatula:
An offset spatula is essential for spreading fillings, applying the initial layers of outer frosting, and creating decorative textures.
Cake decorating turntable:
These round turntables provide an easy, seamless way to move the cake around while applying frosting and other decorations.
Warm and sharp knife for clean slices:
A messy slice can ruin a perfect dessert. To avoid any inconvenience, it is always recommended to heat the knife before slicing a homemade cake or any other dessert. This trick makes sure the slice is smooth with even edges and has no crumbs.