One of the main mistakes that many people make when it comes to cake decoration is to not prepare the cake itself sufficiently so that it will take to decoration very well. It's important that when it's finished baking, it's strong and firm enough to be able to take being weighed down with icing. After all, a semi collapsed cake isn't a good idea unless you're trying to mimic a valley as part of a design! If the cake isn't cooked well enough, you might find any decoration sinking into it, which might be tasty, but you can be pretty sure that it won't win any awards for aesthetics!
Another important point that people should consider when they get involved in cake decorating is to ensure that they spend adequate time practising the various aspects that are involved in this unique skill. It is exceptionally rare to find anyone who can pick up a hobby and immediately become good at something (Eddie Van Halen perhaps a notable exception), and that means that should you want to start in this area, you'll need a few weeks of getting used to writing icing, sculpting and the like before you actually make your first proper cake for someone. After all, you don't want to ruin someone's birthday just because you didn't spend enough time working out how to use an icing tube!
One of the most notorious potential mistakes that people encounter when they first start decorating cakes is the peril of the bulging fillings. Whilst this isn't really an issue when it comes to making a cake for yourself or your loved ones, it would certainly be a problem if you had been commissioned by someone! Bulging fillings are usually messy, decidedly unelegant, and should be avoided like the plague. For starters, try and bake the actual cake the day before if you can, as this will make it more stable and likely to accept the filling. Also, don't overfill - you'll be surprised as to how little filling you'll need in order to get the flavour benefits but without it going everywhere.
Freezing cakes has become a very common practise when it comes to modern cake decorating. Whilst it can indeed be a really good idea, that doesn't necessarily mean that you can just plough ahead without carrying out adequate planning. There are, after all, special techniques that are needed to ensure that your work doesn't end up drying out after a period of being frozen. Mostly it comes down to how the cake is wrapped. Firstly, wrap it securely in clingfilm (two or three layers is usually enough) to keep out the air and moisture (the two most common ruiners of cakes), and then add one more layer of standard kitchen foil just before it is frozen. Doing this will mean the cake stays in optimum conditioning whilst it's in the freezer, and that you won't have any problems with it once it's been defrosted. Having a large stash of cakes available is never a bad thing, either, especially if you end up having a rush job or two!
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