Best Articles Ever

Below are the most common cake decorating mistakes and easy ways to rectify them.

Anyone who has ever frosted a cake knows there are times when the icing will pull apart the top of the cake and cake crumbs get will into the frosting. To stop this from occurring, you should start with a crumb coat. This is the same icing that you are using to frost the cake, but it has been thinned down a bit. That way you will cover any part of the cake that might crumb with a thin layer of icing, and it will give you a base over which you will put a regular coat of icing. Take care that you do not make the icing too thin. It should be thinned down just enough to cover the cake without tearing it and picking up crumbs.

After you apply the crumb coat to the cake, you need to let it set about 2 hours or more before you apply the rest of the icing. In fact it should rest in the refrigerator, and can be kept there overnight before you need to add more icing. It is okay if you see crumbs in the crumb coat, they will be stuck in this first layer of icing and will not effect the next layer of icing. The cold will set the icing and it will be a cinch to ice after that.

There can be a problem with fillings spilling out the sides of the cake. There are ways to stop this from happening when your cake decorating involves a filled middle.

1. Bake your cake the day before you are planning to fill it. This will make the cake firmer and will give it time to settle. A freshly baked cake will be unstable and will not hold fillings as well as when they are settled.

2. You can also use icing to make a dam to stop the filling from spilling out. Once the dam has been made, you can frost the whole cake with a crumb coating. The cake should be set in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours, or overnight, this will firm up the icing and will keep the filling from oozing out the sides. The dams made of icing will firm up and keep the filling in.

If you are a busy person and don't have time to bake and decorate a cake all at once, you can bake the cake and freeze it until you need to decorate it. A cake can be kept in the freezer a couple of weeks before it needs to be used. You must prepare the cake for freezing by wrapping three layers of strong cling wrap around the cake, followed by one layer of aluminum foil just prior to freezing. If you do not follow this procedure, your cake will dry out and crumble. You will also need to make sure the cake is completely thawed before attempting to ice it.

You will need to allow the cake to defrost slowly, at room temperature, for one or two days until it has defrosted. Icing a cake before it has thawed will make the icing sweat and become mushy, this will ruin your cake decorating, and all your hard work will be for nothing.

Many people think that bullying is a common part of childhood, and sadly, it is. Bullying affects close to half of students in high school and middle school. Estimates by the National Youth Violence Prevention in 2006 say that 30% of students either are bullied on a regular basis or are bullies themselves. About 11% of children are bullying victims while a slightly higher percentage, 13%, are doing the bullying. 6% of children say that they have been both the bullying victim and the bully at one time or another. This starling evidence shows that bullying is all too common in schools and the serious nature of bullying can damage the lives of these children.

Any child can be the victim of bullying, but some types of students are more likely than others to be targeted. Any child that is different whether it is race, ethnicity, religion, physical limitations or mental limitations is at a higher risk of being bullied. Bullying is more common among boys than girls and is more likely to be physical. It is common for bullying among girls to be emotional and based on what children say about each other. Bullying can take place anywhere that children interact, including on the computer and over the phone.

Bullying is common even from children who are confident and popular. A common misconception about bullying is that bullies are usually children with low self-esteem and are trying to compensate for their own problems. This is not the case and frequently bullies are confident, popular students who pick on others for the fun of it. Bullies often act out as a way to dominate others and to impress their friends. Bullies feel no remorse for what they do and are often in trouble in other areas of school. Bullies who are shown proper ways to interact with other are more likely to have serious problems later in life. It is common for children who are bullies in school to develop problems with the law later as adults and to get involved with drug and alcohol abuse.

Bullying victims can usually overcome the effects of bullying, especially if the bully is stopped before they have a chance to do any permanent damage. Not all cases of bullying have long term effects, but if not stopped in time they can. Children who are bullied relentlessly for a long time are more likely to be depressed and suicidal, even later in life. Bullying victims are also likely to drop out of school or do poorly in school as a result of all the stress placed on them by the bully. Bullying victims also tend to have low self-esteem that may never improve.

Bullying is a common and serious problem in schools today. Parents and teacher should closely monitor children for signs of bullying and stop any incidents before both the bully and victim suffer long-term consequences. The serious nature of bullying is often overlooked by good natured parents and teachers who think it is something that will be outgrown, and while that is sometimes the case, bullying should not be taken lightly.

There are many common misconceptions about bullying. Thinking that bullying is a normal part of childhood and the victims should just toughen up is perhaps the most stereotypical view of bullying and the biggest bullying misconception. Thinking this way can have serious consequences for both victims and bullies. Bullying should not be tolerated and letting a bully continue picking on others just reinforces their behavior and sets them up to continue making poor choices for the rest of their lives. Bullying victims can also suffer from low self esteem, depression, and a poor self image.

Another bullying misconception is that bullies have low self esteem. Many bullies are popular and are very confident. Bullies are not the unconfident kids trying to make up for their problems like people once assumed. Bullying may actually be a way that kids try to dominate others and assert their power. Children who bully often act in conjunction with their friends and use bullying as a way to fit in with them. Children who have friends and like to be in control will bully others as a way to assert their power and impress their fiends, albeit in the wrong way.

Many people also have the bullying misconception that bullying occurs only in lower class neighborhoods and schools. This is not the case, and plenty of bullying cases occur in high class neighborhoods and schools. Bullying can occur no matter what socioeconomic class a child is in. Many upper-class schools have bullying problems because children feel as though they are better than others and try to show how much power they have over children they perceive as weaker than them.

The bullying misconception that boys are only kids that bully is also wrong. Boys do bully more than girls, but girls can also be bullies. Bullying among boys is often physical where girls tend to use emotional bullying by saying mean things and spreading rumors to humiliate people. Bothe types of bullying can have devastating effects on bullying victims and leave them with self esteem problems and a lifetime of insecurity.

Another bullying misconception is that bullying most commonly occurs in high school rather than in younger children. Studies have shown that bullying occurs at all ages but the most common ages are in middle school, not high school and elementary. Children from 9-13 years old are the most likely ages to bully. Children in this age group are just beginning to face stress in school and the pressure to fit in, so bullying becomes a common way cope with these problems.

Many people think that remarks made with bullying most commonly target intelligence and are meant to demean a person. Studies suggest, however, that the most common insults used while bullying are about a kid's perceived sexual orientation. As ridiculous as it sounds, this is the most common thing kids tease each other about. Finding socially unacceptable faults such as these make some children easier targets for bullying. There are many bullying misconceptions and truly understanding what bullying is will help to stop and prevent it.