Hi!
Welcome to Decorated Treats. I am Priya Maha, the owner, recipe developer, photographer and writer for this blog!
Decorated treats is dessert recipes and decorating tutorials blog featuring a personal collection of true and tried recipes as well as various tips, techniques and tutorials for cake decorating.
My aim is to share my recipes and all that I have learned from my many years of cake decorating to inspire home bakers and budding cake decorators in their baking and cake decorating endeavors.
How It All Started
This blog was created way back in 2015 (previously known as Creative Cake Decorating (since in 2007)) to share my cake decorating designs and tutorials.
I am an accountant by qualification but have always had a special love for cake decorating and baking. My baking and decorating journey started since I was a teenager. I would gladly find every opportunity to bake cakes and cookies. My mom was my greatest motivator, and her cookbooks were my first recipe books. With this deep passion, I took up a couple of certifications that focused on cake decorating to further upskill myself.
Along with continuous self learning, I started to bake and decorate cakes for family and friends. Through word of mouth, I received more requests for cakes, and despite my full-time day job, I happily obliged to those requests. The look of happy faces when I hand over the decorated cakes and the feedback I receive afterwards gave me a deep satisfaction I was not able to get in the corporate field. Some of my cake designs from my cake decorating days you can find on this blog:
What You'll Find on Decorated Treats
1. Decorating tutorials – You will find step-by-step guidance, complete with images and instructions, for decorating cakes, cupcakes, and cookies like this unicorn birthday cake, guitar cake, sunflower cupcakes, buttercream daisy cupcakes, and snowflake cookie. I also provide links to the supplies I use (wherever possible), making it easier for you to recreate these designs.
2. Tips and techniques - With each cake that I decorate, there is always a new technique or skill that I acquire. Some of my most visited tips and techniques on the blog include:
- how to make gum paste roses;
- how to use cake dummies for cake decorating;
- how to make homemade fondant; and
- how to use silicone molds.
3. Dessert recipes – Over the years, Decorated Treats has transformed into a full fledge baking and desserts blog, featuring not just decorated cakes and tutorials, but also a whole lot of recipes for desserts and sweet treats. As someone with a sweet tooth myself (desserts are always my main course) I enjoy eating desserts as much as I love making them. It is my love for sweet treats that has fueled my passion to also learn how to make desserts. You will find on this blog:
- Recipes for my widely sought after cakes (from my cake decorating years) like the butter pound cake, chocolate pound cake, marble cake, orange cake and coffee cake. I have baked these countless number times and all these recipes come with complete cake tin size guides. These are great for home bakers and cake decorators looking for fail-proof cake recipes for their business.
- Good old classics like this vanilla cake and vanilla cupcakes, sugar cookie recipe, fudgy brownies, basic blondies and New York cheesecake.
- Seasonal twist and local flavors to classic desserts and bakes. You can see how I have adapted the classic butter pound cake recipe to make my Asian-inspired pandan pound cake, and the classic New York Cheesecake to make durian cheesecake (an Asian favorite fruit), pandan cheesecake as well as mini Christmas cheesecakes.
- In-trend desserts like a whole range of boba milk teas (like this butterfly pea milk tea, grass jelly milk tea, vanilla milk tea, lychee jelly milk tea and more).
- You will also find a wide range of Asian classics, most of which are a combination of various cultures in the Asian region like this aiyu jelly, Hokkaido cheese tarts, coconut candy, chocolate covered Mandarin oranges, pandan milk, grass jelly drink, rose milk and much more.
Most Popular Recipes
Some of my most popular recipes on this blog are a combination classics, in-trend and local-inspired ones and these are:
My Motivation
Nothing brings greater joy for me than to hear how my blog has contributed positively to people around the world. I no longer decorate cakes as I used to, but the feedback I receive on my blog posts are a testament to the purpose of this blog and the difference it is able to make in people’s lives.
You will also find ads and affiliate links on my blog, and these help me cover my costs. I get a small percentage of proceeds from every purchase you make from the affiliate links and it’s a great way to keep this blog going. I use a part of the income in helping a couple of non profit organizations who volunteer in saving and providing for street animals. As a proud dog owner (I adopted a rescue puppy in 2021), I am a strong believer that street animals (particularly dogs and cats) should be allowed to co-exist freely with humans and strongly condemn any acts of cruelty against them.
Frequently Asked Questions
When I first start the blog, my main focus was on decorated cakes, cupcakes and cookies, hence the name. I have now expanded the scope to also include various sweet desserts and treats recipes.
If you are totally new to baking, I would suggest my butter pound cake and vanilla cake. As for cookies, you can try my all butter shortbread cookies and oatmeal raisin cookies.
When it comes to baking, precise measurement of ingredients plays a crucial role in the outcome of the recipe. While cups and spoons do provide accurate measurements, the way in which ingredients are measured can vary. For example, the weight of flour compacted into a measuring cup will be much more than flour that is loosely filled. If the measurements are not done properly, you will not get the intended results. Metrics measurements will take this problem out of the equation and will help in achieving best results.
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