What does a cake decorator do?
A cake decorator is responsible for designing cakes for special occasions, following the clients' specifications and special requests. Cake decorators directly communicate with the client for their orders, suggesting decorations based on the event's theme, and delivering the item securely. Cake decorators also strictly adhere to the highest sanitation and hygienic standards to ensure the product's quality. They monitor inventories and stock supplies and research current market trends. Meeting client demands to increase sales and revenues.
Cake decorator responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real cake decorator resumes:
- Assist customers for their needs, and bag groceries.
- Bake cookies, scones, muffins and various dessert bars.
- Prepare smoothies and milkshakes using recipe book & ingredients provide.
- Bake cakes, cookies, and bars in a gluten-free/vegan bakery.
- Greet and assist customers, weigh, scan, and package groceries.
- Cook food using fryers, oven, stove and the meat smoker.
- Greet guests, assist customers, POS, stocking and merchandise, zone working area.
- Apply glazes, icings, or other toppings to bake goods, using spatulas or brushes.
- Apply glazes, icings, or other toppings to bake goods, using spatulas, airbrush gun and/or pastry bags.
- Provide in-home consultation and sales of custom window treatments, help support and clarify client's choice of style and fabric.
- Organize and maintain cleanliness of workstation.
- Decorate gourmet specialty cupcakes for specialty orders.
- Maintain cleanliness and area sanitation in accordance with company practices and regulatory requirements.
- Develop mixed bake and decorate specialty cakes and cupcakes.
- Promote bakery sales through effective merchandising and cross-selling displays.
Cake decorator skills and personality traits
We calculated that 15% of Cake Decorators are proficient in Food Safety, Food Handling, and Safety Standards. They’re also known for soft skills such as Artistic ability, Color vision, and Communication skills.
We break down the percentage of Cake Decorators that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Food Safety, 15%
Maintained a clean and organized atmosphere while making sure to sanitize and clean equipment up to food safety standards.
- Food Handling, 11%
Followed state and company rules and regulations regarding food handling and food station sanitation.
- Safety Standards, 8%
Maintained sanitation & safety standards per company policy.
- Basic Math, 7%
Perform purchase & return transactions; perform basic math skills while operating cash registers.
- Cleanliness, 6%
Organized and maintained cleanliness of workstation.
- Safety Regulations, 6%
Check equipment, ensure quality health and safety regulations and perform maintenance
Common skills that a cake decorator uses to do their job include "food safety," "food handling," and "safety standards." You can find details on the most important cake decorator responsibilities below.
Artistic ability. One of the key soft skills for a cake decorator to have is artistic ability. You can see how this relates to what cake decorators do because "some painting and coating workers make elaborate or decorative designs." Additionally, a cake decorator resume shows how cake decorators use artistic ability: "provided hands on artistic expression on bakery products such as: clairs, wedding cakes, & specialty bakery goods. "
Color vision. Another essential skill to perform cake decorator duties is color vision. Cake decorators responsibilities require that "workers must be able to blend new paint colors in order to match existing colors on a surface." Cake decorators also use color vision in their role according to a real resume snippet: "created bright and colorful arrangements on cakes, cupcakes and desserts. "
The three companies that hire the most cake decorators are:
- Whole Foods Market188 cake decorators jobs
- Walmart160 cake decorators jobs
- Giant Eagle154 cake decorators jobs
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Compare different cake decorators
Cake decorator vs. Porcelain finish sprayer
Laundry Workers are skilled professionals who oversee laundry machines. They operate washing machines or dryers in a residential home or a commercial establishment. Laundry Workers should know how to wash and care for different types of cloth properly. They should know which detergent type would work best for a specific fabric and which fabrics should be hand-washed instead of machine-washed. At times, Laundry Workers should at least know how to conduct basic repairs and maintenance on machines.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between cake decorators and porcelain finish sprayer. For instance, cake decorator responsibilities require skills such as "food safety," "food handling," "excellent interpersonal," and "safety standards." Whereas a porcelain finish sprayer is skilled in "spray guns," "coats," "spray booths," and "top coat." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Porcelain finish sprayers tend to reach similar levels of education than cake decorators. In fact, porcelain finish sprayers are 1.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Cake decorator vs. Production metal sprayer
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that cake decorator responsibilities requires skills like "food safety," "food handling," "excellent interpersonal," and "safety standards." But a production metal sprayer might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "punch press," "drill press," "quality standards," and "cnc."
In general, production metal sprayers achieve similar levels of education than cake decorators. They're 1.6% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Cake decorator vs. Laundry worker
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, cake decorators are more likely to have skills like "food safety," "food handling," "excellent interpersonal," and "basic math." But a laundry worker is more likely to have skills like "clean linen," "dryers," "work tables," and "patients."
Laundry workers make a very good living in the health care industry with an average annual salary of $28,864. On the other hand, cake decorators are paid the highest salary in the retail industry, with average annual pay of $31,821.When it comes to education, laundry workers tend to earn similar degree levels compared to cake decorators. In fact, they're 0.5% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.0% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Cake decorator vs. Paint preparer
Even though a few skill sets overlap between cake decorators and paint preparers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a cake decorator might have more use for skills like "food safety," "food handling," "excellent interpersonal," and "basic math." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of paint preparers require skills like "caulking," "mask," "painting process," and "coats. "
Paint preparers reach similar levels of education compared to cake decorators, in general. The difference is that they're 1.6% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.0% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of cake decorator
Updated January 8, 2025
