Help! How Do I Get Sharp Butter Cream Edges On Square Cake!
Decorating By poogie Updated 19 Feb 2010 , 4:52pm by Lita829
I have tried several attempts at buttercream frosting on a square cake. I just can't seem to get the edges sharp or you can see the cake because I am removing to much icing to get the edges sharp. I have been asked by my neice to to make her a square 3 tiered wedding cake and I so don't want to disapoint her. They say practice makes perfect but I just can't seem to get it right. Am I not getting the right angle on the scraper?Any information would help! Thanks!!!!
I would also like to know. I hate making sqaure cakes because I can't get the corners & edges straight.
for me, sharp edges aren't necessarily done at the icing stage. i bake my square cakes in the square brownie/cake pans (they're dark grey), not in the light silver pans. i find that the dark pans have sharp edges, not semi rounded ones like the silver wilton type pans. then after i've frozen them for a bit, i trim if need be til they're perfectly straight and have nice corners. when i crumbcoat, i make sure to do it very neatly and have sharp corners even then. finally when i do my top coat of bc, it's as simple as following the edges you made while crumb coating. i also make sure to have plenty of icing on my spatula and smooth it past the edge, then when i rotate i have icing already at the corner to smooth on the next side right away (i hope that makes sense). this way i can make a 90 angle, instead of putting icing only to the edge and then having to touch up when i enevitably get icing on the already done side b/c the BC overlaps at the corner (again, hoping i make sense). after that i wait for it to crust, viva and then stick right in the fridge to harden the edges. if i need to do any touch up, i wait til it's hard and i'll "sand" any spots that need it, or fill in any spots/cracks that need it.
HTH!
there's a CC article that might help too:
http://cakecentral.com/articles/109/how-to-frost-a-square-cake
For the future I would suggest investing in Sugarshack's buttercream dvd!!!!!! It has really made a difference in my square tiers!
If you need something for right now, here's an article http://cakecentral.com/articles/109/how-to-frost-a-square-cake . For my corners I have a problem icing the corners high enough so I usually pipe icing up both sides of the corner w/a bag that has a coupler or a round tip.
HTH
Thank you, too, Dandelion and Metria! That article went right into my favs. I'm going to try the technique on Monday.
I stressed so much about the wedding cake I did a while back, and posted an almost identical '911' style question about the edges...mine came out ok in the end, still more practice to do, but I used the Viva method, and the fondant smoother to sort of form the corners...probably not the most technical method, but it came out ok...hang in there and keep trying!!!
http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1403399
The best thing you can do is invest in sugarshack's butter cream DVD. Her website is www.sugaredproductions.com It will be the best money you have ever spent!
The biggest tip is scrape your icing from the corners to the CENTER. HTH
Bingo! And a handleless bench scraper...NOT a putty knife, not a spackling knife...a bench scraper with NO handle. And boiling hot water.
The biggest tip is scrape your icing from the corners to the CENTER. HTH
Bingo! And a handleless bench scraper...NOT a putty knife, not a spackling knife...a bench scraper with NO handle. And boiling hot water.
Jamie, why a handleless bench scraper? Like the big flat thing that you use to scrap crumbs and such up? I use a big metal putty knife but sometimes its not big enough.
You want something that can absolutely stand straight up and down. That you don't have to force to stay upright and perfectly square. Look here: http://www.cookware.com/asp/show_detail.asp?sku=PRI1060&refid=FR75-PRI1060
No handle. Stands perfectly upright while you're turning your turntable or smoothing square sides.
http://images.google.com/images?q=putty%20knives&rls=com.microsoft:en-us&oe=UTF-8&startIndex=&startPage=1&rlz=1I7GGLL_en&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi
Now look at all those putty/spackle/drywall whatever knives. You can't reliably stand those up perfectly flush and straight.
it helps me to trim the cake back some and use the board as my guide..i trim the cake about 1/4 inch then I ice the cake using the edge of the board. smooth a bit, chill smooth some more
it really makes me understand why some people charge more for sqaure cakes.. not that it's harder per se, but it certainly takes me longer
This is the best scraper, IMO http://www.organize.com/basandchopcu.html
Yup. My best friend in the studio at smoothing time.
Try ganache instead of buttercream - it's great!
I totally agree. Ganache is soooo much easier to work with.
mine isnt bake and chop but my scraper like that is what I use.. if I can't find it, the kitchen is on lockdown.. WHO MOVED MY SCRAPER!!!!????
This is the best scraper, IMO http://www.organize.com/basandchopcu.html
Yup. My best friend in the studio at smoothing time.
Yep, that makes sense. Seriously though why did you guys send me to organize.com??? Now I can't get away. I love organizational tools!
This is the best scraper, IMO http://www.organize.com/basandchopcu.html
Yup. My best friend in the studio at smoothing time.
Yep, that makes sense. Seriously though why did you guys send me to organize.com??? Now I can't get away. I love organizational tools!
When I post a link to a pic for reference, it's only cause it's the first image that popped up in Google. I'm not ever directing anyone to a particular website, just showing the thing I'm talking about. That particular scraper has been seen at Bed Bath and Beyond though. But any scraper that looks like it, from anywhere is just as good.
Lita829 and CakesRock---would you mind sharing your ganache recipe? I have never made this and want to try it.
Lita829 and CakesRock---would you mind sharing your ganache recipe? I have never made this and want to try it.
Sure...I use the same recipe that many here use...
24 oz of dark chocolate to 12 oz of heavy cream for dark chocolate ganache...(2:1 ratio)
OR
24 oz of white chocolate to 8 oz of heavy cream for white chocolate ganache...(3:1 ratio)
I chop the chocolate if using a baker's bar. I then heat the cream just until its about to boil. I pour the cream through a sieve onto the chopped chocolate and let it sit for a few minutes, then I whisk until smooth. I add any flavorings at this point. I let it set until the desired consistancy is reached then frost the cake.
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