When I ice all of my cakes no matter what shape my tops are rounded. Instead of a crisp defined between the tops and sides. I hope that makes sense.

1. Magic Line pans (yes, I'm a broken record)
2. Large metal spatula

Cowdex,

You may be a broken record, but I haven't heard it before. HAHAHAHA

What are magic pans??

Magic Line pans are a brand name. Their edges are sharper. Wilton pans have rounded edges and they are not straight up and down which makes stacking more difficult. I thought that I was just really bad at stacking until I used Magic Line. Now I know the joy of Magic line pans. It really made a big difference. And of course, practice, practice, practice.

A big putty knife thing from the hardware store helps too. I just got one last week and it really helps you keep steady by being able to rest an edge on the cake board.

Question about the putty knife. Do you keep it still against the cake and turn the cake with the other hand? Also, is the putty knife straight up and down?

I use a bench/dough scraper to do the final "scraping/smoothing" after I have smoothed the icing as much as possible with a large offset metal spatula.