I have recently tried the Viva paper towel method and it really looks nice but there are still fine impressions in the icing, it's not completely smooth and the wax paper I find a bit hard to work with, I'm always messing up my buttercream icing.

What is your method for a smooth cake?

I heat a glass of water in the microwave, then I rest my spatula in the hot water for a few seconds. Tap off the excess water, then run the hot spatula over the frosting. It smoothes out buttercream every time.

OR

I wait until the buttercream is crusted and put a piece of parchment paper over the frosting. I lightly rub my hand across the parchment to smooth out any flaws. I think it's the heat from your hand that does the trick on this one.

Yes the hot water works wonder.

Is parchment paper easier to work with than wax paper? I find wax paper looks better than Viva but it still leaves the indents of the paper towel. I have not worked with parchment paper.

Thanks for the info Jocmom!

Is parchment paper easier to work with than wax paper? I find wax paper looks better than Viva but it still leaves the indents of the paper towel. I have not worked with parchment paper.

Thanks for the info Jocmom!

what ever you are smoothing with has to have no wrinkles to start with. Even kleenex will work just make sure that you have a plain tissue with no creams or lotions.

I don't know how to do it yet, but in order to learn, I am planning to order a CD from Sugaredproductions.com performed by Sharons Sugar Shack. Her site name is like her business name: sharonssugarshack.com.

Take a look maybe will be helpful. Good luck.

I dont have Sharons DVD but everyone raves on how good they are. She is a member here and is really nice.

I use the viva method but i dont use my hand i either smooth with an old credit card or my fondant smoother. i also LOVE the melvira method which uses a high density foam roller. Make sure you use a crusting butter cream like indydebi's recipe or something similar and start rolling. I also roll over the viva if im feeling crazy....

Melvira Method of smoothing-
http://cakecentral.com/article83-Quick--Easy-Smooth-Icing-Using-a-Roller-Melvira-Method.html

Indydebi's Buttercream-
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-6992-Indydebis-Crisco-Based-Buttercream-Icing.html


Ohh and have you tried the upside down technique?
http://www.cakecentral.com/article6-Upside-Down-Icing-Technique-for-Perfectly-Smooth-Icing.html


HTH!!

~Shannon

Sugarshacks dvd is amazing. You should definetly get it. It is worth every penny.

I own all her DVDs, I need to go back and watch them, Sharon is AWESOME and I can't wait for her other new videos to come out.

They were worth every penny!

I'm off to watch her buttercream video again!

Shannon, thanks for the links, I may try some of these techniques too, I have tried the roller method and it worked except I still had some texture in the buttercream from the roller.

Paper towel technique doesn't work on non-crusting frostings, correct? Right now, I can only use the warmed palette knife for smoothing. I'd love to try something else, if anyone has an offer.

Melvira's Method and Parchment paper. Works EVERY TIME on crusting buttercream!!

Beth in KY

There is a crusting cream cheese icing in the recipe section that is wonderful and it DOES crust, however keep it chilled after you ice the cake b/c mine melted and the cake fell apart (due to heavy fondant on the cake).

I just use the typical buttercream icing with crisco, flavor, water and pwd sugar and everyone seems to like it and it crusts nicely too.


Sharon's Sugarshack icing recipe is AWESOME too, she uses coffee creamer and crisco and it's yummy!!! That stuff is so easy to work with. If I can find a link to her recipe I'll put it on here. She also has a utube tutorial on how to make it. It makes a TON!

here is sharon's forum on buttercream icing

http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-19948-.html