I am making a birthday cake for my FIL, who loves coconut.

I want to do a sheet cake with a frame of coconut on the BC (the light blue part in the photo). But I want to leave the center as crusted, smooth BC so I can add some flowers, the words "Happy Birthday," etc. (I tried to represent it in the pic below. Sorry... I'm not much of an artist.)

My q: If I sprinkle the coconut on top the crusted BC, will it stick? Seems to me it just might all fall off. In that case, is there a way to get the coconut to stick? I'm afraid to add the coconut first, because I'll mess it all up when I'm trying to smooth the center part. Any ideas?

Just smooth the BC before it crusts. Coconut won't stick once the BC has crusted.

I would jsut use a jot knife to smooth the frosting and then apply the coconut and then finish decorating.

Good Luck!

I would cut a piece of wax or parchment paper to fit the area you want to crust and be smooth, frost the cake, attach the paper and then apply the coconut. Put in the fridge for a minute until set so the wax/parchment comes off clean.

I needed to put coconut on an area of a crusted cake and I just misted that area with water and the coconut stuck.

that was going to be my suggestion- mist it with water!

Or you can do what others have been suggesting, which is what I would suggest. Smooth the bc then sprinkle with coconut before it crusts. I always opt to save myself a step.

Ok... guess I should have explained that I "smooth" my BC with the Viva method... so it's already crusted when I go to smooth it. But the water mist idea sounds like it should work fine. Thanks!!!