I'm practicing for my wedding cake and this is tonight's trial of smoothing the cake using SMBC. I tried the bench scraper but couldn't get it to work to smooth the icing so I went back to my normal method (hot spatula). Any tips on finishing smoothing it are greatly appreciated. I'm a bit annoyed that it's not smoother.

I use a smooth plastic edger that has a little flexibility to it..not a ridgid one. I spin the turntable and hold the edger at a 45 degree angle. I don't pull the scaper much at all when smoothing. I let the moving turntable do most of the work while I hold the edger stable against the cake. I start on the sides, then when the sides are smooth, I pull the top edge across the center of the cake and go all around the top.

I use a non-crusting buttercream. If I need a smoother finish, then I put the cake in the freezer for about 15 minutes and then take out and smooth down any remaining marks.

This is how I iced all the cakes in my gallery...I can get them VERY smooth. It does take some practice.

The way I smooth mine:

I use Viva paper towels.....no designs on them. First, I ice (BC without air bubbles) my cake, let sit for 5 mins......then I lay viva paper towel on top and smooth with wilton fondant paddles, they rock (walmart has them for 3.99 ea.) for smoothing. Then lay your viva towel down sides and move paddle smoothing sides. You can lay a paddle on top and the side to give you a nice edge also while moving it around the sides of the cake. Then if that is still not smooth enough for you, you can take a sheet of computer paper and do the same thing with it. I only use viva it does wonders. My smoothest cake is my st. patty's day cake. I am still learning also and still have alot more smoothing to learn but I hope this helps you

I am going to try and find you a video on utube know they have one.

Your cakes look fine, I think a lil viva paper towel or paper if you prefer would finish them off like you want.

Here is a couple of videos for you,

Edna's How To Ice a Cake video: (excellent)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIXHFqpJK84&feature=channel_page

another one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeEOMdiSkGw&feature=related

Hang in there, I'm still learning also. HTH's

Chippi

she can't use viva as it's SMBC (non crusting).

i guess, what classiccake said.

sorry my bad reading forum's way to late and need to go to bed.

smbc> simply smooth buttercream (j/k) lol

going to try smbc soon it sounds wonderful.

good luck hope you find someone who knows more about smbc.

Chippi, thanks for trying to help. I gave up crusting BC because I hated viva. It works but I'm awful at it. I at least have a chance with SMBC.

Classiccakes, what kind of plastic edger did you use? I definitely did not do it at a 45 degree angle when I tried mine; maybe I should try again. I did like how the bench scraper leveled the sides of the cake. That's a definite plus for me.

Thanks for the tips, guys.

I have a question about SMBC. Do you do a crumb coat and then put another coat on top? I've only made SMBC once or twice but I love it. So I'm just wondering if it's a possible to do a second coat?

Thanks!

Yes it is possible to do a crumb coat on SMBC that's how I do all of my choc cake so I don't get crumbs on the toplayer, I've also found putting the SMBC in the fridge for 5-10 min then pulling it out and smoothing any bumps dowm with a clean glove helps.

I've never used SMBC so I don't know how it differs but I do use IMBC and I use the sugarshack method. I have a scraper thing and dip it in how water, wipe it dry and smooth. It's worked well for me and I don't use a paper towl. Oh and I refrigerate the cake so the butter sets before I do the hot scraper thingy.

Not that I'm the best at smoothing butter cream by any means, but I wanted to point out that it looks like your BC is fairly smooth, but what you need to work on is getting your edge straight and a level coat of icing on the top of the cake. I think if you check out Edna's video, it will help. It shows you how to do that.

The plastic "edger or scraper" is sold at most cake decorating sites. Sometimes it is called a bowl scraper because one side is rounded. It is similar to a bench scraper, except it is plastic. They do wear and chip on the edge after being used and then you get a streak through your icing. If this happens, you can use sandpaper to smooth the edge again.

BTW, always smooth with the staight edge, not the beveled edge.

Thanks guys! Off to practice some more.