OK, I'm relatively new at this cake stuff and I really enjoy it. But I get so frustrated icing my cake! At times I think I would pay someone $20 bucks just to ice it. I can get it smooth, after working for what seems like hours on it, but a lot of times, I make the top edges too thin and you can see the cake shadow coming through. Or worse, sometimes you can see cake crumbs. I bought Sharon's video and use her icing, and mine starts out ok, but then I play with it and play with it like I have OCD. What does everyone do...do you put it in the fridge before the Viva smoothing? Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
I would love to know as well! How does everyone get it so smooth? And edges so crisp? Obviously practice helps but there's gotta be some tricks out there...help out the newbies please! LOL
Sugarshack DVD. Wonderful help. I quit using crusting BC awhile back, but a lot of her tips are still useful. Love those DVD's. You can google Suared Productions, and it will pop up.
I'm no expert, but here's what I do. I start with a thoroughly chilled, crumb coated cake. Then, I start to cover the whole cake with a good dollop of frosting with a rough smoothness. Then, when the whole cake has a good(no cake shadows) coating, I start smoothing the edges. hold the spatula straight up and down and just smooth the edge. Pull a few inches and clean the spatula. Go back in and pull a few inches and clean the spatula again. This goes quickly as you get it. While you are doing this, you get some build-up along the top edge. This is OK. When you are done with the sides, smooth the top by pulling from the edge to the center, cleaning the spatula between each pull. Always use one smooth stroke. If you make a mistake, just go over it again.
For squares and rectangles, I find the pullung from the corner to each side at an angle gives crisp edges.
This only gets you so far. Then you have to choose your poison. There are several different techniques, Viva paper towel method, roller method, copier paper method, and I use a hot spatula on an ice cold cake to smooth mine out.
How do you get to Carnegi Hall? Practice, practice, practice.
Exactly. Practice, practice, practice. I think Sharon (sugarshack) is technically an alien from the planet "Perfect Cake". She means well by her teaching and all, but if I ever see someone else with a cake as sharp as hers, I'll be convinced she finally found a subject to lobotomize.
Oh, and get a bench scraper, specifically called a Bash and Chop...no handle, so you can line it up perfectly straight.
Having a hot spatula has really helped me! I have a cup of hot water and a towel right beside me and with every new stroke I warm up the spatula and dry it off. It sort of `melts' out lines!
When I go back and look at the pics of my first cakes I am completely mortified and the icing job!!! But it`s a learning process and I use it as a reminder for how far I`ve come in relitivly short amount of time!
There are loads of tips and techniques to try, try them all until you find what works for you!
HTH
Ashley
Edna has a great video on you tube, you should check it out. I haven't iced any cakes in bc, I'm a fondant girl, but her video was very straightforward.
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