I'm sure there is a post somewhere but . . . I have made three cakes (I'm still new) and cannot get my icing smooth. Could it be the consistency, could it be the quantity on the cake, could it be me!!!! Please help! How do I get the icing smooth to be able to decorate or put fondant over it. Thank you.

i jst tried icing here n there. the imbc n smbc work for me. also using a scraper; a spatula dip on water cooperates with me...

I am still new as well and learned this from people here. If you smooth it as much as possible first then let it crust over and buy VIVA paper towels (b/c they don't have a design). Put the paper towel down and either use a fondant smoother or your hand to smooth it out. Be careful though, your hand may put out too much heat and cause the buttercream to not be crusty anymore.

Marybeth09...welcome! And you'll be very, very happy with Sugarshack's instructional DVD, 'Perfecting the Art of Buttercream' if you order it!. She'll teach you things that you'll use for the rest of your (decorating!) life.
She's here on CC, you can PM her! hth!!

A spatula dipped in very hot water usually works for me. Also I crumb coat the cake first.

i do all of the above but go to u-tube and edna she had great video's

Edna's video for icing a cake is excellent. She is on u-tube and her s/n is tonedna.

The icing needs to be smooth before you put it on the cake. I usually whip mine with my mixer before i put it on there. Also use a metal spatula and dip it in hot water everytime you make a sweep over the cake. It melts it to be smooth afterward. You could also freeze it for a few minutes after your crumb coat and let it crust over then go back over it with the top coat of icing. If you get too frustrated then you can always walk away for a few minutes and come back to it. Good Luck

Look in the 'articles' tabs for instructions for smoothing icing as well as several things you didn't know to ask about. Baby rump cake?