Help.....
I need to do a buttercream wedding cake and I usually work in fondant so my buttercream smoothing abilities are in serious need of soe help. I am practicing but just can't seem to get a nice finish. I have been reading forums and seen several refernces to the viva method. All I have been able to figure out is that it has something to do with a papertowel. Could someone please explain this to me. I would also be grateful for any other smoothing tips. I use the Wilton buttercream recipe.

You are right about it being about the paper towel. Just lay it on the cake and smooth away with your fondant smoother. Other paper towels have indentations which will put a design on the cake. Viva does not. Some people also use computer paper after that.

after the buttercream sets/crusts use the paper towel to smooth it out. For an awesome tutorial on smooth buttercream get SugarShack's DVD---worth every penny!!

Go to Edna's Delacruz website, designmeacake.com. She has a fabulous tutorial on icing a cake using the Viva paper towel method. It is actually a YouTube tutorial but it is also on her incredible website. The tutorial is 9 minutes long. She is an excellent instructor. I learned how to make gumpaste roses from her, with some really nice results.

thanks for the info. i will have to give it a try and check out the instructional videos.

After the buttercream crusts, you can use a small foam paint roller to smooth it out. I use it all of the time and it works great!!

If you use the small foam paint roller, do you still use a paper towel?

No you don't have to use a paper towel. I just use the roller.

yes viva or roller, i like the roller i just forget i have it. i love watching edna on u-tube, on her frosting i notice she's use's a lot of bc, a lot i tried it like that and what a difference, i thought i was putting enough on and sometimes my cake might stick out a tiny bit and while going around and scraping it would show, but i found if i put that much more it hides the inperfections. sp. do you all use that bc, i used the wilton bc mix in class, but it is really sweet.

I use the Wilton b/c recipe. I actually bought some b/c this weekend to save time and found that it didn't crust over very good at all. I had to mix up the Wilton b/c and put a thin layer on top of the store bought so I could use paint roller to smooth it. The store bought was sticking to the roller even after I let it sit for like 30 minutes. So basically in the end I had to double time and efforts while trying to save time.

I found this BC recipe to crust the best, as I was using Wilton's as well and it was not crusting

http://cakecentral.com/recipes/6992/indydebis-crisco-based-buttercream-icing

Thanks for the recipe!! I can't wait to try it!!