I always have shadowing around the tops of my cakes. Can someone please tell me the secret to icing without shadowing? Thanks in advance!!!!

go to you tube and search for edna butter cream, and watch her ice a cake...........
here it is

What is shadowing or what is it from? Do you scrape too much off and the cake shows through at bald spots? You mentioned the edge... if you have a crusty edge, you can trim it off with a pair of scissors.

I have this same problem, so I can't help....but I would love to hear what others have to say! I assumed it was because I wasn't putting enough icing or taking too much off during the smoothing process. It still doesn't seem to matter....and it's only around the top.

The shadowing is coming from taking too much icing off. Do as madgeowen says and look at edna's video on the link she has given you.

i've seen a method on here that i've adopted and loved =D put a normal layer of icing on the cake, smooth it (shadowing may occur here), put the cake in the freezer for 5-10min, then take it out and put another layer of frosting on top of the original coat. the frozen icing layer will stay in place so you can't take too much off, plus all the "shadowing" spots should be gone and your cake will have a nice, thick layer of icing on it =D hth!

When doing the top edge of the cake make sure the spatula is either flat across the time or flat against the side. We often like to angle the spatula over the edges when we are icing them, and that will take off too much icing and give you a rounded edge.