I've seen recipes saying to crumb coat a cake before icing. Can someone please explain what this means and how you do it? Either that or link me to an explanation.

Thanks!

Tina

it is just a very thin layer of frosting that contains all of the crumbs on the cake. Let it set up and crust over then when you frost it for real, you won't have any crumbs in the frosting.

and make sure you go right down to the bottom of the cake and get as close to the board as possible so there are no holes between the cake and the board

I personally never crumb coat. It never works for me, LOL. When I ice over the crumb coat it's like the new icing doesn't stick and falls off later in a big sheet.



Some people swear by it though,

Can you crumb coat the cake one day & ice it the next? If so, do you cover the cake overnight or what? What do you do if you get air bubbles after either the crumb coat and/or icing? How can I stop them from popping up anyway?

thanks,
bakersofcakes

Oh yeah, I always put bottom layer--levelled--upside down, ice it & put top layer--levelled, also--upside down & ice top and sides.

to this one...i know you people say to crumb coat before putting on fondant, but do you also cru,b coat before icing with say buttercream? I ALWAYS have crumbs in mine and I hate it....

Thanks

Edited:
I did not mean to type "you people"....I was typing something..then erased, obviously not enough....Sorry no offense meant!

Crumb coat when putting on fondant or buttercream. It keeps the crumbs out of the final coat of frosting. Can you crumb coat one day and frost the next? Yup. Not a problem. When you crumb coat, the icing should be put on thin, not thick. Just enought to seal the crumbs in to keep them from pulling off into your final coat of frosting.

REALLY thin....like being able to see the cake right through it for the most part. I crumb coat all of mine too....never have an issue with crumbs or the icing falling off!

Do you find you need to crumb coat when you cover the cake with IMBC? I have been crumb coating for regular buttercream, but the IMBC seems to go on so easy that I haven't been doing the crumb coat.

I never crumb coat my cakes and hardly ever have crumbs in the frosting. I wont say never but most of the time I dont have any problems.
Good Luck. Find what works for you and go with it

understanding that not everyone crumb coats, IF you do, remember that the water you add should be warm to slightly hot water, so it'll mix in with the icing better. Cold almost always ruins it (when I make it thin).

I crumb coat and then stick it in the freezer for 30-60 mins, then let ice it the rest of the way. And hope it doesn't warm up while it's sitting waiting to be delivered. I only stick it in the fridge if I HAVE to.

I crumbcoat with thinned down apricot glaze.
Hugs Squirrelly

1.

OK, so let me get this, you thin down some of your buttercream icing (that you plan to ice the cake with) with water??? I read somewhere that blue icing color mixes in the buttercream better when the icing is made with milk instead of water, so I always make mine with milk. Do you just make it icing consistency or thinner than that. (By icing consistency, I mean Wilton's 1/2 c. butter & 1/2 c. shortening recipe that has 1 lb. confec. sugar, 2 Tbsp. milk/water & 1 tsp. vanilla & makes 3 cups--add 2 tsp. milk/water per cup icing to ice cake.)

2.

What is apricot glaze? Does it mix in the icing any? Does it change the flavor of the cake? I'm guessing you let it harden or dry or something before icing the cake???

BTW, I never use fondant or anything, just ice my cakes with homemade buttercream or homemade choc. icing or bought canned icing & then decorate them.

thanks,
bakersofcakes

2. Quote:
I crumbcoat with thinned down apricot glaze.
Hugs Squirrelly

Quote:
What is apricot glaze? Does it mix in the icing any? Does it change the flavor of the cake? I'm guessing you let it harden or dry or something before icing the cake??? End of quote
Well you take pure apricot jam, measure out how much there is and add half that amount in water, so 2 cups of jam, 1 cup water. Place in a saucepan over low to medium heat and bring to a boil and allow to boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and push through a sieve to strain out pulp, you have to press hard to get it through. Use as is or refrigerate, it keeps for months. To use, I use a pyrex custard cup and heat in the microwave for about 30-45 seconds or until it starts to bubble. It only takes about 1/4 cup to do a 10 inch cake or so. I glaze the cakes as soon as they come out of the pan, after they are levelled, but then I level a cake while hot. You can glaze your cakes when they are cool also but the glaze must be hot. It takes around 30 minutes to set up or until your cake is completely cool. Then I wrap the glazed cake in plastic wrap and foil to freeze or ice right away or the next day.
Do not soak the cake, brush on sparingly using a pastry brush. The advantage is it is much faster and you don't have to worry about letting your cakes cool before using it.
As far as taste goes, well this is why I water it down, it doesn't really leave a noticable taste on the cake when watered down. You can glaze the cakes with just the heated strained jam but will get more of a taste. You can actually do this with any pure jam or jelly in the same manner but there may be a bit more of a taste transferance with other jams or jellies.
Hugs Squirrelly Cakes

Thanks so much, SquirrellyCakes. Great instructions! Now I understand what to do!