I tried the VIVA method of smoothing the BC...and all I can say is AMAZING!!!!! I love it! I wish I knew about this sooner! Thanks to y'all on CC this was brought to my attention. If anyone teaches decorating classes, this needs to be one of your lectures and include a homework assignment. This kind of success with homework will inspire and motivate any newbie!!

I LOVE VIVA!!!

I'm with you all the way!! I just had to make a special trip to Walmart to buy some VIVA cause I'm all out and I need to make a smooth cake tonight!!!

Isn't it nice to stumble on great techniques!!!!!

I will say that I am a believer!!!! I just tried it last weekend and was totally amazed.


thanks CC Members!!

I've also used the Brawney embossed papertowels on cakes.

I was skeptical about it at first; and I even saw my own sil do it right in front of me!!! LOL!

But, I eventually gave in & tried it and I agree with you........it's amazing!!!!!!

I've tried the paper towel thing but it never works for me and I don't know why. When I pull the towel off the icing I get icing all over the towel and have to patch up the cake. I have never been able to do the towel trick. Is my icing too soft? Should I have added more sugar? I am following the icing measurements to a T though. Does anyone else have this problem ever?

You have to make sure your frosting is a crusting frosting. Let it set about 5-10 minutes, then use the towel. Lightly rub fondant smoother or hand over towel. I start with fondant smoother but finish up with my hand. I can feel the frosting better.

Sounds to me like you are not using a "crusting" buttercream recipe. It has to crust a little before it can work.

Can you use coffee filters? I havent done either but I was jsut curious....

What is the recipe of buttercream that crusts? I don't think I have this one.

I found one on this site I think:

1 stick butter
1/2 cup solid crisco
1 tsp flavoring [vanilla]
4 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbsp milk or water

If you don't have VIVA try parchment or waxed paper. On a full sheet I have used a full sheet of parchment and a rolling pin.

How smooth does the icing have to be ,before you use the viva? sometimes
I still get waves in the icing, and what is the BEST BC incing to use????

I try to get it pretty smooth with a hot spatula first. Then stick it in the fridge for a bit. I use the fondant smoother over the Viva, so my hands don't make dents or marks.

I've been reading your posts....good luck with your DD's cake..you'll do great![/quote]

Thanks Mbalis, and everyone who has helped me! Im beginning to get a little nervous about it, but im trying not to worry to much.
Im going to bake my cakes tomorow. I have decided to do a swiss chocolate with rasberry cream filling and chocolate buttercream, 9 in and 6 in, with white buttercream roses and white and dark chocolate covered strawberries. Maby some chocolate pretzel sticks, im not sure yet. I decided to go with something simple, and since I can do the roses and border already, im sticking with that and letting the strawberries make it WOW, lol. Im thinking a recipe I have for chocolate mousse filled strawberries, but it jsut depends on how well it goes with thecake timewise, well see.
huggs
Val

Cakepro guess what?? Viva just came out with prints on their towels!! I got some tonight at of all places the Dollar Store!! I could not believe it because I am with you. I only use Viva for everything now. They are the same non-quilted towel just with a print on one side.

Is the printed side colored?

yes pretty flowers on the roll I bought

I've used some brands (usually generic) of paper towels that just have an even "dot texture" on them over a basket ball or foot ball cake which leaves a texture that resembles the real thing! Pretty cool!! It's got to be the right kind of texture though!

The reason that I asked that question is because if you use Viva paper towel for smoothing your icing, it should be the white paper towel with NO design. I wrote to Kimberly Clark about the safety of using the Viva towels for smoothing purposes on our cakes. This is the response that I received.

Dear Margie,

Thanks for your e-mail about KLEENEX® VIVA® paper towels.

Please be assured this product is made with 100% virgin wood fiber. Our paper towels are designed for a wide variety of household wiping and cleaning purposes. If used for food preparation, we recommend that consumers use white (unprinted) paper towels.

Thanks again for your e-mail.


Sue
Consumer Services
Kimberly-Clark Corp.

Just thought that I would pass this information along. I think that any colored dye that is in the paper towel could actually be transferred to the icing.
Margie

Thanks for the warning Margie. I just got them tonight and haven't even opened them, But like I mentioned I really like using them around the house too, so that is where they will go. They are great for cleaning windows and mirrors too. No lint!

Yea, I absolutely love those paper towels too. None other compare to cleaning up spills, etc. and of course the wonders of those towels on smoothing the icing is amazing. I bet the patterned ones are pretty. I'll have to check them out.
Margie

I just tried it last night and I said the same thing... It was like ** MAGIC**
When I iced the cake I made sure it was as unsmooth as possible. Then Viola (sp?) my cake was smooth, I would like to try it with the different textured papertowels.. Whoever came up with this idea hats off to you! I love this website!!!

I hae heard of the viva method, but never used it, and it just occured to me that I dont know how. I had assumed that you just rub it all over the cake till its smoothe, but i remember someone saying that they had ran out on a particular cake, which leads me to believe that it takes more than 1 piece. man I feel like an idiot right now

shelain22 - you are absolutely correct. You let the icing crust for 10-15 minutes and you place the Viva paper towel over the top and smooth out with your hands. You then do the sides and blend the sides and top together. It may take 2-3 paper towels to do it, especially if you happen to pull up a bit of icing that wasn't quite crusted over yet. Some people use a fondant smoother to smoothe out the icing but I find it simpler just to use my hands. It's easy to do and it works SOOOO well. I'm going to try to attach a before and after picture to show you how well it does. You smooth it out the best you can prior to using the Viva towel but as you can see in the pictures, it's not necessary to worry too much about it. I hardly smoothed this one out at all as you can see and the towel still worked great.