Any suggestions on icing a cake smoothly? I am getting better with practice, and have used the Viva trick, but any other suggestions would be great!!! Thanks

check out the videos on youtube...tonedna and seriouscakes have great ones

Meringue based buttercreams are easier to smooth.

By meringue based are you talking about the recipes that start with meringue power and water? like the Wilton Snow white buttercream? Thanks!

Um, no. Wilton doesn't have any meringue buttercream recipes that I know of. By meringue based I mean Italian Meringue Buttercream (IMBC) or Swiss Meringue Buttercream (SMBC). These are made with egg whites, granulated sugar, and butter (real butter, not margarine, not shortening and butter flavoring).

Thanks!

Hi and Welcome to CC, TripleJMomma.

Everything you need to know to make, decorate and assemble tiered/stacked/layer cakes:

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-605188-.html

Above superthread has popular CC recipes for crusting American buttercreams, several types of fondant and doctored cake mix (WASC and other flavor variations) and so much more!

There's also a section on smoothing crusting b/c's using either the Viva or Melvira methods. Or smoothing non-crusting b/c's using a different method.

HTH