Making A 14 In. Layer A 12 In. Layer

Decorating By CakewardHo Updated 26 Sep 2012 , 12:56pm by CakewardHo

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CakewardHo Posted 26 Sep 2012 , 11:56am
post #1 of 8

I have a bride/friend who has called me at the last minute with a change in the head count for the wedding. Since I have already baked half her cake, it will require cutting down one of the tiers from 14 to 12 inches. In the past when I have cut the "cooked" part off the cake and left just "bare" cake, the icing does not stick as well or can slide off. Are there any tricks to making the icing stick well? Any help would be appreciated.

7 replies
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trebakes Posted 26 Sep 2012 , 12:02pm
post #2 of 8

I'd leave it as it is. Someone might want seconds thumbs_up.gif

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BakingIrene Posted 26 Sep 2012 , 12:10pm
post #3 of 8

Well what does your contract say?:You have presumably been paid for 14", the customer made the change so late that the cake was already baked...Unlike the number of catered plates, the cake just can't shrink at the last minute.

Another reason--I think you should make it 14" because 12" might look "off". If the design was 14-10-6 then 12-10-6 will definitely look awkward. You would have to do 12-9-6 for it to look right, and that would totally waste your baked layers, right?

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CakewardHo Posted 26 Sep 2012 , 12:10pm
post #4 of 8

It messes up the structure of the cake. I was originally going to do an 18, 14, 10. But now I need to do a 16, 12, 8. Was not looking forward to making the 18" layer anyway.

She is a friend, unfortunately--sometimes they are the hardest to please, contract or whatever aside, is there a way to do this without the icing sliding down the sides?

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BakingIrene Posted 26 Sep 2012 , 12:30pm
post #5 of 8

OK so we need information. What kind of icing do you normally make? Are you putting on fondant? Is there anything special about the cake batter itself?

I'm asking because I haven't had a problem. When I make a checkerboard cake, I use sliced strips of a rectangular cake.and the butter-based buttercream goes on just fine.

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CakewardHo Posted 26 Sep 2012 , 12:37pm
post #6 of 8

It is buttercream, I have used the WASC recipe for the cake.

Can I crumb coat it with thinner (as in less stiff) buttercream than I normally use?

The cake has the top and bottom layers done entirely in rosettes and this tier is smooth with polka dots. And to make things more complicated, she wants it "blush" color.

I don't want to rent more kitchen time to bake this layer again. I just want the icing to adhere to the cake.

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BakingIrene Posted 26 Sep 2012 , 12:44pm
post #7 of 8

I always thin down my crumb coat with milk or corn syrup. Maybe you should try corn syrup, it does a good job of making the icing sticky. Then make sure to let it air dry for an hour, and the final buttercream should stick OK.

For a smooth finish, you should also be using a slightly softer buttercream than for the rosettes. You can mix one batch of icing, and then break out different bowls of it to adjust for different softness.

"Blush" color is just a pale shade of coral with maybe a touch of ivory mixed in (Americolor gels).

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CakewardHo Posted 26 Sep 2012 , 12:56pm
post #8 of 8

Thank you! I will definitely try the corn syrup.

I think I am going to mix a bowl of coral-pink and mix it with the white buttercream to make sure the color stays the same--I think it will be easier to measure by teaspoon or tablespoon. I was never good with just a smidgen of icing color mixed straight into the icing. I think the rosettes will be somewhat forgiving about the color since they have so much texture.

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