Hi guys,
I have a cake to make for tomorrow and I need help FAST! She just wants plain chocolate frosting, not buttercream, so I was going to use chocolate fudge becuase I hear that's thicker and better for cakes. So my question is: How do I make it smooth? Has anyone frosted with canned frosting? Are there any tricks to making it nice and pretty? Also, I wanted the frosting to be thick on the cake - will that be a problem? Will it slide off the top and sides, or should it set ok? Any ideas or help you guys can give would be MOST appreciated. I'm kind of freaking out becuase I normally work with bc and have my tricks for that, but not so sure about canned choco frosting.

Also, I'm putting two 9x13s together to make a 'sheet cake' and I'm double layering it. Any tips on how to make the crease in the middle less obvious (maybe more frosting over it?). And how do I prevent it from cracking? ANy tips there?

HELP!!! (I promise to post a pic if you help me! LOL )

Thanks,
Kellie

i'm not sure, maybe try refrigerating it, then going over it with the paper towel? canned frosting is so sticky, i just don't know. i wonder if you could add a little powdered sugar to it to kind of stiffen it up? maybe it would smooth better?

I would try the hot spatula method. Boil some water and remove from heat. Dip in your spatula and wipe off all the water from the spatula...then smooth your cake. That should do the trick.


Hope that helps...Hugs, ~Denise

I tried to smooth some canned frosting with the paper towel and it did not work at all! I am wondering if a plastic scraper might work.

Good luck!

That's how I make my sheet cakes, 2 9x13 pushed together. As long as their the same level, pushed togther tightly, firmly (how ever you would say) you should be okay. I always crumb coat (I'm not sure if you can do that with the frosting you're using) and then yes, add more frosting. Make sure it's on a strudy board, so that the cake doesn't wabble or anything and you should have no cracks.
Hope that helps!

Please post if you got the can icing smooth and how. Thanks Caixa

Thanks guys! I'm wondering if I should just use choco bc instead. She said chocolate, so I figured I'd use plain choco, BUT I know bc smooths and so maybe choco bc would be a better choice? The funny thing is, the girl ordering it hates chocolate, but it's for her mom, so she's being sweet and giving her a choco cake. So what do you think? Try the reg choco, or just go with choco bc?

Thanks guys! I'm wondering if I should just use choco bc instead. She said chocolate, so I figured I'd use plain choco, BUT I know bc smooths and so maybe choco bc would be a better choice? The funny thing is, the girl ordering it hates chocolate, but it's for her mom, so she's being sweet and giving her a choco cake. So what do you think? Try the reg choco, or just go with choco bc?

Thanks guys! I'm wondering if I should just use choco bc instead. She said chocolate, so I figured I'd use plain choco, BUT I know bc smooths and so maybe choco bc would be a better choice? The funny thing is, the girl ordering it hates chocolate, but it's for her mom, so she's being sweet and giving her a choco cake. So what do you think? Try the reg choco, or just go with choco bc?

Once I had to do a cake quickly and used chocolate stor bought icing. I used the one that says"whipped". It was thicker than the normal icing. I did add a bit of powdered sugar to thicken it even more for decorating.

you can add powdered sugar to store bought frosting and make it end up the same consistency as BC....I've done it tons of times in a pinch, I just dump it in my mixer bowl and add powdered sugar little by little until it is the right consistency...with the chocolate though, it will lighten it slightly so you may want to add more cocoa powder too!!! It will crust up pretty well for you too if you throw in a TBLSP. of meringue powder too. I have done it a ton and used the paper towel method and it works with the meringue powder in it. Also you won't have to worry about your sheet cake cracking as long as it is on a VERY sturdy board, I would suggest plywood when working with cakes that large....good luck, let us know how it turns out!!

A couple of times I have taken canned chocolate frosting and mixed in some powdered sugar. It will then crust more like a buttercream. One thing to note is that the powdered sugar will lighten the color of the chocolate slightly.

Tastes good too!

I would skip the canned chocolate frosting and make a really rich, dark chocolate buttercream. I don't know how she'd even be able to tell the difference (except that the homemade would taste better!). Did she say she wants canned icing?
There's a recipe on this site for bittersweet chocolate frosting that I've heard is very yummy. I don't know how it is for smoothing, but you could PM the submitter and ask her.

Good luck!

Here a link to a recipe on this site called Chocolate Syrup Frosting. It sounds really yummy.

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-2033-0-Chocolate-Syrup-Frosting.html

Because it contains butter and powdered sugar, I'm guessing you could get it smooth with the hot spatula method. It may not crust, but putting the iced cake in the fridge would firm up the butter and make it easier to smooth.

Another good idea with the powdered sugar! You guys rock! Now if I do this method, I know you said it would lighten the chocolate. So do I just add small amoutns of cocoa to achieve the desired color? Will it make it bitter, or still be delicious?

K, one more question: If I were to make choco bc, and it calls for butter and milk, does it then need to be refrigerated? I don't think I can fit the cake in my fridge, and I don't know what the conditions will be like at the party (which isn't until tomorrow nightm but they're setting up early). I've made reg bc with shortening, but never with milk and butter. Can I just substitute the butter for shortening, and water for milk, or woudl it make for a strange consistency?

Thanks again!!!!! You guys are helping me get through this, and I really really appreciate it. I'm in slight freak-out mode, but it's dwindling away... ahhhhhhh

I would keep the butter and milk. The flavor will be better. If you really want to, you could do 1/2 butter, 1/2 shortening.
Icings made with butter can be kept at room temp for a few days. The sugar acts as a preservative. I leave plain butter on my counter for days at a time so it's soft for toast etc.--it's fine.
Unless there's a large amount of milk or cream in a recipe, it too will stay fresh at room temp. In the recipe I posted, there's only 1 TBS milk.
So, short answer--Yes! You can leave the cake at room temp. I do it all the time (unless the filling is perishable).

If you want to darken the color of the canned frosting, you could add some cocoa powder and some brown food coloring.

Hi guys,

Ok, I did it! I made the cake with canned frosting, as is (no powdered sugar added - I know, scary huh?) and it actually turned out alright! I had to trim one edge of the cake so I had lots of crumbs, so I put a crumb coating over it, then went back over with LOTS of frosting and was able to smooth it out pretty well. I used a really long spatula, but honestly an even longer one would have been better, and gobbed on the frosting, then smoothed it out. I kept it thich which helped a lot. And I couldn't beleive how easy the sides were to smooth out. Not bad at all!

I did add powdered sugar to the cream cheese frosting for decorations, and it worked perfectly too. And still tasted great!

As far as putting the 2 9x13s together, tricky, but I managed. I cut them side-by-side to try to get them level, then put frosting in between to act as glue, then stuck them together. Then i did the same thing with the top layers. Seemed to hold just fine. It was pretty heavy, so I ended up using 2 of the cardboard cake boards (take them together first, then wrapped them both in wax paper) and it worked!

The daughter picked up the cake and just loved it, so I'm hoing her mom did as well! I've posted a pic for you guys to check out.

Thanks again for all of your help - it was MOST appreciated!!!! Helped keep me sane through it .

_kellie

Kellie-

That turned out really well! I never would have guessed that you used canned frosting.
Good job!

It turned out really nice, it does not look like canned frosting, hopefully it is as easy for me as it was for you. I like the taste of canned chocolate frosting, not to mention the convinience. Thanks Caixa.