I am TERRIBLE when it comes to getting a smooth cake with BC. Does any one have a goof-proof plan for a smooth cake????? Thanks for the help!!!

Make sure you are waiting long enough for your icing to crust. Have you tried Viva paper towels? You have to use the ones that don't have a pattern on them. I love them.

Dummy here How do you do it? The viva?

I use the viva paper towel method. After the icing has crusted I smoothe the paper towel over it with a fondant smoother and it works great.

What were you using to smooth your cake? Parchment? With the viva you let the icing crust, then you lay the paper towel right ont he cake and use your hand or a fondant smoother (I use the smoother) and smooth over the paper towel. It works every time for me. If there is a small section that won't smooth I use my hand over the paper towel so that they warmth of my hand will smooth it out, then I use the smoother after that.
Did that make sense?

My luck I will pull the icing off with the paper towel! How long does the BC need to crust. Sorry I am new to this

Make sure you're using a crusting buttercream recipe along with the Viva.

I usually wait 10-15 minutes for my icing to crust. I love the viva trick it has made my life SO much easier. Good luck!

Interesting. I will try this viva thing.
This is really informative site.
Thanks to you all.

Nitu

Viva rocks! (lol)

If you pull some of the icing off with your paper towel, then you didn't wait long enough.

Also, you don't have to "rub" very hard at all...it barely takes any pressure to smooth it out.

Good Luck!!!

I take my spatula and dip it in hot water then smooth. Works great


~Kim

Great advice from great CC members!!!! THANKS!!! Can't wait to try it!

Can you use other paper like Parchment besides Viva ? I'm just wondering, since VIva has texture, Parchment don't.. .

Parchment or wax paper is fine. I personally don;t like the method because hwever i do it i get little lines of where my icing wasn't smooth(so insetad of smooth, you can see lines all over it). Maybe i'm just a messy starter ,but prefer the hot water/cold water method with a big scraper.

Viva makes a paper towel that has no texture to it. You can use parchment, but you will have more of a chance of pulling up icing with it. I don't know why it works that way.

I just use parchment paper....and I'm a huge fan of cornelli lace and swirly icing on the tops anyway! Smooth isn't ALWAYS the way to go! Also....I make big shells in my borders! Covers more up!

I love this website, I never heard of such a thing but I am new as well to decorating. I always used a butter knife dipped in water to smooth out my cake, but that sometimes is so stressful because it doesn't work the best...thanks for the tips!!!

I recently had a class where the instructor had us crumb coat a cake about 3 or 4 times. After each crumb coating we put the cake in the refirigerator. After refrigerating the last time we took it out and we were pretty much able to carve (because of all the layers) it to a smooth surface. It looked great. Although a bit time consuming depending on how fast you could crumb coat.

I crumb coat, then a regular coat, smoothed with a bench scraper on the sides, offset spatula on the top. Then when it crusts, I use interfacing from the fabric department to smooth. It works great. Better for me than the Viva towels.

VIVA, VIVA, VIVA!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love this and always use it. Just be sure not to wait too long because then it will be harder to smooth. If some icing comes off then just wait a bit longer. I always just test it first to see if the icing is crusted enough. After you do it a few times you will just kinda know when the icing is ready for the Viva.

I like this better than parchment because the Viva molds to the cake where the parchment is more stiffer and is more difficult to use, especially when the edges dig into the cake.

I buy the Viva in big bulk packs and they are only for my use and everyone in the house knows that!!!!!!!! LOL

How does this paper towel look like?....is viva the brand name? Or can we use any paper towel that is available at the supermarket?. Sorry for the stupid question..... as I have alot of kitchen paper towels at home...

I'm going to go look for this VIVA I've never heard of it, but then again never looked. Also, here's another question, what is crumb coating????

Good questions and answers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am learning a lot!!!

I like to use a meringue buttercream which never crusts, I guess because it is all butter and uses regular sugar not powdered sugar. It's very smooth and creamy. I try to get the top as smooth as possible and then I get the sides smooth by using a turntable. I will spin the cake a few times with my large spatula against the side then go back and fill in any areas where the frosting is a bit thinner and then spin again.

Viva is a brand name of paper towels. Not all paper towels will work because they have patterns on them. Vivas are flat. They are the only flat ones that I know of. You can you patterned paper towels if you want that pattern on your cake, but that would be very hard to get even!

VIVA fan here. It only takes few minutes for the icing to crust (maybe 3 to 5 minutes?) If you wait too long, you will get cracks/lines in the icing. I gently touch the cake with my fingertip after 3 minutes and if it sticks - it isn't ready to work yet, try again in another couple of minutes. When it feels dry to the touch, it is ready! The fine design in the Viva does not show up - it just makes a very smooth surface. You can see a lot in my photos - all of the cakes in there have been smoothed with the Viva method. I LOVE IT!!

I am still new at this too, but I just did my wedding cake in the crusting cream cheese icing. I used a large 5" plastic putty knife, and spun it until I was happy with the smooth sides, smoothed the tops, then after it crusted, I used a clean sheet of computer paper to smooth the imperfections. I am an amateur, but I think for my level, it turned out good.

Love to see the cake. Where did you get the cream cheese recipe kerri729?

kerri729 - that is a gorgeous cake!! WOW - and you did your own! I tried to post to it in the gallery when you first posted it, but the site would not let me.

Viva papertowels are almost like cloth not scratchy and hard like regular papertowels.