Well, I decided to make a cake for my step-mothers birthday this past weekend. I made a chocolate cake with a buttercream icing and a buttercream transfer. All the while I was worried about the FBCT not coming out right but it came out ok, I just should have used a bigger picture.

Issues with the cake:
1. The cake came out a little dry.
2. I couldn't control the crumbs while icing it, so the crumbs show. Apparently this was not a crusting icing.
3. The icing was way toooooo sweet.

This was my first "decorated" cake. I almost feel like I ruined her birthday, but she is so gracious and she told me that the cake looked amazing for my first time and she did tell me that the icing was a little sweet.

I just had to get that out. I feel a little better, but I won't feel great until I try it again.

Thanks for listening.

I'm just starting out, but I can already tell there is a lot to learn. There are so many tricks that can make things easier that have to be learned.

Don't let this get you down. Your next cake will be better, the cake after that even better....

Awww Hippiemama! Thanks for the encouragement. There is alot to learn. And yes, my cake(s) will definately be better than the last.

Thanks again!

dry cake usually is either a bad recipe or baked too long. don't make a mistake of subbing skim milk for whole milk, BTW - you need the fat in a cake.

use a crumb coat - aTHINNNN coat of icing that has been thinned with water or milk. Let that set, then ice with a slightly thicker layer.

Sweetness is just a matter of taste. Don['t leave out the salt, and try different icings until you find the one you like. my fav chocolate icing is toba garretts - you can find it on epicurious.com

I have been doing cakes for only 4 months and feel your disappointment. But turn your mistakes into something positive and learn from them. Each cake you do you will see improvement as I have. Don't let this rob your joy but keep on. Keep reading from all these experienced CC'ers and learn from their trials and errors. We all have been there and I am sure will be there again at different times. Keep on baking!

I know exactly how you feel. I had some success in my classes and was all excited about doing my daughter's birthday cake - it seemed like everything went wrong. of course everyone told me it looked good, but it was my worst cake and it was for my own daughter! (not some dumb class) anyway, I learned lots.
I just finished a little cake for a friend and it fell over!!! grrr, oh well more lessons.
just got to keep plugging away at it, and don't let it turn you off doing more (as I thought my last cake almost would have)

If I need to crumb coat my cake, I stick it in the freezer for about 15 minutes, and add the super thin layer of icing while it's still cold.
Works like a charm. Wait another 15-20 minutes, and ice it again. No crumbs will show.

I had a problem too with the icing being too sweet, I just add a tbs of flour in with the sugar and it cuts it down quite a bit. Don't give up!

Join the "club" ...hehe...im pretty sure everyone from beginners to advanced here on CC can tell you a disaster story or two, so dont feel bad. If sweet icing and a couple crumbs were the worst of it then I think you should feel great because it will only get better!

I had the same problems with my first cake, but just keep trying.

You all are the BEST! Thanks for your encouraging words and great advice. I guess that I had high expectations for my first cake because of all of the time that I spend reading on this wonderful site. I know that practice makes perfect and I will continue on. I will be sure to use the tips given about lessening the sweetness of the buttercream icing. I thought about the fact that there was no salt in the recipe for the icing after I had started icing the cake. I know that I will get better as time goes on.

Thanks again.

I am sure your cake wasn't as bad as it seemed to you. We are all our own worst critics and we notice more problems with our cakes than people who don't decorate.

For the sweetness you can add a big pinch of salt to your icing and it will cut the sweetness quite a bit.

My trick for combating a dry cake is to put it in the freezer after it has cooled about 10 minutes. I take it out 3-4 hours before I am going to ice it and they are always SUPER moist.

I have found that using cake release helps combat crumbs and also spraying the cake with simple syrup and letting it dry a bit also cuts down on crumbs. Also, making sure your icing is thinned enough helps with less crumbs..took me awhile to get it right at first!

HTH!

Ashlee

I did not see anything about prep time. I let all my cakes rest for a day at least. This way it crumbs a ton less. Newly baked cakes are very fragile and can cause many problems.

Try it next time. Cakes that are allowed to rest are far easier to work with. The cake is too soft and warm. Warm cakes let steam out whcih could be the root of your problem.[/quote]


I am sure that was the problem. Thanks so much for your advice, it is greatly appreciated. I will be trying it again this weekend but with a different cake recipe. Wish me luck! [/url]

Don't worry. I'm going to ice my first cake this weekend and I'm nervous about it. It's not for anybody but I'm all worried that it will taste horrible and look hideous. Oh well, you know what they say, Practice makes perfect!!

P.S. I'm sure the cake was wonderful!!

Also nannaraquel told me it's easier to ice when the cakes are frozen. I baked mine on Sunday and plan on icing it while frozen!!

And chocolate cake is notorious for crumbs. I always use the cake icer tip and that helps a ton!

I'm with moydear, I always make my cakes a day before I do any form of decorating them. Looking forward to seeing all these cakes.