Is there a trick to getting your frosting smooth?

On the home page are links to information about the VISA paper towel method.

I haven't tried that yet and might attempt it tonight. This might sound dumb, but does it have to be VIVA or can it be any type of paper towel?

Viva papertowels are smooth, they don't have an imprint. Any other papertowel that is smooth will work as well

Just a question. i use the viva method, but i dont like it. I feel like it gives the cake a 'matte' look. It looks kind of dry. Does that make sense?? I see so many cakes that have a shiny clean look, with a super crisp edge. HOW DO THEY DO THAT???

Anybody good at it???

Nicole

Those blue shop towels that you buy at an auto-parts store work good too.
You could probably mist some simple sugar mixture on the frosting when you are done.

I kind of like the matted finish look so that wouldn't bother me.

I keep reading that people use the Viva towel because it has no texture to it, but my wilton instructor told us to use it because it's lint free. In other words it won't put little paper towel lint bits in your frosting. Either way, the Viva towels do work. I like using the viva towels when I don't have a border on top edge, but otherwise I prefer using parchment paper. I use the precut triangles because they go around the sides of the cake better (a round cake that is).

I've tried copy paper. It is a touch smoother than Viva towels, but not necessarily shiney. I think they shiney icing may be the Italian meringue. Not really sure if I know what I am talking about here since I have never made it. Maybe someone else can help better.

I've tried copy paper. It is a touch smoother than Viva towels, but not necessarily shiney. I think they shiney icing may be the Italian meringue. Not really sure if I know what I am talking about here since I have never made it. Maybe someone else can help better.

I use parchment paper - very smooth finish - a little pricier than the papertowels but I like the smooth effect better than mat. My personal preference

I get it as smooth as I can, then let it set up for a few minutes, and take a large cake trowel (I found it at a cake store, but it is really the same as a large putty knife from the hardware store) and run it under hot water. I leave it damp and smooth the cake using a turntable. If needed, I get it wet again to complete the whole cake. I really like this method. The icing then re-sets and has a very smooth, clean finish. For a shiny finish, I think that depends on the frosting recipe.

I use the same method as Trombonekaren just mentioned.....for some reason, people always mention that my icing is really shiny and I think it's because I use a 50/50 crisco/butter recipe.

I think you only get the shine with the meringue BCs. I'm pretty sure a crusting BC won't shine!