Hi ladies,
My question is how long does it typically take you to ice your cake before decorating. Are there any tricks you use to speed up the process? I made 3 cakes over the last 4 days and the icing part took the longest....

I get so much awesome information from this site -- you all are magical.
many thanks in advance,
Dottie

I use the big icer tip and smooth with a large spatula or big putty knife, then let it crust and smooth with a viva paper towel. It doesn't take too long at all.

i prefer to start with the icer tip also. just make it so much quicker for me. Then use a small angled spatula to smooth out the "lines" between each strip of icing, let crust and use the small wooden roller to smooth.

Leily

I agree the icer tip is the best bet for icing cakes quickly and smoothly. Makes sure that you have a uniform layer of icing too (bonus).
We use it all the time at work and takes us just a few minutes to ice cakes (ten minutes tops if we are being really picky). I use the icer tip basically for bc and not whipped type frostings I find that the whipped type have a very bad habit of "farting" (bubbles get in the bag and the frostting goes SPLAT on your cake. man i hate when that happens. so on whipped type frosting i usually put a bunch on top of the cake and spread and flatten that out and then take the excess that has built up on the edges and smoosh it down on the sides to get them frosted. then i go back with a bench scraper and smoothe it all on the sides first and then on the top taking off the excess icing as i go. With practice only takes a couple minutes. If I want glass smooth surface, i use a long spatula ran under hot water and smooth out any bumps n stuff.

I also use the piping bag to put on the frosting, no crumb coat needed. If it is not a shaped (3D cake), I usually use the upside down cake decorating technique found in the articles section, easy and the cakes look professional.

It takes a long time at first but with more practice it takes less time. I am a big fan of the icing tip and Viva. One thing to try and remember though is that if you are going to use a lot of decorations don't be such a perfectionist.

Hey everybody.

Could you tell me what is a benchscraper?

thank you.

I use a 5" spackle knife to smooth and I absolutely love it! After I let it crust, then I use computer paper to smooth any imperfections. Just my 2 cents.