Smooth Iced Cupcakes - An Idea Being Born?
Decorating By DelightsByE Updated 5 Jun 2006 , 4:57am by tobycat
I have a wedding in a few weeks where each cupcake is topped with a BC flower. Underneath the icing needs to be as smooth as possible. There are almost 200 cupcakes to the order and I am dreading the spatula. I have an idea and I'd love your input.
On the backside of a cookie sheet, tape down a layer of waxed paper. Smooth on a layer of BC, about, what, 1/8 thick? Stick the sheet in the freezer for about 30 minutes.
Take it out, and using a round cookie or dough cutter the same diameter as the cupcake top, cut circles out of the icing, carefully remove the circles, flip them rough-side down onto the cupcake (waxed-paper side up), and let them soften as they come back to room temperature where they will then conform to the top of the cupcake.
Now - I haven't tried this, but I've been thinking about it. Might try it this weekend. Anyone have any thoughts or comments? Any great minds thinking alike?
That sounds like it might work. Let us know how it turns out. As long as the BC adheres to the cupcake, I don't see why it wouldn't ??????
Sounds like you have come up with a new technique!! As mhill91801 pointed out about the bc sticking to the cupcake, maybe putting a small amount of room temp bc on the cupcake as glue would help the cold round piece of bc stick better.
Please keep us updated. I'm curious to know how this works out... Good luck!
Well...if it does, I will photo-document it and put it out there as a technique.
Thanks as always for the support!
...sounds like a great idea to me, let us know how it goes. It got me thinking though......how about doing the upside down technique? There is an article here explaining how to do it with a cake and it seems to me it would work with cupcakes as well!
Well yeah Mrs Missey - that's the technique that got me thinking - except for the upside-down part. I figured that a round cutter would make the perfect edge in a perfect circle, without the pesky putty knife.
I have a huge cake job for tomorrow, but Sunday - I will start to play with it!
I bet it would work! It sounds like a great idea anyway! I don't think you'd have any trouble with the wax paper coming off because it would be just like a FBCT. Let us know if you test it how it works!
Good luck,
HeatherMari
i think it would work if you level the cup cake first. I think if the cup cake still has its hump you will have a mess on your hands. Personally if they all had to be smooth, i would run some fondant through a pasta machine and using the round cutter cut a circle for the top of each cake.
sounds like a great idea to me..........I've seen some people on here bake the cupcakes so that the top of the cupcake didn't have a hump and only came just up to the edge of the paper and then they just filled in everything with frosting making the top perfectly flat and smooth........but your technique sounds like it would be great if you actually want the hump but still want the frosting absolutely smooth, and didn't want to use some kind of ganache where you could dip and flip them and have it set up smooth.........great idea!!!!!!!
Actually the method has already been discovered. There is a tutorial in the "Articles" section on doing this upside down method with a cake. I have tried several this way and let me tell you, only one worked.
It depends on the type of icing you use, I think. Most of the time, half the icing stuck to the parchment paper (and I have tried different temperatures) when it comes time to peal the parchment away, and you end up re-applying the icing with a spatula which defeats the purpose. I have come to the conclusion that it is easier to do it by hand and with a spatula at the start.
Besides, with that many cupcakes, you will be a whiz with the spatula method in no time. 
Hi Rodney, yes I have used the upside down icing technique many times and I personally like it. It is that technique that gave me the idea, combined with the FBCT method. If there is enough butter in the BC it comes off the waxed paper really nicely. I don't use parchment for the FBCT, so I probably wouldn't try it with this technique either.
In any case - I will be playing with this on Sunday and I will report back!
Delights, will you cut the waxed paper between the circles and put the icing on the cupcake with the waxed paper still attached--then peel? That sounds like it might work.
Also, you can flatten your cupcakes by placing a heavy cutting board or tray on top of the pan for a few minutes while they're still warm. I know some don't like this approach because it flattens the cake, but others swear by it. One of our members (sorry I can't remember who) has a tutorial on her website for making cupcake cakes and this is one of the steps she uses.
Well DeniseMarlane, I hadn't thought to cut the waxed paper...but if the frozen BC round won't peel off unless I do cut it, then I definitely will do that. I also plan to wear my latex gloves so I don't get fingerprints on the icing.
Great idea about flattening the cupcakes!
I use a disher (like an ice cream scoop) to perfectly portion the cupcake batter so they all come out the exact same size. I can't remember what the # is but it's the yellow one.
Hi Rodney, yes I have used the upside down icing technique many times and I personally like it. It is that technique that gave me the idea, combined with the FBCT method. If there is enough butter in the BC it comes off the waxed paper really nicely. I don't use parchment for the FBCT, so I probably wouldn't try it with this technique either.
In any case - I will be playing with this on Sunday and I will report back!
Waxed paper!!!! I always though it would stick more. Thanks, I will try this next time. I had all but given up on this method. 
Rodneyck - the only difference I can think of is in the waxed paper itself. Since wax gets hard when it freezes, and silicone does not, I think that might be what lends itself better to these techniques than parchment paper.
And here I thought you were just wet-blanketing me! 
You could spread melted chocolate on parchment and when it is set you can use a cookie in the appropiate size to cut out tops for the cupcakes. You would have to experiment with a few to get the correct thickness or thiness that you want. It wouldn't matter if they cracked because they are going to be decorated, right?
That sounds like a lot of work. Here's a method that works for me - but only if you use a crusting buttercream. If you don't, then disregard!
Pipe a spiral of icing onto cupcake with a large round tip (I use #12). Let icing crust for a few minutes. Place a Viva paper towel in the palm of one hand. While holding the cupcake with the other hand, gently spin and turn to work the icing smooth.
Diane, That's a good method that I am also going to try. The choc. method is fast and ez but that is because I work with choc. all the time. And to me, a taste of choc. is better than the buttercream unless it's IMBC. That is just my taste. For sure I am going to try yours too.
Hi Y'all, I'm back from the land of sunset wedding cakes!
I tried this method this evening with some of the BC I had leftover from this weekend's wedding cake. I couldn't find my tin of round cutters fr the exact size, but I did have handy a biscuit cutter with a scalloped edge, slightly smaller than the diameter of the cupcake. I liked the technique, although I intend to try again with the BC recipe used in the FBCT method. This was nice, I like the edge scalloped like that, but the icing softened on me REALLY fast, and some of the rounds cracked when I tried to remove them from the cutter.
The other problem I had was in smoothing it out enough on the cookie sheet. I didn't think those spatula ridges were going to matter, but when the icing softened you could kinda tell.
So - I'm not scrapping the idea, it just needs more R&D.
Here is what my finished cupcake looked like:
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Wow -- you all must have been reading my mind because this is exactly the kind of thing I need for my daughter's birthday! I was thinking about how to get a FBCT onto the cupcakes (Dora of course), but couldn't get past the spatula part. Now I've got a way to try. THanks! And, I think the scalloped edges on the cupcake look great - think the whole thing looks great! 
Sarah
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