I have never attempted this, but would like to try.
1. Do I just use a regular serrated knife?
2. How do the crumbs not get everywhere? Are you sculpting, freezing, then crumb coating?
3. To get BC so smooth on a sculpted cake, I am assuming Viva?
I, too, would like to know the best way to do this as I am supposed to do a sculpted dog cake this weekend. I have instructions on how to shape it, but, nothing is said about what to use or anything. Any help would be appreciated!
I am a true beginner to cake decorating and I did my first real cake this weekend, it was a sculpted fishing creel. What I did was bake the cake (3 layers) and then put them together with icing in between the layers and then I wrapped the whole thing really well with saran wrap and froze it overnight. The next day I took it out and used a large knife (not serrated) and started carving it. I didn't get any crumbs because it was still pretty solid but manageable to cut through. Then I crumbcoated it before it truly defrosted. I was surprised that it was much easier than I thought it would be. Granted my decorating skills in the end look like the beginner that I am, but none the less it was a great experience for me to try. I will post the picture tonight.
Hope this info helps.
I've done quite a few sculpted cakes and what I do is bake all the cakes and freeze them. Then when I'm ready to assemble the cake I pull out the frozen cakes. Then I cut them up, fill with BC where necessary, and carve the frozen cake. They thaw out pretty quickly and it's so much easier to carve frozen cake! I keep the sections I'm not working on covered with saran wrap to keep the condensation off. After i'm done carving I clean all the cake off the board and usually let it sit and thaw before icing depending on how big the cake is. Typically I give myself one day to assemble and the next to decorate.
I've used both serrated and non serrated knives. It depends on what works for you. I've also heard of people using electric knives. My husband has one but I haven't tried it out yet.
Also, I use large basketweave tips to put the icing on like you would use the cake icer tip. This keeps all the crumbs out of the icing and it's gentler than a spatula on cut up cake peices.
Good luck!
Courtney
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%