I Have Got To Be The Slowest Decorator On The Planet!
Decorating By tobycat Updated 29 Jul 2007 , 10:26pm by cupcake
Okay, this should be a pretty easy cake -- wedding cake, 3 tiers, square, bc, with swiss dots.
Okay, I'm on hour 4 now, and I haven't even gotten to the dots yet! I wanna go to sleep! Oh well, the show must go on, right?
I love being able to smooth the bc, (Viva method), but boy o boy does it take me FOREVER to get it just right! And, then in the morning, I still won't be happy. 
THank goodness I didn't agree to do some designs on the thing. 
S.
I will definitely post. I'm still at it! THe 14" bottom tier needs a bit more icing -- why oh why does the cake always have to show through!
I'm using high ration shortening for the first time, so I'm getting used to working with it. I think I really like it. Can't tell for sure because I'm so delirious from lack of sleep. S.
Are you crumb coating it and letting the crumb coat crust first? This really helps apply the final coat of icing w/o cake showing thru.
Slap it on thick and then when you smooth it (with spatula, with bench scraper) you will remove the excess. Always easier to take some off than to have to start over and add more.
And here's a time saver that finally got thru my thick head..... if you are stacking the cakes (no pillars), then the top of the bottom tier(s) don't have to be perfectly smooth .... only the edges, the parts that will show when you put the next tier on top of it. I used to spend WAY too much time getting the top perfectly smooth, just so I could cover it up with another cake! 
With practice, you'll be able to reduce that time. It just takes time. My gosh, I remember some of my first cakes would take me 4 hours just to decorate .... not counting the time to ice it! Now I can do a 3-tier in just a couple of hours.
And here's a time saver that finally got thru my thick head..... if you are stacking the cakes (no pillars), then the top of the bottom tier(s) don't have to be perfectly smooth .... only the edges, the parts that will show when you put the next tier on top of it. I used to spend WAY too much time getting the top perfectly smooth, just so I could cover it up with another cake!
I remember when I had that forehead slapping moment. Now that I'm more carefree with the middle tiers, I measure for my dowels BEFORE applying the icing, since the icing may not be perfectly level. Then, I just add 1/8-1/4 inch to the length of my dowels to account for the icing.
I bet you could cut your time in half if you used the Melvira method instead of the Viva towels.
the "lightbulb" moment for me (when trying to get the smoothest icing) was using a fondant smoother instead of my hands on the paper towel... wow what a difference!!!
The other thing that would help me would be to spend less time on CC 
but I just cant seem to pull myself away!!!! 
Thanks for all the tips everyone! I knew about the middle of the bottom tiers, and I've been wanting to try the Melvira method, but I just haven't had the time to get the roller. I've heard it's great! I was up until 3:00 am and then up at 6:30 to work on it for another couple of hours. I'm just never satisfied. I did the dots on the top tiers and they were okay, but I was thoroughly upset with the bottom tier's dots, so I redid those. Then, the icing bunched up on the bottom tier. Fine for the middle, but I didn't like the way the outside edge looked, so I redid that! Anyway, I was soooo tired, and I'm exhausted, but it was worth it. I still think I'm slow, but at least I was happy with the results this time.
Here's a copy of the pic I posted earlier today. Thanks again everyone!
S.
ohhhhhhhhhhhh so prettyyyyyy!! you did an excellent job...you really put your heart into that cake and it shows..WTG on a beautiful cake!!
oh and i love the stand..that is gorgeous
Beautiful cake! Don't feel bad - it takes me forever to smoothe square cakes! I just can't get those corners right! You did a beautiful job!!
Agree with the above....great job on the corners!
I had a wedding tonight with a square cake (pics to be posted in the next few minutes) and came home and showed hubby the pics. He said square cakes just look SO much more elegant (in his ever so humble opinion). And since I prefer to do square cakes in lieu of round, I'll agree with him! 
Your cake is just stunning. And I will take your challenge on being the slowest decorator on the planet, the foolish cake I did today took me 4 hours as well and did not come out nearly as nice.
You did a great job- It looks perfect to me! Very pretty! As everyone else has said, great corners! Mine never look that crisp! I guess I dont' have your patience!
WOW! That's awesome! 
Love it! All that hard work sure paid off. I'm sure you made the bride very happy. Great job!
Beautiful...It looks like time well spent to me No my DH thinks I'm the slowest...There are times he walks through the kitchen and says "your still not done". I think he feels a little left out sometimes. I can't even repeat what he says when he finds me up until 3:00am on CC 
A girl has to wind down after hours of decorating 
I knew everyone here would understand! It just seems to take forever!!!! This is the first big cake I've done that I'm really happy with, so I'm glad I took the time, but I'm exhausted. I'm doing another cake now, and I'm just stalling for a few because my feet are killing me.
The bride was really happy, and everyone there was really complimentary. I'll get to find out what they thought when I pick up the stand from the bride's mother. I always wish I could be there to see it cut! This one was a load full because the bride decided on lemon curd at the last minutes (4 days before the wedding), so I had to use an extra 60 eggs and 20 lemons! Crazy stuff, but super delicious.
Anyway, thank you again everyone.
I wonder how long the average is for a cake like this? It took me probably 10 hours fnot including baking time, of course! Sound about right?
S.
they are not my friend. But yours is gorgeous...time well spent I think!! 
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