Smoothing A Cake

Decorating By mcginnis Updated 4 Aug 2005 , 7:53pm by vitade

mcginnis Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
mcginnis Posted 4 Aug 2005 , 4:12pm
post #1 of 5

Hello everyone!

I am fairly new at cake decorating and have run into the same problem each and every time.

How on earth do I smooth out the icing on a cake so that it is nearly flawless! I have done about 30 cakes so far. and no matter how hard I try, I can never make the last line that my spatula makes dissapear!

I have tried practicing, freezing the cake, using the longest spatula I can find (15 iches) and more practice.
Is there a trick that I am missing? I am using commercial type whipcream frosting if that is a clue for anyone out there.

Thanks!
mcginnis

4 replies
justsweet Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
justsweet Posted 4 Aug 2005 , 4:15pm
post #2 of 5
Calejo Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
Calejo Posted 4 Aug 2005 , 4:22pm
post #3 of 5

Have you tried lightly misting the top of your cake with hot water from a spray bottle? I also use a bowl or baker's bench scraper. I find the change in hand position and the length of the blade makes it a lot faster and easier for me. You could also use an icing tip and make rows or circles of icing on the top (depending on the shape of your cake) and then just mist it and smooth it out when you're done.

JennT Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
JennT Posted 4 Aug 2005 , 5:28pm
post #4 of 5

I saw somewhere that you can also buy a tool that sheetrocker's use...a huge putty knife is what it is, really...It's like a reallllly long bench scraper, but thin....almost like a long offset spatula without the offset part...lol. The sheetrock guys use it when they're covering the tape they use at the joints of sheet rock with joint compound or spackle. The length of it would allow you to smooth to top and sides of just about any size cake in one swipe because it is really long - like 18 or 24 inches or something. I'll try to find the site I saw it and post for you. But you could just go to the hardware store and check out what they have - look where the putty knives and things like that are.

vitade Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
vitade Posted 4 Aug 2005 , 7:53pm
post #5 of 5

My uncle was a baker and he used a large bowl scraper. Worked like a charm. I actually forgot all about that till I just read this post. I used to watch him in amazement when i was growning up. He finally just sold the bakery at age 80+!

Rose

Quote by @%username% on %date%

%body%