I WATCHED A LOCAL WEDDING CAKE DECORATOR (MOST POPULAR IN OUR AREA) CUT OFF THE SIDES OF HER WEDDING CAKE, AND REFUSE TO SERVE THEM! I WAS WANDERING IF ANY ONE KNEW WHY? PLUS SOMEONE ASKED HOW SHE GOT HER CAKE SO SMOOTH AND SHE SAID VASELINE!!! IS THIS POSSIBLE? HAS ANY ONE EVER HEARD OF THIS!!! PLEASE I AM DYING TO KNOW!!!!! I WOULD ASK THE CAKE DECORATOR HERSELF BUT SHE DOESN'T LIKE TO REVEAL HER SECRETS AND I DIDN'T WANT TO IMPOSE.

This sounds so very bizarre.....maybe she doesn't serve the sides so someone doesn't get a piece that is 80% icing. The Vaseline??? No way....... blech! I am sort of retching at the thought, lol.

Hmmm, the only time I have ever seen Vaseline employed was as a substitute for a cat's hairball remedy...thus I would NEVER think of using it on something that was supposed to be enjoyable! Yeacchhhhhh!
(Vaseline-sharing lady is probably spoofing folks - if not...I sure don't want to eat her cake!)
Wendl - who's two feline furbabies luckily don't have a hairball issue...phew!

I THOUGHT THE SAME THING! BUT WE LIVE IN A SMALL COMMUNITY AND EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT IT! SHE GUARDS HER CAKES AND INSISTS ON CUTTING THEM AT THE RECEPTION...

Does she trim the cakes before icing them? That I've seen and do as well with yellow cakes. I trim the sides, bottom and tops....'cause they get darker than any other flavor(chocolate doesn't count).

I agree with CakeDiva73 if she is cutting the sides of an iced wedding cake...maybe too much icing?

Never heard of using Vaseline either....shortening...even oil...yes.

WELL WHAT HAVE YOU HEARD WITH THE CRISCO AND OIL? HOW DO YOU USE IT? SOMETIMES MY ICING CRACKS ON THE SIDE, AND IT IS NOT A MAJOR THING TO MOST, BUT IT IS TO THE CAKE DECORATOR!!!!

Sounds like maybe she does use Vaseline in her icing! How completely freaky....and disgusting!

i think Vaseline would be disgusting..... It isn't food.

I wonder if she uses vaseline on her fingers instead of crisco on the sides of her cake for the extra stretch and if so no wonder she guards her cakes and doesn't serve the sides, because vaseline is not edible. Just a thought.

waaaaaaaaaaaait...I was the cakes were covered with fondant....I've never heard of it being used on b/c.

Heeeeeeey....maybe that's why she trims the sides off the cakes(if she's putting Vaseline on the b/c)...she doesn't want to serve petroleum jelly coated icing?

Never heard of using Vaseline either....shortening...even oil...yes.


all4cake, DO YOU USE CRISCO OR OIL TO HELP SMOOTH YOUR CAKE AND KEEP IT FROM CRACKING?

Please take off your caps lock. It's the written equivalent of screaming at us. Thanks.

And I have no idea how to use vaseline in cakeing. yuk.

On fondant covered cakes...on the fondant only...I have used either shortening or vegetable oil to give a shiney appearance when that was the look I was going for(I don't always want a shiney fondant covered cake)...black, I think looks best when it's shiney, for one.

If the fondant has SMALL cracks in it after the cake has been covered, yes, I've used shortening to help smooth them out...I've also used water...

This is a joke, right? Vaseline? Isn't that used like as a laxative?

THANKS! I WAS WANTING TO KNOW IF THERE IS ANY TRICKS TO SMOOTHING THE BUTTERCREAM, I ALWAYS SEEM TO GET A SMALL THIN CRACK IN MY ICING ON THE SIDES... ANY SUGGESTIONS?

Vaseline on cakes! YIKES!

"Do not try this at home folks!" LOL

SORRY NOT A JOKE!!!!!

PLEASE DON'T TRY IT AT HOME!! LOL!! THIS IS WHAT A FELLOW CAKER STATED SHE DOES, NOT ME! AS FAR AS I KNOW, VASELINE IS NOT EDIBLE!!!!

One suggestion....Please turn off the caps lock. All caps equals yelling.

Thank you.

Yes, please take off caps.

Using Vaseline on cakes doesn't really surprise me. When I first started decorating I went to a lot of cake contests. They used to be held in shopping malls and it was a lot of fun. This was in 1976 and long before fondant became used. I heard them talking about a cake which took first place in the wedding cake category. The cake was iced with royal icing. The decorator let the icing dry, hard, she then used sand paper to sand it down to an ultra smooth finish. She took this masterpiece of hers from show to show, showing off her abilities as a cake decorator. Decorating a cake for show, which could not be eaten made no sense to me. Other decorators started taking up this practice and I quietly bowed out of competition decorating.

I am still decorating cakes today, and that is why I am a die-hard buttercream decorator. If something is too hard to bite into or has chemicals in it which can not be consumed, it doesn't go on my cakes. For those who want copyrighted designs, I do use plastic toys for that and hope the customer and guests realize it is not to be eaten.

I am sure she meant shortening..although many people put vaseline on their lips to stopped chapped lips and movie stars used to put it on their teeth to make them shiny. But on a cake? Yeck!

But for cracks, shortening works best

And please turn off the caps!!

Maybe she was joking. Sounds like there's some leg-pulling going on somewhere...

Seriously disgusting!! Even if she trimmed the sides off, surely some vaseline would slide off onto her fingers and she would be touching the cake to turn it and trim the other sides, leaving traces of vaseline on the cake that will be served!! Yuck!!

I don't think it would be as bad as yuck. I think the thought of it is grosser than it actually would be. I don't think Vaseline tastes any worse than straight up shortening...I can't taste Vaseline....I can smell it...it ain't all THAT bad and no, I don't go around with my fingers in the "jelly" jar.

I'm really laughing at this one - I think she is pulling your let.

I'm really laughing at this one - I think she is pulling your let.

Maybe you sould suggest she use Vicks

Now, Vick's is a smell I love! You might find me with my fingers stuck in a jar of that stuff....I just wish they didn't stop making that GIANT jar of it...anyone remember that? It was as big(at least) as those double-sized jars of cheese dip.

Um, Vaseline is a PETROLEUM byproduct...sooooo not a food item.
Would you put 10W40 oil on your cake? I didn't think so...
Heck, the only shortening I use is the organic stuff to roll out my fondant, otherwise nothing anywhere near to that goes on my cakes. To think someone is (allegedly) putting Vaseline on cake being served is just flat out WRONG.
Wendl

plastic drinking bottles are a petroleum by-product but we wrap our lips around those...chew on straws...storage bowls, mixing bowls...not food items but traces are being ingested when those items are used