Does anyone know how to get this very smooth edge on these buttercream cakes. I've been doing cakes for 15 years and I am amazed how chickadee hill cakes (www.chickadeehillcakes.com) can the edges so smooth you could almost mistake it for fondant. I hope they show up in the attachments, if not check her wedding section of her web site. I imagine it's directly related to the consistency of her buttercream and using mylar? plastic around the edges. I'd love to hear any thoughts you guys have! Incredible!/Users/tiffany/Desktop/IMG_9295cake.jpg/Users/tiffany/Desktop/235-3552_IMG.JPG/Users/tiffany/Desktop/IMG_2612.JPG/Users/tiffany/Desktop/IMG_2351.JPG

here's another one

another one...

another one...

here's a better image of the last one, sorry about that!

I would love to work strictly in fondant. I hate smoothing buttercream b/c I suck at it.

I have been inventing a tool in my mind that would get such results, but I ALWAYS have tons of bubbles in my buttercream. I have found that putting on a regular coat and refrigerating it until firm, and then adding a second coat fills in many of the bubbles, but still, it doesn't look like chickadee hill's. No where near it, to be more precise The paper-towel thing doesn't work for me either. . .I don't think I press hard enough for fear of moving the icing?? I have thought about using the mylar, too. Think I'll try that for my Monday cake.

They may use the method that - and forgive me if I am wrong - Melvira posted on here a long time ago. She used a high density foam roller to smooth it out once it crusted OR refrigerate for non-crusting.

Good luck to you. . .and me!
B

What do you do with the mylar? Hate to sound stupid, but what is mylar? I mean I know what mylar baloons are, but how does that translate to a cake decorating technique? Does it come it sheets to help with smoothing?

I've found when using crusting buttercream that after it just starts to crust use a piece of paper (white computer paper) works the best. Put the paper on the cake and use my had to smooth it. To do the edges, I fold the paper and use that to smoot the edges.. I hope I'm making sense....

mylar is a thin plastic that comes in varying degrees of thickness. It's good for smoothing buttercream on shaped cakes because it bends where you need it to bend thus making the frosting smooth in places that a spatula just can't reach or conform to. You can buy it online but I've found the quickest way (economical too) to get your hand on a small amount of it is to buy a package of the puffy stickers in small packages at BJ's(half price stickers) or pharmacy. The stickers with the clear plastic backing have the mylar. I cut small pieces of it to use according to what I need it for, usually somewhere around a 3 by 3 shape. You can reuse it, just wash with soapy hot water and dry. After seeing chickadee hill cakes it occured to me after all these years to try the mylar on the edges of a BC wedding cake. I don't know why I didn't think of it before. Of the bakeries I have worked in I have never seen such smooth edges as hers, very pristine! And totally gets the look of fondant without the price, taste(that some people don't like) and personally I love fondant and the look but it is so expensive and time consuming to cover a whole cake perfectly(at least for me), I'd rather do fondant accents on BC.

jenangel-
I'll have to try the computer paper, that sounds like it could do the trick on the right consistency BC. I'm definitely going to try that!

Oh by the way, I e-mailed chickadee hill cakes to see what her pricing was as she's a home baker like me. I was surprised that for this level of quality she's quite reasonable. This is what she e-mailed me:

Our 2009 starting wedding cake price structure is below:

buttercream................. $3.25/serving
fondant........................ $4.25/serving
chocolate ganache........ $4.50/serving
torted utility cakes....... $2.50/serving
cupcake wedding tiers.. $25/dozen unfilled $30/dozen filled

We deliver within an hour's drive of Sandown, NH for a flat fee of $50.

I usually add a few Tbsp. of light corn syrup to my icing to make it smooth better. I have also found that it helps if you ice your cake as smooth as possible with your spatula before you let it crust over. Then it is much easier to use the paper towel method to smooth the icing.

Sugarshacks DVD "perfecting the art of buttercream" teaches you how to get bc as smooth as fondant. That DVD is the single best cake decorating I've purchased. The website I believe is www. Sugaredproductions.com

I will have to try the printer paper thing as well!