So I've been wanting to try out the viva method but am unable to find Viva where I am. I live in Winnipeg, MB, apparently Viva isn't sold in my city. I've looked at safeway, superstore, walmart, zellers, you name it, i've looked. I'm wondering if anyone knows of another type of paper towel that is similar to Viva, that would still work? I was at safeway today and looked at about 10 different types of paper towel and they all seemed to be very quilted/textured.
I spoke with the lady at customer service desk and she said Viva is an American brand, they used to carry it up until about 5 years ago.
Yep...I was going to say plain copy paper (white)
Is it possible that you can wait too long after your icing has crusted to use this method? I left my cake to crust for 24hrs using the viva crusting recipe and it was really hard to smooth out the icing. I think my BC had so many air bubbles in it that it made it even more challenging. Can the viva paper towel normally smooth out air bubbles or that has to be prevented from the start?
Copy paper is a good substitute, I use it often, after Viva, for a super smooth surface.
I'd be happy to mail you a roll just to try, or even just a dozen sheets or so...I'd love for you to get the chance to try them out!
Is there any reason one couldn't use a piece of fabric instead of the paper towel? I know that I use towels that I specifically keep just to cover my bread while it rises, so couldn't one have a piece of fabric dedicated to cake smoothing?
I buy mine when I go to the US and then I stock up on it. But you can order it from eBay too if you can't get across the border at all.
As others have said, computer paper and a fondant smoother will work, but I would use a hot palette knife first to smooth it.
But my ultimate favourite way to smooth buttercream is the high density roller and Viva. I still use computer paper at times as well. Just go into a Home Depot or Lowes and ask for the high density roller. Get the pack that comes with 2 heads.
http://cakecentral.com/tutorial/quick-easy-smooth-icing-using-a-roller-melvira-method
Is there any reason one couldn't use a piece of fabric instead of the paper towel? I know that I use towels that I specifically keep just to cover my bread while it rises, so couldn't one have a piece of fabric dedicated to cake smoothing?
Wouldn't the fibers get into the icing? Also, the fabric cannot leave any type of imprint on the cake.
But for the OP, parchment paper as mentioned by others works. I tried computer paper but didn't have as much success.
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