HI

I have only been baking and decorating for a few months now and this is my 8th cake I have done.  I am having a hard time getting my edges to be sharp looking instead of rounded.  I try to get my dirty ice as

smooth and edges as sharp as possible before I put my fondant on but it always ends up rounded.  This is on a WASC cake for each layer.  Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

Brandon

Put the fondant on the cake when the cake is really cold and you have a decent hard surface to press on. But until about 4 or 5 years ago rounded edges were the "best" because it showed that you had fondant on the cake and not buttercream, so don't kill yourself over it. When I ask my clients if they want a sharper edge or a more rounded edge they pretty much always say that they want a softer edge. Getting the sharper edge just takes practice, or you can do the fondant with the cake upside down, but it's a style choice, not a requirement.

I am just working on a Princess castle cake for this weekend and wanted to try to get my edges sharper than I have been able to.  Does anyone have any good videos that they know of for covering and getting sharp edges?

Thanks
 

This is a really good video from youtube that shows how to get sharp edges with cakes covered in ganache. After a couple years of trying to get sharp edges with buttercream, I finally decided to try ganache instead of buttercream. I think I'm now a ganache believer! :)

what type and flavor of Ganache do you use, I have tried it once as a filling and was super rich and dark Chocolate flavor which was not a huge hit.

thanks
 

Jolleys, I know exactly what you mean. You've got to find that right chocolate flavor that doesn't overpower. I had made ganache from the semi-sweet chocolate and surprisingly that was a bit much for a mocha cake I recently made. But when I used the milk chocolate for ganache, it was much better. There are so many different brands, flavors of chocolate you might want to experiment with to find that perfect balance. But flavor aside, I think you'll be happy with how crisp your edges will be when using it.

I think I am going to try the ganache with a white chocolate or a milk chocolate for this castle cake I am doing.

Thanks for your help.

If this link works, this woman has perfected the art of straight lines and crisp corners.  She not only takes the time to make her butter cream cakes perfect, but goes through the same technique when she covers with fondant.  I tried it once and nailed it.  Just remember, the secret is taking your time.  good luck, if it doesn't work, google, "straight butter cream cakes, sharp edges, laurapoopie" (laurapoopie is her name, weird but I remembered that when I read your post) 

watched the video on Cakemasters and she uses a flexi smoother.  From what I gather it is like Xray type material.  Does anyone have any information on where you could get flexi smoothers?

Thanks

You can use acetate, cut to the right shape...

Here's a thread with info: http://cakecentral.com/t/668849/acetate

What I really want is the giant clear smoother she uses...I love it.

Thank you all for the information, going to try some new tings for my 2 cakes this week.  Hopefully it goes as well as I am thinking it will....

cross my fingers...lol