Missjulesdid
Well-Known Member
Ok, I'm up to my elbows right now in frosting as I am doing a Scooby-Doo Haunted house cake for my Nephew's birthday (complete with candy glass windows and scary trees made from licorice... I'm also working on the design for a wedding cake I have to do next week... so I thought I'd just pass along a few things I have learned along the way (I am NOT a professional baker and these are just things I have picked up from others or have figured out on my own):
To get the frosting smooth on the cake:
Method 1: Run your long spatchula under hot water, shake off the water and lightly smooth over the cake.. Clean off spatula and run under more hot water as necessary.. your icing will be smooth as glass this way.
Method 2: IF you have used egg white or merangue poweder in your recipe this method will work, let icing dry slightly then take a paper towel and lay it over the cake, gently smooth with your hand and remove the paper towel.. as a bonus if you use a quilted paper towel, you'll end up with the pattern on the cake.
To get a good consistency for writing, scrollwork or corneli lace:
Thin your icing with corn syrup and piping gell...This creates a beautiful consitency that responds wonderfully to the pressure in the bag and also does not break when applied to the cake.
To layer or torte a cake and keep it from being lopsided when reassembled. Torte the cake with a long bread knife, before disassembling, place a dot of icing on each layer. Make sure the dots line up in a perfect vertical line.. When you reassemble your cake after filling them, simply line up the dots.. This works great even if you cut crooked layers like I do.
To keep your cake from puffing up too much in the middle: after you have poured your batter into your prepared cakepan..swirl the cake batter around the pan and get the batter all up the edges of the pan as though you were coating it with the batter...
An even better way to do this is to use moistened magi strips.. they're the best invention for the cake maker ever!
To get your cake to have that "perfect crust" as the base for icing, the trick is in when you unmold it. I cool my cake in the pan for exactly 7 minutes then I turn it out onto a cake rack to complete the cool. My cakes have a great crust that produces crumb free cakes every time.
To keep dots and stars from having a big long unattractive pointed tip, release the presure on the bag before pulling away.. when doing dots, pull back on the bag with a swirling motion.
To get the frosting smooth on the cake:
Method 1: Run your long spatchula under hot water, shake off the water and lightly smooth over the cake.. Clean off spatula and run under more hot water as necessary.. your icing will be smooth as glass this way.
Method 2: IF you have used egg white or merangue poweder in your recipe this method will work, let icing dry slightly then take a paper towel and lay it over the cake, gently smooth with your hand and remove the paper towel.. as a bonus if you use a quilted paper towel, you'll end up with the pattern on the cake.
To get a good consistency for writing, scrollwork or corneli lace:
Thin your icing with corn syrup and piping gell...This creates a beautiful consitency that responds wonderfully to the pressure in the bag and also does not break when applied to the cake.
To layer or torte a cake and keep it from being lopsided when reassembled. Torte the cake with a long bread knife, before disassembling, place a dot of icing on each layer. Make sure the dots line up in a perfect vertical line.. When you reassemble your cake after filling them, simply line up the dots.. This works great even if you cut crooked layers like I do.
To keep your cake from puffing up too much in the middle: after you have poured your batter into your prepared cakepan..swirl the cake batter around the pan and get the batter all up the edges of the pan as though you were coating it with the batter...
An even better way to do this is to use moistened magi strips.. they're the best invention for the cake maker ever!
To get your cake to have that "perfect crust" as the base for icing, the trick is in when you unmold it. I cool my cake in the pan for exactly 7 minutes then I turn it out onto a cake rack to complete the cool. My cakes have a great crust that produces crumb free cakes every time.
To keep dots and stars from having a big long unattractive pointed tip, release the presure on the bag before pulling away.. when doing dots, pull back on the bag with a swirling motion.
THANKYOU!
