Cake Tips

~Sharon Biegler

Paper towel frosting smoother: Frost a cake with butter cream frosting. Just as it begins to “crust” put a plain paper towel over the cake. Gently rub with your hand and the frosting smooths out. If the paper towel has an embossed design on it, the design will transfer to the frosting…can be kind of cool.

Hot water frosting smoother. Frost a cake with butter cream frosting. Get a cup with very hot water. Dip a metal knife or spatula in the hot water to smooth the frosting. You will have to “dip” often.

Frosting cartridges: Put a large piece of plastic wrap on the counter. Plop a medium amount of frosting in the center. Roll up on an angle. Twist both ends. When you are ready to decorate, cut one end off and put in a decorating bags. It is so much easier to “load” the frosting bag and also saves a ton of time on clean-up.

For tall cakes, put a wooden skewer in the middle to help stabilize.

For tiered cakes, put cardboard or plastic under each layer. Then put 4-5 wooden skewers or straws in each layer (cut to the height of each layer). This will keep the weight of the upper layers from sinking into the bottom layers.

When frosting a cake, put strips of waxed paper around the bottom edge of the cake. Then frost away. When you are done frosting, remove the strips to have a clean serving platter.

Crumb coat your cake. Thin your icing with a little water, milk or karo syrup. Then fill your cake with the desired filling and then put on a layer of the thinned frosting. Then let this layer dry before refrosting with more butter cream. This crumb coat will keep all of the crumbs out of your final layer. It also gives a sturdier cake to work with. (especially important for fondant)

I freeze my cake layers to make them easier to work with. Not too critical for smaller cakes, but for larger cakes it makes a world of difference. Just make sure you wrap tightly to keep fresh. This also allows you to bake one day and decorate the next.