Help! First wedding cake!

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Permalink Reply by Jennifer Quinn on September 5, 2010 at 12:14pm

I hear and understand your pain!! The newest trick I know of is after your buttercream crusts use a piece of wax paper or paper towel and press it up against your cake using a fondant smoother, I tried this when making my last wedding cake under my fondant and I wished it was a buttercream cake because I've never had such a perfect finish on a cake I hated to ruin it! There's lots of you tube videos explaining the technique, I like Edna De La Cruz the best! but if you look up cake decorating on you tube it's been really helpful for me!I just posted my flowers for the cake I'm working on It's a 5 tier square spiraled wedding cake and I've been getting mixed reviews on which method of stacking is better ! The hidden dowel , single plate system or cardboard dowel method. Both are widely used!! Just make sure your supports are even! (dowels or straws) I can say though if you're transporting them separately then just get to the site as early as you can in case you have to fix something, (I hope it doesn't and your cake goes so fast you have "extra" time!) Good Luck! I'm sure It will be gorgeous!!

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Permalink Reply by Pearse Hashmi Franklin on July 6, 2011 at 12:22am

Hi Karen

if you refrigerate after crumb coat .do we fear of condensation after it comes out of the fridge,.ow long do you refigerate and do you cover it while doing so? also after decorating a buttercream cake can we put in the fridge or leave it outside. will leaving it out melt the bc and leaving in the fridge sweat it?

thanks in advance

Karen Marie said:

Putty knives are so much cheaper than a bench scraper.....just make sure you get one that is made of stainless steel....

CC's Cakes said:

I just did my first wedding cake in july. It was a 3 tier 14-10-6, buttercream with simple design. I went to Lowe's and bought myself a stainless steel putty knife. I got one that is 6 inches wide because I made each tier rather tall, but they come in a variety of widths and it really helped me get my sides nice and smooth and the wideness of the blade makes it easier to get a nice flat surface and edge on the top. Plus the grip is different than a spatula and I find it easier to work with on larger cakes. Just an idea. I personally love it.

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Permalink Reply by Mandy Sims on July 13, 2011 at 9:31am

Great tips. I use the paper towel method and my cakes are usually shiney, but that is probably because of the icing I use. I have used a "wet" spatula before, but the hot spatula with boiling water is a great tip. Thanks!!

Karen said:

I'm surprised not to see this tip already posted. I was told this over 20 years ago by a professional cake decorator. (Before fondant got to be the rage!)

Ice your cake with the buttercream, getting it as smooth and level as possible. Then, get a coffee cup full of water and put it in the microwave for a minute or so until it is boiling.

Dip your spatula in the boiling water and hold it so the spatula is piping hot itself. Then s-l-o-w-l-y glide the hot spatula over the buttercream. This will melt the shortening/butter together. This will get rid of the bubbles, too (if you have them). You may have to hold the spatula still over trouble spots to get it as smooth as you want it to be.

I promise your frosting WILL LOOK LIKE GLASS. It will be smooth and shiney. I've tried the paper towel method, but it didn't get it shiney.

You will have to dip your spatula back in the hot water often. You might even have to reboil the water to keep it hot.

For the edges, s-l-o-w-l-y run the hot spatula over them. You can either "corner" them or "round" them. As Theresa stated, if you have a border on the edges, it won't much matter anyway. If not, play around with your hot spatula and you should be able to come up with a good edge.

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Permalink Reply by Micha Griffith on July 13, 2011 at 9:53am

Be very careful with putting water on your cake it can cause the icing to break down, I have found that using a paper towel to smooth the cake out works really well. I use the icer tip to ice my cakes and smooth it with an offset spatula, allow icing to dry for a few minutes and then take the paper towel, the smoother and softer the paper towel the better, you can also use the paper towels that have a design into the paper towel to create a design on the cake, but for wedding cakes I use the smooth and soft ones. A great friend of mine gave me that tip quite a few years ago and I still use it today. Don't get all stressed out and just take your time and you will do great.

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