What steps do you take?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jeanne on June 25, 2010 at 8:58am

With a carved cake I trim the cardboard to the shape of the cake before I put BC/ganache. Stack and fill... carve... trim board... ice the cake... put on fondant layer... decorate.

A nice sharp exacto knife will get the job done for you.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Trisha Stryjewski on June 25, 2010 at 9:14am

Thanks. I have done that before in the past. Only once though. Not sure why I haven't done it more lol. I like those steps though thanks

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Edna De la Cruz on June 25, 2010 at 11:20am

I am with Jeanne. When stacking is the same way you would do to stack a cake.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Laura Smith on June 25, 2010 at 2:00pm

If the cake to be carved is not huge, I've been taking these steps:

1. bake
2. cool
3. wrap & freeze
4. thaw
5. level & tort
6. place on waxed paper on the counter
7. carve
8. slide onto cardboard (if using)
9. trace around cake (under wax paper)
10. cut cardboard to shape
11. move layers to pre-cut cardboard as I (see #10)
10. fill (doing it at this point prevents the filling from oozing after carving)
11. ice
12. cover with fondant (if using)

I have a 'pizza lifter' that I use to move my cakes around - it is really thin and slips easily between layers without gouging them. By using the lifter, my layers don't break while I'm moving them.


Or wax paper (it's cheaper!).
Denise said:

Another trick is to place Parchment paper under the edges of your cake. This way icing gets on the paper and NOT your cake board. When you are finished, simply pull out the parchment paper.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by lisa yanoschak on June 25, 2010 at 2:13pm

hi trisha! i just had the same experience with a sculpted baseball cap cake i did for fathers day. luckily i needed grass around the cake, so i hid the cake board under the piped grass. i love the idea of putting parchment under the cake. then as you sculpt and ice, all of the mess goes on the parchment and not the cakeboard. cutting the cake board after the fact is a little dangerous for me. i'm afraid i'd drop the cake as i was trimming...! lol.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Stampinsher on June 25, 2010 at 2:18pm

Oh this is wonderful for me! The pizza slider, I've only seen the kind that Emeril Lagasse used in his pizza shows. Is that what you are talking about? If not, can you take a picture of it or send me to where I will know how to perhaps get one and see the picture?
Smilin' Sher

Laura Smith said:

If the cake to be carved is not huge, I've been taking these steps:

1. bake
2. cool
3. wrap & freeze
4. thaw
5. level & tort
6. place on waxed paper on the counter
7. carve
8. slide onto cardboard (if using)
9. trace around cake (under wax paper)
10. cut cardboard to shape
11. move layers to pre-cut cardboard as I (see #10)
10. fill (doing it at this point prevents the filling from oozing after carving)
11. ice
12. cover with fondant (if using)

I have a 'pizza lifter' that I use to move my cakes around - it is really thin and slips easily between layers without gouging them. By using the lifter, my layers don't break while I'm moving them.


Or wax paper (it's cheaper!).
Denise said:

Another trick is to place Parchment paper under the edges of your cake. This way icing gets on the paper and NOT your cake board. When you are finished, simply pull out the parchment paper.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Laura Smith on June 25, 2010 at 2:34pm

I've never seen what Emeril uses and we've had this one forever so I'm not even sure where we got it. I'll try attaching pics of it so you'll know what to look for. I took one on its side so you can see how thin it is. It has become one of my most invaluable tools!



Stampinsher said:

Oh this is wonderful for me! The pizza slider, I've only seen the kind that Emeril Lagasse used in his pizza shows. Is that what you are talking about? If not, can you take a picture of it or send me to where I will know how to perhaps get one and see the picture?
Smilin' Sher

Attachments:

• Pizza Lifter.jpg, 42 KB
• Pizza Lifter - side.jpg, 50 KB

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Stampinsher on June 25, 2010 at 2:42pm

Oh boy! I'm going to start looking for that, thank you so much!
LOL, Emeril has one made out of wood that is similar at least the show that I just watched yesterday!!! He puts orange rind on it before the raw dough so it slips off easier. Gosh, I think this is so funny, timing is everything, I can't believe I watched this show for the first time yesterday and I learned about the pizza lifter!

Laura Smith said:

I've never seen what Emeril uses and we've had this one forever so I'm not even sure where we got it. I'll try attaching pics of it so you'll know what to look for. I took one on its side so you can see how thin it is. It has become one of my most invaluable tools!



Stampinsher said:

Oh this is wonderful for me! The pizza slider, I've only seen the kind that Emeril Lagasse used in his pizza shows. Is that what you are talking about? If not, can you take a picture of it or send me to where I will know how to perhaps get one and see the picture?
Smilin' Sher

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Laura Smith on June 25, 2010 at 3:02pm

Glad to help Sher! I discovered its use out of desperation during one of my cake 'adventures' - isn't that how we come up with most of our solutions?! Since then, I rarely make a cake without using it. It's also good for shifting the cake on the cake board when I don't get it centered exactly (which is more often than I care to admit).

Thanks, Denise for giving it a name! I've always referred to it as my pizza lifter thingy!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Stampinsher on June 25, 2010 at 3:54pm

I am going to start looking and now that you, Laura and Denise, were so kind to tell me where to look and I know what I'm going to see, I will hopefully be a proud owner of one soon.
My husband said, how about using our snow shovel? LOL. Hmmm, not really a bad idea! Laughing!!!!
Thank you ladies!
Hugs,
Sher

Laura Smith said:

Glad to help Sher! I discovered its use out of desperation during one of my cake 'adventures' - isn't that how we come up with most of our solutions?! Since then, I rarely make a cake without using it. It's also good for shifting the cake on the cake board when I don't get it centered exactly (which is more often than I care to admit).

Thanks, Denise for giving it a name! I've always referred to it as my pizza lifter thingy!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Laura Smith on June 25, 2010 at 4:13pm

OMG - that's funny, Sher! My partner suggested the same thing - even came up with some 'modifications' for it so it'd be easier for me to handle (I am notoriously short!). What a hoot! We own a home maintenance & remodel company, so I do often ask my partner to pick up things at our hardware supplier to help make my job easier!

Stampinsher said:

I am going to start looking and now that you, Laura and Denise, were so kind to tell me where to look and I know what I'm going to see, I will hopefully be a proud owner of one soon.
My husband said, how about using our snow shovel? LOL. Hmmm, not really a bad idea! Laughing!!!!
Thank you ladies!
Hugs,
Sher

Laura Smith said:

Glad to help Sher! I discovered its use out of desperation during one of my cake 'adventures' - isn't that how we come up with most of our solutions?! Since then, I rarely make a cake without using it. It's also good for shifting the cake on the cake board when I don't get it centered exactly (which is more often than I care to admit).

Thanks, Denise for giving it a name! I've always referred to it as my pizza lifter thingy!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Trisha Stryjewski on June 27, 2010 at 10:57am

I have a cake lifter and that was part of the problem. There was just no coming back from it. Thanks for all the tips though. I'm def. going to be more prepared next time.

• ▶ Reply

▶ Reply to Discussion