How to get a perfectly smooth frosted cake
Even though cake class was cancelled due to snow, I decided to complete my cake layers and practice piping buttercream frosting. After all, I had the ingredients in my fridge, and it was too cold to do anything but warm up the oven. I added a firm buttercream dam in white icing on my first cake layer, and then placed strawberry glaze and fresh strawberries in a layer between the two cakes. Pretty!
Next, I sandwiched the strawberries and added a crumb-coat, of buttercream on the whole cake. This seals in all the cake crumbs and makes it easier to get a smooth finish on the final cake. A brief stint in the fridge later, and I was ready to decorate!
The hardest part of cake-decorating so far is getting a smooth base coat of icing. To do this, you add a relatively thick layer (1/4 inch) of icing all over, briefly refrigerate, and then use a hot spatula to smooth out the imperfections. Keep your spatula hot in a pot of boiling water and dry it off each time you touch it to the icing. In class, we also learned that you can use a Viva paper towel to smooth crusting buttercreams. Once the frosting forms a bit of a crust, gently lay the paper towel over it and lightly rub the icing bumps out with your fingers. This technique yielded a pretty smooth cake-- a perfect canvas!
I practiced piping with some new icing tips and managed a rough basket weave heart along with lots of borders and a little writing. My icing got too warm near the end, but I kept going because this cake was just for practice. Again, I sent it to work with Dave for the engineers to devour.
The yellow butter cake recipe and the Swiss-buttercream frosting recipes were both taken from Smitten Kitchen. The recipes are here: http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/07/project-wedding-cake-the-cake-is-baked/ and here: http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/07/project-wedding-cake-swiss-buttercream/ I used both recipes for my own wedding cake last August and it got rave reviews. The layers held up well and so did the icing. The icing is also not too sweet, but has a nice buttery taste to it. The glaze and strawberries were my own addition to this cake. You can find strawberry glaze in the grocery store or make your own by heating sugar, water and juice. Enjoy!
No comments:
Post a Comment