Smooooth Is In…And We’re Here For It!

Give me all the smooth buttercream cakes.  So clean.  So perfect.  Sigh…

At least until someone sticks their finger in it!  Ugh!  Hopefully when that happens, I’m on to my next delivery, so I don’t have to see it…Eek!

We get our icing so smooth that people often think our cakes are covered in fondant.   Couples come in, guns blazing, saying, “We don’t want ANY fondant…ew!”  To which we reply, “Sure.  No problem!  99% if the cakes on our website are buttercream iced.”

Icing cakes perfectly smooth is a skill that takes time to perfect, but luckily there are some tools that can make the job a little easier.  My process of decorating a cake goes like this:

-Bake layers of cake and level them in the pan

-Wrap cake layers in plastic wrap and chill in fridge – preferably over night

-Center bottom cake layer on cake board and add icing dam/filling before placing top layer of cake

-Using thinned or warmed buttercream, add a crumb coat of icing and put in fridge to chill

-Once chilled, add final coat of buttercream

Here’s where it gets tricky!  When you add your final coat of buttercream, you will want to smooth it with straight sides and a level top.  My favorite cake icing tool will help with this dramatically, but I then use a level on the sides AND top of the cake to make sure it’s good to go.  When I place my level on the cake, I put a layer of Viva in between the level and the cake to protect the cake from the tool.  If there are any pockets or imperfect spots in the second coat of icing, I’ll use the Viva and a fondant smoother to press them out.

The reason I use Viva paper towels (not multi-surface) specifically, is because these have no embossed imprint and are perfectly smooth.  One side of the Viva is smoother than the other and this is the side you’ll want touching your cake.  Some people use a spatula dipped in hot water to smooth their cakes, but this adds moisture to the surface of the cake, which simply doesn’t work in the humid climate I live in.

So there you have it…a perfectly smooth, straight and level cake!  This makes the cake a perfect blank canvas to add florals or other accents to!  This is trending right now in the weddings that we are doing.  Brides are wanting a cake that tastes delicious, but isn’t over decorated or busy.  The smooth trend allows brides to add pops of color with their florals and greenery…and we’re here for it!