Butter Cream Icing
Covering your cake with a delicious butter cream icing is a treat for everyone, but being able to produce a smooth, sleek cake will give you the edge whether you are making a tiered wedding cake or a birthday cake.
Always use a turntable when icing, it simplifies the process and you can move the cake around with ease. Putting a piece of cardboard under your tiers helps you move them later on.
Your first coat of butter cream should be your crumb coating which will then be covered in a second smooth coat. Start icing your cake using a spatula, start at the bottom of the cake and work your way around. Adding more icing as you go and working your way to about three quarters of the way up the side of your cake.
Start on the top of your cake, using the flat side of the spatula smooth the icing around and over the top. Clean your spatula and ice the top side of your cake, make sure your icing overlaps at the top, it must be higher than the top of your cake.
Start evening and smoothing the sides of your cake using your spatula, just to ensure there are no holes or lumps. Give the sides and top a thick layer of icing so when you use your scraper to smooth it out, you don’t end up scraping at your crumb coating.
Take your scraper and hold it level and straight against the side of your cake, move the turntable slowly as you scrape excess icing away. Clean your scraper constantly as you move around your cake.
Your cake should now start to have straight smooth sides. At the top find the top edge of the side and move all the way around the cake, taking any excess icing away. Then start on the top and scrape front to back, ensuring the cake has a smooth look.
Cover the whole cake with viva paper towels and using light pressure and your scraper, smooth onto the top of your cake. Using a circular motion and not pushing too hard, so you don’t damage the icing underneath. You only want to smooth away the scraper lines that were left behind. Do the same with the sides of the cake.
If you come across any bumps in your butter cream, use your scraper and remove them and then do the top and sides again with the viva paper towels, just to be sure you have a smooth even look.
Following these easy instructions will leave you with a beautiful, smooth butter cream iced cake. Take your time smoothing your butter cream icing on your cake; it does get easier with practice.
