Tips for easy cake icing

If you’re an experienced cake froster (icer), this blog probably isn’t for you. But for those of us who ice cakes only on special occasions (Valentine’s Day, birthdays, etc.) it doesn’t hurt to be reminded of some basic frosting rules that will truly make a difference. After all, our EYB members have over 600 cake cookbooks in their collections (750 of us have Rose Beranbaum’s The Cake Bible) so it’s a pretty safe bet that many, if not most, of us bake an occasional cake. 

Courtesy of Maria Rodale, here they are – you can check out her full post over at HuffPostFood, at Tips on Icing a Cake. Sort of…” to get more details:

• Turn the cake (still in the pan) upside down to cool (on a wire rack).
• Don’t even try to ice the cake until it is cool.
• If it’s a double-layer cake and it cooked up crooked, put the bottom layer crooked side down and flat side up to ice, then lay the top layer flat side down on top of that so the two flat sides are touching. If it’s all too crooked, cut the cake flat with a knife. (That way you get to taste it ahead of time!)
• Ice the sides first. At least, that’s what  they said. Someone one else said that’s not true. Not sure what to believe here… 
• Ice the top last. (See above.) 
• Ice the cake on a plate that is not the serving plate. Move it to the serving plate after it’s done…although I’m not sure how.
• For lord’s sake, keep the knife or spatula free of crumbs. Crumbs in the icing are the number two cause of disgusting icing jobs. Number one cause is not waiting until the cake is cool, which then REALLY makes a lot of crumbs
• Always make extra icing. You can never have too much icing.”

These tips may not produce a result like Martha Stewart can, but they also won’t produce the same result that Lady Gaga might.