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How To Get Perfectly Smooth Frosting And Sharp Edges
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Sep 6, 2024
This is a detailed tutorial showing step by step how to get perfectly smooth frosting and sharp edges on your buttercream cakes! I use an offset spatula and a bench scraper (also called a frosting scraper or icing scraper) to smooth the buttercream frosting on the sides and top of the cake. For my 4 Minute Buttercream Frosting click here: https://youtu.be/MFKfXbnU1Lw and to sign up for my FREE 10 part online course on frosting techniques click here: www.britishgirlbakes.com/10-days-of-frosting-techniques SUBSCRIBE to my channel for new cake decorating tutorials every week: https://bit.ly/2RIfhcF
View Video Transcript
0:00
Hi, I'm Emily and I'm going to show you how to get perfectly smooth frosting on your cakes
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After you've built your cake, start by spooning some frosting onto the top
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Use an offset spatula to spread it all over the top of the cake, going right up and over the edges of the cake
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so there's no cake exposed on top. Once the top is covered, put the top of the spatula in the middle of the cake
0:24
and angle the spatula at about 45 degrees and then spin the cake, scraping off the top of the
0:30
frosting and leaving a smooth top. You can do this a few times until you're happy
0:36
with the top. This first coat of frosting is a crumb coat to lock in any crumbs
0:42
that come off the cake and we're going to do a second coat of frosting later so this
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one doesn't have to be perfect. You'll probably be able to see the cake through the
0:51
frosting in some places and that's fine. We'll cover it up later. Use your offset spatula to apply the frosting to the sides of the cake, spreading it a
0:59
around a bit at a time, swiping the spatula off the cake in a continuous motion when you're
1:04
finished with a section instead of lifting it straight off the cake, because that would pull
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up the frosting and maybe some of the cake crumbs. It's easiest to do this with a cold cake. I put
1:15
my cake layers in the freezer for about 30 minutes before I frost them. This makes them
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firmer, so crumbs are less likely to come off, and it also makes the frosting set quicker
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so when you do any touch-ups, the new frosting sticks to the previous frosting and it's easier to
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smooth it. I like to go from top to bottom with the frosting and then I go around the top
1:33
again to make sure the frosting goes up over the top of the cake. If it doesn't you'll have
1:37
gaps in between the sides and the top of the frosting If you enjoying this tutorial please click the thumbs up button Next you need a bench scraper Hold it against the side of the cake and spin the turntable towards you with the
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other hand, scraping the bench scraper around the cake. When you can't spin the turn table any
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further, swipe the bench scraper off the cake. After going around the cake a few times with your
2:00
bench scraper, you'll probably notice some areas where there are indents in the frosting
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where it's not as thick as it is over the rest of the cake. You can use your offset spatula to
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fill these areas in, touching them up with a bit of frosting and then using your bench scraper again
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One thing that's important to mention is the consistency of your buttercream frosting
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It needs to be thick enough that it holds its shape when you lift a spatula out of the bowl
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but thin enough that you can spread it. If it sticks to the cake in clumps and pulls off the cake
2:31
when you try to spread it, it's too thick. You can thin it out with a bit of cream or milk
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until you get a nice spreadable consistency. My four minutes. buttercream frosting recipe is on my website, Britishgirlbakes.com, and I've put the link in the
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video description below. Remember that this coat of frosting doesn't have to be perfect, it's just the
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first layer. Then use your bench scraper or an offset spatula to scrape the frosting that's
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sticking up over the sides of the cake into the middle of the cake. When you finished your
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crumb coat, it needs to set before you apply the next coat. I've chilled my cake
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so my crumb coat has already set but if your cake is at room temperature you
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can leave it out for about an hour to set or put it in the fridge for 30 minutes or in
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the freezer for 15 minutes. Now we're going to repeat the process starting with the
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top of the cake using an offset spatula to spread frosting all over the top of the cake and then spinning the cake to smooth out the top You can do this with any size spatula Choose whatever is the most comfortable for you
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I'm going to switch to a bigger spatula so it reaches from the middle of the cake all the way to the edges
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And I'm doing this a few times until I'm happy with how smooth it is. You're going to smooth it some more later
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so this isn't the final surface, but it's easier later if it's already neat
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Now apply the frosting to the sides, going from the top all the way down to the bottom
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spreading it from side to side to cover the whole cake. I'm going around the top again to make sure the frosting goes all the way up over the top of the sides of the cake
4:06
to make sure there are no gaps, and then I'm going around the middle, making sure the frosting is the same thickness all around the sides of the cake
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Now I'm switching out to my bench scraper, scraping around the cake
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and then wiping any frosting from the bench scraper off with my... offset spatula, scraping it into my frosting bowl. If you start spinning the
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turn table just before you press the bench scraper against the frosting, you won't
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indent the frosting when the bench scraper touches it. You'll leave a little
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textured line where you lift the bench scraper off the frosting, so when you do
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your next scrape, start with the bench scraper on the other side of that line so
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you'll cover it up with the next scrape. I'm going around a few times, and then
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using my offset sp bachelor and some more frosting to touch up any indents in the
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frosting, where it isn't as thick as on the rest of the cake
4:56
It's important to wipe off your bench scraper after every time you smooth the cake
5:00
so you're not wiping bits of frosting back onto the cake where it's already smooth
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Smooth frosting is the foundation for so many cake designs. Once you mastered this you can decorate so many different styles of cake Click the link in the screen or in the description below for my free 10 course on 10 different frosting techniques
5:20
Now that I'm happy with the sides I can do the top
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Go around once, swiping your bench scraper from outside the cake into the middle
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pulling any overhanging frosting with it. At this point it's going to cause the frosting below to bulge a bit, but don't worry about that yet
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that yet. This is just the first round. Going around the sides of the cake again to
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tidy up the sides, getting rid of any bulging frosting. And now do the top again
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swiping from the outside to the middle. You can do this as many times as you like
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until you like the shape of the cake. I'm going around the sides one more time
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tidying up the top edge over here, and now I'm spreading on a bit more frosting onto the top of
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the cake. I could just keep smoothing it with my bench scraper, but it's quicker to just spread
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it on and spin it around to smooth it with my offset spatula. Going all around the sides
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one final time to get rid of that bulger frosting at the top, and then tidying up the top edges
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A few more touch-ups to tidy up any little areas I'm not quite happy with
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And just to give you an idea of my process, in real time this cake took me 18 minutes to frost
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And there it is! Ready to decorate! Subscribe to my channel for new cake decorating tutorials every week
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