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No turntable, no cake comb, no problem! In this tutorial I'll show you how to get smooth frosting
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on a cake with just a plate and a ruler. It's best to use cold cake layers because they're
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less crumbly and wobbly. I've wrapped these in plastic wrap and put them in the fridge for an
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hour. Use a serrated knife like a bread knife to trim off any domed tops so that they're level
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which will help you make a straight cake that doesn't lean to one side. You can use any filling
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and frosting for this. This is my 4 Minute Buttercream and I'm using gel colours to tint it
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to make a soft green. Now you'll need a plate and to attach the first cake, spoon some buttercream
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onto the middle of the plate and this will act as glue to secure the cake and hold it still
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Then add your filling, which you can do with a spoon or a palette knife or offset spatula
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and make sure you spread it all the way up to the edges of the cake. Then put your next cake
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layer on top and if you have more cake layers, repeat with more filling and more cake. Make sure
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each cake is centred on top of the cake layer below it so that the sides of the cake will be
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straight. Now use a spoon or knife to put more buttercream on the cake and to spread it around
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and the best way to do this is to use little arc motions, swiping in circles around the cake
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because that will spread the buttercream without pulling crumbs off the cake. Using cold cake
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really minimises how many crumbs come off the cake as well compared to trying to frost a cake
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at room temperature. Your goal here is to completely cover the cake with frosting so
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you can't see any of the cake sticking out but it doesn't matter how neat this is now because
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smoothing comes next! Here's a really useful hack! Use the wheel from your microwave as a turntable
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so that you can spin the cake around as you smooth the frosting. Look how smooth that spin is! Now
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grab a ruler and press one of the ends down on the plate and against the side of the cake and spin
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the plate, holding the ruler still, so that it's your other hand and the microwave wheel that are
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moving instead of the ruler. Pull the ruler away, wipe the buttercream off it into your bowl and
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then do this again and again to get the frosting smoother and smoother. When you're choosing a plate
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for your cake at the beginning, choose a plate with enough room to fit your ruler next to the cake
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before the plate starts to slant upwards. If there are any big gaps or indents in the frosting
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spread some more buttercream over them and then scrape over it with your ruler. For the top edge
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swipe sideways with your ruler to push that buttercream that's sticking up over the top edge
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and lift it away on your ruler. Scrape it into your bowl, wipe the ruler clean and repeat all
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around the top edge of the cake. Pushing sideways only, not down, will give you sharp edges without
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creating a bulge in the side of the frosting. Wrap your finger in a towel or paper towel and
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wipe the plate around the edges of the cake to take off any buttercream smudges. Now here are
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some quick decorating ideas that don't require any fancy tools. Pour sprinkles onto the plate and
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push them into the frosting now before the frosting sets because now it's still sticky so
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the sprinkles will attach easily. You'll make a pretty border around the bottom of the cake
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then pour the extra sprinkles off the plate and into a bowl or the jar or bottle or wherever
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To make a custom cake topper, measure a paper straw so that it's about a centimetre or half an
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inch taller than the cake. Cut it there, draw a design or a letter or a number, place a piece of
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parchment or wax paper on top of the drawing and trace over it with melted chocolate, which is
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easiest to melt in a microwave at 60% power for 30 seconds at a time so that you don't overheat it
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and cause it to seize. Spoon the melted chocolate into a ziploc bag, cut a little piece off of one
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of the bottom corners and then follow the outline of the shape through the parchment paper
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Fill it in and then smooth the chocolate with a toothpick. Press your paper straw into the bottom
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and cover that with chocolate and then pour sprinkles over the top. Press them gently into
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the chocolate to attach them. Leave the chocolate to set or put it into the freezer for five minutes
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and now you have a homemade cake topper! You can brush this with edible glitter or luster dust if
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you like. Push a plain straw into your cake to make a hole so that when you push your cake topper in
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you'll need minimal pressure so that you won't snap the chocolate as you push. Ta-da! A simple
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cake that's pretty enough for any occasion and only takes a few minutes to make. I hope this
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tutorial has been useful! Please click the subscribe button for a new cake decorating tutorial
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every week and visit my cake school on www.britishgirlbakes.com to learn hundreds of cake
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decorating techniques and designs. Thanks for watching
