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How To Get Uneven Frosting Edges
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Sep 6, 2024
This cake decorating tutorial is divided into 3 parts: 0:34 How to get an uneven top edge on your frosting (5 steps) 3:56 How to frost only part of the sides of your cake with a second colour 5:51 How to get glittery edges For this cake I used my 4 Minute Buttercream Frosting and you can watch the tutorial and get the recipe here: https://youtu.be/MFKfXbnU1Lw For my online courses click here: http://www.britishgirlbakes.com/online-courses For my tutorial on divided frosting click here: https://youtu.be/fAzGwshVatc SUBSCRIBE to my channel for new cake decorating tutorials every week!
View Video Transcript
0:00
This tutorial feels sort of ironic because I get asked almost every day how I get such smooth frosting on my cakes
0:06
and I have a whole tutorial on that but this uneven edge gives a cake such a unique, rustic, edgy look
0:14
I'm obsessed and I'm going to show you a few easy steps to achieve it
0:19
I'm going to use this cake as an example for this tutorial, which is divided into three parts
0:25
How to get an uneven top edge of frosting. How to frost only part of the sides
0:29
of your cake with a second colour. And how to get glittery edges
0:34
We'll start with the steps to get an uneven top edge of frosting
0:38
Step one is a crumb coat, which is a very thin layer of frosting that completely covers
0:42
the cake, from the top all the way down to the bottom, trapping any crumbs that come off
0:46
the cake so that they don't get into your final layer of frosting later on
0:50
I'm using my four minute buttercream for this, and you can find the link to the tutorial
0:54
on the recipe in the screen or in the description box below
0:59
Step two is to give your cake a final coat of frosting, but on the top only, not on the sides yet
1:06
I use an offset spatula for this, and after spreading the frosting onto the top, I hold my spatula at a 45 degree angle, and then I spin the turntable around, and the offset spatula smooth the frosting as I go, and then I swipe it off at the end
1:20
Smooth the sides down, and then you might need to do a few touch-ups on top, and this means you'll have a really nice smooth foundation to start the next
1:28
to start the next step. Optionally, you can chill the cake at this point
1:34
This is a good idea if you want the top of your cake to stay really smooth, because if you chill it, the frosting on top will set
1:39
and it will hold its shape when you move on to the next step. 30 minutes in the fridge should be long enough to set the frosting
1:46
Step 3 is to give the cake a final coat but on the sides of the cake
1:50
Use an offset spatula to apply the frosting, and you want it to go all the way down to the cake board
1:55
and all the way up, about a centimeter over the top of the cake. a centimeter over the top of the cake probably a bit higher than you would normally spread it And it really important to try and get the frosting the same thickness all the way around the cake and that will minimize air pockets when you start to smooth the frosting
2:11
Step 4 is optional, and this is to smooth the inner edge of that uneven top edge of frosting
2:17
This works best with a frosting smoother with a really thin edge, so that it's quite sharp
2:22
and hold the frosting smoother with the edge against the inner side of that uneven top edge
2:28
press down and slightly out but not too much out because you don't want to put that
2:32
uneven edge off the top of the cake. Do follow this step if you want a neat uneven
2:38
edge. It's a bit less messy this way than if you leave the inner edge as it is
2:42
with random clumps of frosting. So tidying up the inner edge gives the cake a more
2:47
polished look. Step five is to smooth the sides as normal so you can use whatever
2:53
frosting scraper you have for this. This one's an acrylic one and after you've gone
2:57
around a few times and you notice any air pockets in the frosting you can touch
3:01
those up with buttercream on an offset spatula and then continue to smooth going
3:05
around several times until you're happy with the finish on the sides of the cake. If you're enjoying this tutorial please click the thumbs up button. I teach
3:13
online courses on cake decorating techniques and you can find out more about them by
3:17
clicking the box in the top of the screen or I've put the link in the description below the video. As you smooth the frosting on the cake, your frosting smoother will
3:25
push some of the frosting back towards the middle of the top of the the cake and that will make the inner side of your uneven edge less smooth. You can leave it as it is
3:33
or you can smooth the inside out again which will cause a bit of a bulge in the outside of the
3:38
frosting but then if you smooth the outside of the frosting that will fix that. If you want your
3:43
uneven edge to be really thin and really smooth you can chill your cake and then continue to
3:48
smooth the inner edge which will scrape off all of the excess frosting instead of pushing it
3:52
outwards. Now we'll go over how to frost only part of the sides of your cake with a
3:59
second colour. I'm going to be using this fun bright pink frosting and I'm starting by
4:04
tearing some parchment paper and you want enough of this to be able to wrap all the way around the cake so you might need to use a few pieces Your cake should be chilled for this at least 30 minutes
4:16
in the fridge but preferably an hour so that the frosting is really cold and firm so it won't
4:20
be damaged by wrapping the parchment paper around it. Press the parchment paper around the
4:27
top of the cake leaving the part exposed that you want to have the second colour of frosting
4:32
over the top of and adjust the parchment paper so that the line of the extra layer of frosting
4:39
going around the cake is continuous. Chill your cake again if you're not confident your
4:46
frosting is completely set. If it's taken you a while to press on and adjust the parchment paper
4:51
and if the room you're decorating in is quite warm then your cake might have warmed up a little bit
4:56
and then chilling it again is a really good idea. Then when your cake's really cold, spread your second
5:02
colour of frosting over the exposed cake and up over the first part of the parchment paper
5:07
to completely cover all of the exposed area. You can skip the parchment paper if you want more of a rugged edge and I show how to do that
5:15
in my tutorial on how to divide the frosting on a cake, which you can watch by clicking
5:19
the link in the top of the screen or I've put the link in the description below
5:23
Smooth the frosting that you've just applied using your frosting scraper, going around a few
5:27
times until you're happy with the finish. And then immediately, without chilling the cake again, peel the parchment paper off and save
5:35
this parchment if you're going to make glittery edges on the edges of your frosting, which
5:39
we'll cover in the next section. Tada! A really easy way to get a neat but jagged, uneven second layer of frosting on your cake
5:50
Finally, I'm going to show you how to make the edges of your frosting glittery
5:55
Put your cake in the fridge first so that it's really cold, and this will make the frosting
5:59
set so that it isn't sticky where you don't want it to be sticky. Meanwhile use the
6:04
parchment that you use to wrap around your cake earlier and wipe off any frosting
6:08
that stuck to it using a paper towel The cake needs to be in the fridge for probably 30 minutes to get really cold so you have plenty of time to do this step When your cake cold press the parchment back into where it was when you applied the
6:21
second layer of frosting onto your cake, matching it up, and then place the cake on a baking
6:29
tray so that you'll be able to catch any glitter that would otherwise fall onto your table and probably end up on your floor
6:35
You'll need edible glitter for this next step, which are just large grains of coloured
6:38
sugar and it's also called sanding sugar and you'll also need a glass of water and I
6:44
like to use a glove for this but you can just do it with a clean bare finger. Dip your finger in
6:48
some water and tap or shake off any excess so it's damp instead of dripping wet. Then dip your
6:54
finger in the glitter and the glitter will stick to your finger because of the dampness and then
6:58
you can press your finger against the edge of the frosting to transfer the glitter. The glitter's
7:04
already stuck to your wet finger but it will transfer onto the frosting because the cake is
7:08
cold and the room you're decorating in will be a bit warmer than that so a little
7:12
bit of condensation will start forming on the frosting and that's enough to stick
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the glitter to it. If your room that you're decorating in is very cold and the
7:21
glitter isn't sticking you can brush the edge of the frosting with a wet paint
7:25
brush and that will make the glitter stick. This is the reason for the
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parchment. It prevents getting the glitter all over your first colour of frosting so
7:33
it's only sticking to the edge of your second colour. You want the glitter to go
7:38
slightly down the sides of the pink frosting, or whatever your second colour of frosting is
7:43
because it gives the frosting the effect of being etched out of rock or precious stones
7:49
I'm tidying up the cakeboard, and for this cake I'm pushing glitter into the base and also into
7:54
the top edge, using the same technique with water and a glove
8:02
I'm pouring edible glitter onto the top surface of the cake and pushing it all the way up to the
8:06
sides, using my offset spatula. And there it is! Every week I share a new tutorial on different techniques to decorate cakes and if you don't want to miss one, click the red subscribe button
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