20.4.10

Crumb coat that cake

Hey cake virgins!

Now that you've baked that delicious cake of yours, let's refrain from picking at it and start turning it into a cake to make your friends envious.

Icing your cake is the next step, and I want to introduce you to the beauty of a crumb coat. A crumb coat is a thin layer of icing that you lay on the cake. It's purpose is to catch all those crumbs to allow your top layer of icing to be smooth and crumb free, kind of like putting a sock on before you wear your tennis shoes.

I have attached a video from Epicurious that shows you exactly how to crumb coat your cake and how to stack them, but I want to give a few of my own pointers.

To level the cakes in the video, they use a long, serrated knife. While this is fine and dandy, you can't guarantee that the cake will be level. I still highly recommend the use of a leveler. It is just an easier and safer way to make sure those layers are nice and level, especially if you want to make a two or more tier cake.

I give mad props to Epicurious for the use of the wax paper under the cake. GREAT idea and something I have never done. The wax paper also has an added benefit of making your cake easier to move at the end of the day. This could eliminate the need for the lifter if you are doing a one tier cake, but i still recommend the lifter if you are making a two or more tier cake. It is much easier to slide the cake off of the lifter than to slide it off wax paper.

Now, if you are in a rush, you can just use store bought frosting. If you want to get creative, you can find icing recipes all over the web. I recommend making buttercream icing or cream cheese icing, as they are both basic flavors that everyone can enjoy. Check out Wilton for icing recipes!

Check out the video and good luck on those cakes!

Until next time cake virgins!

3 comments:

Mak said...

I'm for sure going to use this tip the next time I bake a cake! You've also convinced me to sample some of the icing recipes on Wilton!

Lauren Mikolay said...

Cathy, I took me about 50 seconds to figure out this wasn't your voice. This is without reading the post first. The video is a very nice touch!

hey said...

Cathy, I really enjoy this blog! I like to bake and this really shows me how to bake cakes. I think this is one of the most creative blogs I have read! Keep up the great work!

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