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Now that the cake is assembled, it's time to ice the cake.
I'm going to show you two different ways
to ice your cake smooth.
One is with the angled spatula.
And the other will be with a 789 cake icer tip.
In this video, I'm going to show you
how to use the angled spatula.
When icing a cake, you have two goals.
One is that you have a nice smooth finish.
And the other is that it is crumb free.
We recommend that you use two layers of icing.
The first one is a crumb coat that's
going to smooth out the surface, fill
in any cracks and crevices.
And it's going to lock in the crumbs.
The second would be your final coat.
And that is going to complete a nice smooth surface
all over the top of your cake.
It's absolutely necessary that you're
using a thin consistency icing to be
able to get a nice smooth finish on your cake.
If you use a stiff consistency icing,
it's not going to spread smoothly.
And you just won't be able to get the finish that you're
looking for.
When icing a cake, using a turntable
is really, really helpful.
You can simultaneously turn the turntable
as you're spreading the icing.
This is especially useful around this side of the cake.
I'm going to show you how to do that in a few minutes.
If you don't have a turntable, you could use a Lazy Susan
as a makeshift turntable.
In case you don't have either of those,
I'm going to show you how to crumb coat the cake on a plate.
And then I'll show you how to put the final layer of icing
on using a turntable so that you can see how
both of those techniques work.
At home, if you're icing your cake directly on a cake plate,
there's no need to use a cake circle.
But because I'm switching from cake plate
to turntable for this demonstration,
I'm going to need that added support underneath my cake
to be able to move it.
I'm going to use my little non-slip pad
to put underneath the cake.
So as I begin icing, it doesn't slide around
as it is kind of slippery on my plate.
Before we get started, we're going
to want to remove any loose crumbs.
And you're going to do this very gently because you
don't want to agitate any crumbs that aren't already loose.
So you're just going to go ahead and just sweep them off.
You don't want these crumbs to show through in your icing.
While we're going to apply a crumb coat which
is going to seal in the crumbs, you just
don't want to brush up any additional ones.
I think that's pretty good.
So now, I'm going to get started with the crumb coat.
And I'm going to take a scoop of icing
and put it on the top of the cake a little bit more.
This is going to be a really thin coat.
So you're actually going to be able to see through the cake.
And if I had too much, I'm just going to put it back in.
And I think I do.
Just doing a sweeping motion back and forth.
If you put on too much icing, you can always take some off.
You're going to be able to see through this coat.
And don't worry.
Later, you're going to be making it pretty.
Doesn't have to be pretty right now.
We are just filling in the cracks, the crevices,
and sealing in those crumbs.
And remember, I'm doing the sweeping motion here.
I'll show you one more time.
Doing a sweeping motion across the top of my cake,
I'm not going to lift straight up because that is definitely
going to be agitating crumbs.
You don't want to do that.
Now, I'm going to take a dollop of icing on my spatula.
And here's where it's going to get a little bit tricky
because I'm actually going to be moving my cake
plate with my hand to work my way around the cake.
At home, you're probably going to have a plate that's
got a little bit of a lip.
Mine is just level.
So it'll be a little bit easier for you.
So I'm going to go ahead and start
smoothing the icing on the side just
in a back-and-forth motion.
So as a beginner and as you're working through this process,
you might want to use a little bit less
icing because, seriously, this is a very, very thin coat.
So I have my crumb coat all on very nicely, smooth, and thin.
And I'm going to put it in the refrigerator
for about 30 minutes.
This is going to set the icing.
And it will be nice and stable.
I want to make sure before I put the final layer of icing on
that it's not going to smear.
The way to be able to determine if it's ready to go
is, when you touch it, it is dry on the surface
and it won't be tacky.
My crumb-coated cake has been in the refrigerator
for about 30 minutes.
And I believe it's pretty stable.
I touched the surface.
And it isn't really tacky.
It's pretty dry to the finish.
One thing I want to remind you, as you're
waiting for your crumb coat to set,
you're going to want to make sure that your icing is covered
because, depending on the weather outside,
it could start to crust over a little bit.
And before I get started here, I'm
going to stir it just to make sure that it's
nice and smooth and creamy.
You can see that there are some icing around the side here.
That would have been the icing that I
removed as I was crumb coating.
You're probably not going to want
to use that because it might have crumbs in it.
But you could go ahead and save it
and mix it with your leftover cake-top domes
and make cake pops with it.
I'm going to move my crumb-coated cake
to my turntable.
I'm going to be doing my final coat on the turntable
because I want you to see the difference between doing it
on a flat surface on a cake plate
and how smoothly it's going to work on the turntable.
If you don't have a turntable, you
can go ahead and do it on your cake plate
just the very same way as we applied the crumb coat.
I'm going to start out with a larger dollop of icing
this time, maybe just a little bit more,
because now we're going to be putting on the thick coat.
And I'm going to be using a sweeping motion back and forth.
I think I'm actually going to need a little bit more icing.
But we'll see here.
And I'm turning the turntable as I spread the icing out.
It works so well.
Maybe I do have enough.
When you're icing the cake, you want
to make sure there's always a layer of icing
between your spatula and the cake.
And make sure to remember, never pull straight up, always
that sweeping motion.
I'm going to go ahead and start putting the icing
on the side of my cake.
And I'm going to make sure the blade of my spatula
is at an angle slightly turned out from the cake.
And the reason being is that, as I start to move around
the cake with a back-and-forth motion,
it's going to pick up any excess icing.
And it's basically going to just move it forward.
And I'm putting a pretty thick coverage
on the side of the cake here because, again, I don't
want any cake to show through.
I could always take a little bit off.
And as you can see, I'm actually turning the turntable
as I apply the icing, which is so great.
And I'm going to show you one more thing here in a minute
as I put the final spin on the turntable to smooth it all out.
You're going to love that.
You're going to see how it works.
So now, I'm just doing a final sweep
of icing all the way around to smooth
it to get one last smoothing action going on here.
A little bit of cake showing through here
I want to cover up better.
Just holding the spatula pretty much straight up and down
and letting the turntable do the work for me--
that's what I was talking about a little earlier that I just
think is so cool.
I'm done with the sides.
And I think it looks pretty smooth.
Just remember, it takes a lot of practice.
But eventually, you're going to be
able to do it just like this.
Now, you see the rough edge around the top?
I'm just going to go ahead and smooth those in
to create a nice flat surface on the top.
Just swipe the edges inward.
And if you have any excess, you can just go ahead and take it
off your bowl.
I'm just going to turn the turntable.
And again, I have my spatula at an angle here.
And I'm just smoothing out the top.
And I'm just going to sweep it off the side like that.
If you're using a cake circle that's actually
larger than the cake like this one
and if there's any buttercream that
has built up around the side, all you have to do is just--
you can clean it up really easily with your spatula,
just wipe it off on a paper towel.
You can just clean it up really easily.
Just make sure when you're doing this
you don't get your spatula too close to the actual cake
because you might bend the side of the cake.
And you don't want to do that.
So that's how you ice a cake with an angled spatula.
This spatula is so useful because the handle
is angled away from the blade.
And it helps keep your fingers out of the icing.
Practice makes perfect.
So don't get discouraged.
Just keep on trying.
Keep watching our videos because we're
going to show you some techniques that
will work with your imperfections
like spatula icing and painting techniques.
If you find yourself struggling using the angled spatula
technique, you're going to want to try using the 789 cake icer
tip method.
It's really great for beginners.
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