(Bettie) Hey guys it's Bettie from BakerBettie.com and welcome back to another video!
Now today we have a special guest joining us today, this is Kelly
she is my friend and assistant. So I get requests all the time for doing a
tutorial for how to build and decorate a layer cake. Now truthfully this is
something I'm not very experienced in and I'm not super confident with it and
Kelly is a pastry chef and she has a lot more experience with this so I asked if
she would come in today and give us all a tutorial on how to build a layer cake.
(Kelly) Yeah so today we're gonna make a layer cake that's super simple you can use for
any occasion it's great for a birthday cake or a kid's smash cake or anything
you want to celebrate. So yeah you can fill it with whatever you want, you
could use jams and custards and fruits and then we're gonna do a really simple
decoration that you can use for any occasion so it's gonna be really great!
(Bettie) Awesome! So the actual layers for this cake are
the chiffon cake that we made in the last video so I will leave the link in
the description box for this video for how to make the actual layers but
Kelly's gonna show us how to build and to decorate it so let's go ahead and
dive in. (Kelly) So we're going to start by leveling our cakes you want to do this
with a room-temperature cake you don't want it hot or cold. Use a serrated knife
and carefully hold the blade parallel to the counter and rest it on the edges of
the cake and seesaw back and forth. You don't want to pull the knife through or
you'll create tears. (Bettie)Yeah I always thought that you needed one of those
leveling tools to do this but it looks like it's actually really easy to do it
without. (Kelly) Yeah I've never found those tools very necessary I think the
serrated knife is just as efficient.
So next we're going to fill our piping bag with a frosting that we already made
we're going to use quite a bit of frosting so we're using a big piping bag
and a tip is not going to be necessary for this part. So our first step is going
to be the crumb coat. So we'll get our cake stand and add a little bit of frosting
on the bottom to hold our first layer in place and then we'll put the first layer
on it and secure it to the stand. (Bettie) And then something I actually like to do in
my limited cake experience is to take pieces of parchment paper and then place
those around the cake kind of tucking those underneath the first layer. This is
going to help keep our cake stand clean. Make sure you don't go too far under the
cake with the parchment paper or it's going to be difficult to pull out when
the cake is finished. (Kelly) so now we want to pipe a dam all the way around the cake. I
like to do two layers and then this is the part where you can add in any
filling you like. It can be a jam a custard or a cream but this dam is going
to help keep the filling in place. But for right now we're just going to use
our buttercream and I'll use an offset spatula to smooth it out. Now at this
point I see that our cake stand is sliding around a little bit so we will
add a wet paper towel to keep it in place on our turntable. Now we're ready
for a second layer and we want to flip it upside down so that the flat part is
on top and then I'll gently press it down to make sure it's centered and then
I'll repeat the same step adding a two layer dam and filling it with more
buttercream.
Now we're ready for a third and last layer making sure to flip it upside down
and then I'll at this point I'll also look at it at eye level and make sure
that it's even. And now I'll take our piping bag again and pipe around all of
the crevices on the sides use quite a bit because I'll also take the scraper
and remove the excess. So now with your scraper in your dominant hand hold it
straight against the side of the cake at about a 45 degree angle and hold that
hand as steady as possible with your other hand slowly spin the turntable
towards you and then scrape off the excess and put it into a separate bowl.
We do this because most likely this frosting will now have crumbs in it.
Don't be afraid to add quite a bit of pressure to scrape off the frosting
essentially after we do this it'll look like a naked cake. (Bettie) Okay so tell me a
little bit more about what we're doing. What is a crumb coat and why do you do it?
(Kelly) So a crumb coat is just the first step in frosting a cake and we do this
to hold in all the crumbs so that our final coat, the finishing coat, is smooth
and silky. (Bettie) Yeah truthfully I actually skip this
step a lot and I think that's why my cakes always look a little bit rough.
(Kelly) Yeah so everyone has their own methods on how to do this part but I like to do
the sides first and then finish the top but whatever way works best for you is
fine. So after I scrape off all of the excess you will start to see little
holes in the frosting so take your spatula and add a little bit more
frosting and patch them up and then continue to scrape off with your scraper.
You'll repeat this step as many times as you need
and then for the top I'll use the same frosting that I already scraped off from
the sides and spoon it onto the top. So now I'll take an offset spatula and
smooth it around. Now I'll take my scraper in my dominant hand holding it
parallel to the top of the cake holding it really steady while maybe in
the turntable towards me. (Bettie) I'm noticing a theme that the hand with the scraper
seems to always stay still and then you're moving the turntable not your
scraper. (Kelly) Right that's super important to achieve smooth even lines. Now I'll hold
the scraper on the sides again to remove the excess and then I'm moving the
scraper to the top of the cake and pushing the excess towards the middle.
Keep in mind that this part doesn't need to be perfect since this is the inside
coat and we're going to be covering it at the end.
So now that our crumb coat is done we need to let this set in the fridge to
firm up for about 30 minutes or up to 24 hours. So now we're ready to work on our
finishing coat. You may notice some air bubbles in the frosting while it's cold
you can take your scraper to the sides again and take off a small layer and
it'll smooth it up. So we'll start this step by doing it the same way by piping
around all of the edges doing a heavy coat of the frosting. You'll want about a
quarter inch of frosting on the sides.
We'll use the same technique to smooth out with our scraper. (Bettie) Okay so now this
time around is the frosting that you are taking off okay to put back in the bowl
to reuse? (Kelly) Yes you can use this frosting again because it won't have crumbs in it.
So now we'll do the same process of patching the holes and then removing the
excess. Today for this cake we decided to use a simple American buttercream but it
tends to be a little bit difficult as it tends to crust over more quickly but if
you really want to smooth a nice silky cake I would recommend using a meringue
buttercream like Swiss or Italian. (Bettie) Yeah I'm actually going to link my recipes
for all of my butter creams in the description box and Swiss meringue
buttercream is actually my favorite style of buttercream and while it does
take a little more effort to make the taste and texture is definitely worth it
and it's going to give you that really silky appearance to your finished cake.
(Kelly) so we'll continue this process until you're happy with the sides keep in mind
that you can spend a lot of time on this part but you can stop at any time it
doesn't have to be perfect. (Bettie)Yeah I actually really like it when cakes look
a little bit rustic I think that's how you know they are homemade and it just
adds a more personal touch. (Kelly) So now for the top of the cake you want to add
about a half inch thick of frosting and
then again we use our scraper to scrape the top towards the middle to smooth it
out.
(Bettie) I found these super colorful and festive sprinkles and I thought they would be
perfect for a bright and springy cake. (Kelly) if you want a border around the bottom rim
you can take a handful of the sprinkles and with a good amount of pressure press
them into the sides of the cake. This is a really helpful tip if you have any
spots you want to cover. So we've chosen to do some swirls around the top and a
good way to get a nice even circle is to make a guide. You'll want to hold a
butter knife or a toothpick in one hand and rotate the turntable. So then now
we'll pipe the swirls around the circle. I'm using a small star tip and a piping
bag and then I'll add a few more sprinkles to the top and that's it and
now you have a beautiful cake. (Bettie) So Kelly I really appreciate you coming today and
showing us how to make this beautiful cake! Truthfully I kind of avoid layer
cakes at all cost because they always feel really intimidating but I think you
showed us so it's actually not as hard as you think. (Kelly) yeah I think it came out
really great. I know I'd be really excited if someone made me this cake so
I hope you try it it's true it's really fun and really versatile for anything
that you could want. (Bettie) absolutely so I think we got to cut into it right? (Kelly) Yeah, for
sure!
(Bettie) Oh my gosh look at it! Oh my gosh look at this!
That is perfect. it is so good I love this chiffon cake so much I really hope
you guys try it! And I really hope you try all of Kelly's decorating tips
because look at this this is perfect cake for spring or any kind of
celebration yeah absolutely absolutely so Kelly thank you so much for coming
today and I'm going to leave her social media handles down in the description
box so you can check out what else she's doing and you can follow me at Baker
Bettie on Instagram and on Facebook and make sure you hit that subscribe button
if you aren't already subscribed so you never miss a video and I'll see you guys
next time with another recipe tutorial. Bye!