I just tried to ice it last week with no luck (I like it real smooth if I am going to smooth it)...ended up doing the star tip, AAAHHH- hate that star tip business!!!! The only thing I would recommen would be trying fondant. Maybe someone whoe has done this will give you some tips!
I use a piece of acetate when doing ball cakes... I put the icing on with a spatula and then take a piece of acetate that is about 6" long and bend it a little in my hand. I just start scraping the icing on the cake and it smooths it out. The acetate will hug the shape of the cake.. You could probably use something like an index card to do the same thing.
Here's a picture of it... You can buy it at cake decorating stores.
http://sugarcraft.com/catalog/misc/559840.jpg
Does the acetate stick to your icing? I use an all butter buttercream and all the tricks (viva, computer paper) for smoothing don't work unless I use a crusting shortening recipe.
No, your using the acetate to scape off some of the icing.. When you do that it smooths at the same time. You don't smooth it like the viva method.
Yeah, ABC does have everything, but they need some help with their customer service... I order stuff online and will only buy from them in a pinch. There's a new cake supply store that just opened in Mesa which is a lot closer to me than ABC!!
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