Well after ten years of doing mostly character cakes with buttercream I finally dove off and did a cake with fondant and I tried the MMF you all have discussed so much, as I had used Wilton's before to make wings and didn't like it either. Well... I love the MMF and will be trying many more things now !!! I just have a couple of questions...How do you get the buttercream frosting really smooth (i haven't achieved this for ten years) and how do you get a true red color without tons of coloring ? please all tell me the truth of what you think of this cake, any criticism helps to make me better !!
Your cake turned out great. I think the red you achieved is very nice also. I love the whole design with the trees and snowflakes.
I don't think there is any way to get red without using a lot of color. I have taken to using the powdered color when I want a dark red. You still have to use alot, but it doesn't change taste or consistancy of the icing.
I think after New Year, I'm going to have to try the MMF.
Cindy
I love the cake! It's sooo cute! Color combination is perfect! You really don't need to improve it IMHO.
If you want to do alternative design - maybe do the center tree bigger and add "ornaments" with silver or gold lustre dust....but that's a totally different cake.
Try the upside down frosting technique that's posted here...It's pretty cool and worth the little bit of extra prep time with the parchment/wax paper. I have also used saran wrap...after you've frosted to the best of your ability let the cake stand for about 10-15 minutes - place a sheet of saran wrap on top and use your hand to gently smooth out creases & bumps. I like the upside down technique better because you get really crisp edges.
That cake is so cute! I really like it!
I use the water method to smooth butter cream. Not when I am putting fondant over it though. Then I just get it even all around, not smooth. The fondant with fondant smoothers does the rest.
Again cute cake!
This is a wonderful cake! I would also suggest a greater difference in cake sizes--but even so, very lovely! I'm interested in how you did your snowflakes--are they royal? Did you pipe them directly on the cake? Great job!
Here is the link to the upside down method:
http://cakecentral.com/article6-Upside-Down-Icing-Technique-for-Perfectly-Smooth-Icing.html
Your cake looks fantastic! The colors are perfect. I like using the Americolor brands gel coloring....you really can achieve a nice "red" without using a ton of coloring!
for smoothing...I like using a fondant smoother...just wait until the icing has crusted over and then "buff" it with a fondant smoother...great results!
Wow...GREAT CAKE!!
as for the smoothing, the crusting buttercream and then smoothe with a hot wet spatula (my fav) or the paper towel method (i havent tried it yet but i will)
and the colour..i hear Americolours make bright red without so much colour or else start with pink and then add red.
I love it. It's very nice.
The only thing I would have done different is make the bottom tier higher than the top one. Place the large trees in the bottom and the smaller ones around the top tier.
This way The proportions would be better. But overall good job.
As for smoothing, I use a medium consistancy and I apply a thin crumb coat. Once this is dry I follow up with a second thick coat. I then use My spatula on an angle to remove any excess while smoothing. Then let the icing crust over and smooth out using a piece of parchment paper.
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