as most of you know i started working in my local bakery. i thought they would have some kind of trick to smooth the cakes that would be harder than the viva thing well they do the paper towel too but they use those blue shop towels. you dont even have to put the cake in the fridge for a few mins to use the shop towel. as soon as you are done putting the butter cream on you grab a towel, lay it on there and rub it with your hand. it works perfectly.

Where do we find those? Sam's club maybe?

yes or your local auto parts store. they just say shop towels on the package.

are they food safe??

yes they are.

Carla~ Wow...that's really interesting. We own a sign company and use those "blue" towels in the shop all the time!!!!! I think we DO get them at Sams. The thing about this that cracks me up is this- how can a professional bakery use blue shop towels to smooth their cakes and still be meeting the strict licensing requirements of the state!!!! I am amazed that the government can come and tell me that I need an exra sink and yadda, yadda, yadda~ to make sure that my cakes are safe and edible..... but I can take a shop towel likely made from recycled materials to rub all over my cake! LOLOLOLOLOL This is why I just LOVE those who regulate. OK.... I feel much better I can't wait to try the blue towels!

(I think we were posting at the same time cakefairy!)

I don't refrigerate my cakes before using the viva towel on them. I just wait a couple of minutes till it crusts and then smooth....works perfect every time. (and Viva is cheaper than those blue shop towels too)

I'm with you, Quad. I never need to put my cakes in the fridge to chill before doing the Viva thing. And Viva HAS to be cheaper than those blue towels, but I'm curious. Will check at Sam's next time I go. Thanks for the tip.

Maybe you guys could help me out since we are on the subject of Viva towels. I use them to smooth icing on cookies & it works perfect, but I seem to be the only one that is "Viva Challenged" when it comes to cakes. Maybe I'm just doing it wrong, but I always end up with cracks all over the cake.
Anyone have this problem or know how to fix it?

MrsMissey: I don't usually have a problem with them cracking. Its only when I've tried the paper towel method. If you look at my steelers cake in my photos you can see the cracks in the endzones. I also tried it on a 6 inch round cake so I don't think it was for lack of support. I'm just one of those people who cant seem to smooth a cake to save their life
Thanks for the help though.

Your icing may either be too dry or you may be pushing the icing under the paper towel rather than smoothing it. Does that make sense?

KittisKakes: Thank you...actually that does make sense. I'll have to keep practicing.

I to do not put my cake in the fridge. If I am using just a spatula to ice the cake, then the top is usually ready to smooth by the time I get the sides done. I usually only wait 5-10 mins after icing to use the viva.

As far as the cracks, I have gotten wrinkles from letting the icing crust too much before I smooth it. You want to do it right after it crusts, rather than waiting for half an hour to smooth it.

I agree about the cracks. The only time I have cracks is whenI wait too long to smooth it and then it looks worse than if I didn't smooth it!

I didn't know a longer amount of time hurts the smoothing, I'll keep that in mind!

I didn't think about the time I was leaving the cake to crust. Thank you guys for your help. I'll try not waiting so long & see if that helps.

My icing cracks also when I smooth with the viva! and I do it right after I ice the cake. so maybe I need to let it crust. This really helps me because I was so frustrated about this! Now I'll really pay attention next time and try it both ways. Thanks!

Hi all! I'm REALLY new (2 mos) at doing wedding cakes, etc. I'm doing this sort of learning by flying by the seat of my pants. Can someone explain exactly what you're supposed to do with the Viva towel? Is is just lay it on the cake after your frosting crusts a bit and then smooth it with your hand or a spatula? Thanks!

That is exactly right!

Thanks all That looks so much easier than just trying to smooth the icing down with a hot spatula and hoping for the best. Ya'll are the best!

I just tried the Viva technique last night and I was amazed at how well it worked!! I wish I had known about it when I did my last wedding cake!!! Sheesh! The things you can learn on this board!!!

Thanks for the tip...I will have to try thr blue shop towels. Who would have know!