I spent all night working on a mini tiered cake (four tiers high). It was a real pain! Harder to frost that than large cakes for a regular sized tiered cake, I think. Do any of you find that is true? At this point l still only have it frosted and stacked, but not decorated. It looks pretty awful, not smooth at all. Yeah, very bad. I'm very disappointed. I am looking for ideas on how to save it and make it look nice and not just be an ugly practice cake. I want something useful for my portfolio if possible.

I think the frosting looks so rough and unsmooth because the frosting is too thin/soft and didn't set even in the fridge. I didn't use any meringue powder, either, so maybe that's why? Every time I tried to parchment paper smooth it, it stuck to it and pulled up, even after a couple of HOURS in the fridge. It is the regular buttercream frosting with more than half butter (Dawn's recipe), but I think I thinned too much.. about 2T milk for double batch didn't seem like too much, but it is. I used wintergreen candy flavoring, which is very very concentrated, and I doubt that the 10 drops of that really thinned it too much, though maybe. Trying to figure out what happened is one part.. but trying to save it now is more important to me.. Input on either is appreciated, though!

I'm debating making some ganache to pour over the whole tiered cake. Would that possibly work or not?? Has anyone tried pouring ganache over a tiered cake already stacked? It might get better, or it could get much worse if I pour ganache over it.. but it's chocolate, so how bad could it be? I mean, it will only get yummier, but it might look as bad. Hmm.

I could also try to decorate the sides enough - like with basketweave maybe, so that it's covered up. That would require making a lot more wintergreen buttercream frosting, though. Hrm. Not going to do fondant on this one. Too much work I'm not ready for.

This morning I also made another Chai cake in the Jungle Lion pan for company coming to visit on Friday. Tonight I will make the frosting for that one (whipped ganache filling, chocolate cream cheese frosting and some plain cream cheese frosting for coloring) and decorate it, AND finish decorating the mini tiered cake somehow... (on top of everything else I have to get done.. yike!)

I'm off to bed now.. I'm a night owl. I'll get any responses when I'm up this afternoon. Thanks!

~AngelWendy

Want to add that I have no ideas on HOW to decorate this when I finally figure out how I'm going to smooth or cover the frosting. Any ideas you would share? Thanks!

~AngelWendy

well AW I have to say I am glad its you hun! I would be freaking..... but no matter how freaked out I got I WOULD NOT GANACHE!!! It sounds like perhaps humidity is the colpert on why it sticks and pulls up if you touch it with parchment..... have you tried the hot spatula method to see if it will smooth that way??? Oh gawsh, I just dont know what to tell you!!!!! I'm sorry.... but I am sure it can be saved!

Have you tried going over it with a very hot spatula...everyone tells me it's alot of work that way, but since that's what I always use it seems very simple to me....I actually boil water, pour it into a large glass and let the spatual sit in there a couple minutes before starting, then dry the spatula and smooth, repeat as necessary......another idea, have you tried using a light coating of cornstarch on it to seems if you could smooth it out that way? That's the only ideas I have for you, but good luck!

What about just letting it set (UN refrigerated) ? I would think that the moisture in the frig is what is keeping it from crusting. You could make another batch of frosting - scrape what you can off of the cake and start on it from there with the new batch?? Once you get that crust on it - the VIVA has worked perfectly for me every time. (I have never used the parchment paper though) Hope you can save it, that is a lot of work.

This may be too much of a pain but....you could scrape off the icing and just leave a thin coat as sort of a crumb coat. Make up a new batch of icing and go from there..just a thought?!

HOw big are the tiers. YOu could always smoot it the best that you could and whip up some mmf FOR IT. If the tiers were small enough you could roll it large enough to cover them all and that would help save it.

Thanks for replies so far.. Too tired to answer each one individ. but want to answer the questions..

Tiers are 5" 4", 3", 2". They are about 2" high each. It's 9.5" high (yes, lots of filling).

I've never done fondant at all and that scares the bejesus out of me. Maybe next time.. and I want to do that first on a basic one or two layer 8" or 9".

Why not ganache, Flayvurdfun? Does anyone know why that would be bad for it or if it might work?

Yes, I did try the hot knife several times. I had to crumb coat this one, too. It's the Better than Sex Chocolate cake from the "Cake Mix Doctor" book's recipe. It had a lot of crumbs.

I know starting over is an option, but damn, I don't want to do that. The frosting tastes terrific!

Just occurred to me that it rained last night.. and maybe that is why... still a lot of humidity in the air. It was raining when I made the frosting, too.

Still need ideas.. haven't figured it out yet..

later!

Ganache could be done but would be pretty tough to get it even and smooth on all the tiers.

I think the ganache is a good option. You might also try covering it with melted candy melts. I think they're easier to decorate on top of.

I still say don't be afraid of MMf. To me it's way easier than trying to get BC really smooth! I have the worst time with that!

I am with you peacock. At this point, where she is at the easiest would be some MMF. her cake isnt that high so she could roll it out enough to cover.

Thanks for replies so far.. Too tired to answer each one individ. but want to answer the questions..

Tiers are 5" 4", 3", 2". They are about 2" high each. It's 9.5" high (yes, lots of filling).

I've never done fondant at all and that scares the bejesus out of me. Maybe next time.. and I want to do that first on a basic one or two layer 8" or 9".

Why not ganache, Flayvurdfun? Does anyone know why that would be bad for it or if it might work?

Yes, I did try the hot knife several times. I had to crumb coat this one, too. It's the Better than Sex Chocolate cake from the "Cake Mix Doctor" book's recipe. It had a lot of crumbs.

I know starting over is an option, but damn, I don't want to do that. The frosting tastes terrific!

Just occurred to me that it rained last night.. and maybe that is why... still a lot of humidity in the air. It was raining when I made the frosting, too.

Still need ideas.. haven't figured it out yet..

later!

Ok, so IF I use MMF..
well, can I make it tonight and use it tonight or does it need to sit overnight?

How large do I have to make it? I'm guessing the 9.5 inches times two (19), plus the diameter of the bottom largest cake - 5", or 24" diameter??

Do you need to flavor MMF to get it to taste ok?

And perhaps most importantly - do you need to knead by hand or can you use the big mixers? I have a KitchenAid 5 quart Artisan (I think that's the type) and I often knead bread in it with the bread hook attachment. Have any of you tried that?

I'll repost this in another post, but if anyone gets this one, please help me out ASAP..

Thanks!
~AngelWendy

you can add a flavor to mmf but it is also not necessary. You could just flavor the frosting you are putting underneath it. When you make mmf they to let it set for a while, but it is not necessary. You can use it right away.

some tips:
when making it in your ka, grease the bowl and paddle, it will stick less

if the mmf seems to be a pit hard, put it in the mirco for a few seconds

if it is too sticking need in a little powdered sugar'

if it is sticking tot he surface crisco the surface and roller. you dont need a lot

Thanks for the help! I didn't use MMF on this one, but will in near future. I did a third coat of a stiffer buttercream and used the hot knife to smooth it. Then I did borders on the top and bottom (rope bottom, stars on top), and stringwork (first time) at the top of each tier under the top border, and swiss dots on the side, and a couple tiny roses on top. I'll post it later. Just finished and going to bed now.

~AngelWEndy

Glad to hear thing worked out in the end!! Get some rest and we'll be looking for those pictures!!

Here is the finished cake.. Which one should I post in the gallery?

On this cake I tried doing string work on the sides for the first time. I tried several different techniques and I think I used too large a tip for this size cake., but enjoyed doing it and learned some things. How do you get your cake boards not to show when they're stacked?

For future reference, wintergreen flavoring in the frosting makes it too much like toothpaste, so you might not want to try that. We threw most of it out because of that.

~AngelWendy

I like the second photo best, even though the lighting might not have been what you wanted. The cake looks good in the first one, but the bottles behind it are a little distracting. For the cake board showing, it looks like that one is sitting a little high off the cake, but you could have covered that with your piped icing. Your piping tip may have been a little big, I recently did that with some writing on a cake too!

The cake is really pretty, and you did a good job, especially since you had so much trouble with the icing. I haven't gotten my mini pans yet, I hope they come soon! In the picture this looks like a really big cake, well except for the difference in it and your pretty cake plate!

Good work! Janice

Good job, I want to try decorating some mini cakes. I have some sitting in the freezer begging to get decorated!

It turned out great! I'd go with the second photo...

Wow - for all you went through it turned out nice! It really looks like a big cake in the pic!

I'm glad it finally worked for you! I like the second one too!

I think the second pic looks better too...your cake turned out very nice!

I love basketweaves. I would basketweave it and add some flowers. Always pretty.