I just finished with a birthday cake and had a problem with one of my layers. The outer skin (brown part) just peeled off the cake when I started to ice it. Then the icing would not stick to the cake. Had a terrible time, but finally after working and working at it, I got it to come together by piling a big glob of icing.

This got me to thinking about the sculpted cakes that I see. Is there a problem getting the icing to stick to them after they have been cut? Or was it something that I did wrong with my cake?

I would appreciate any suggestions.

I've had this same problem before....I'm interested to hear what everyone has to say!! I had to do the exact same thing...just glob on the icing and pat it down.

Valeire

Same problem here too .. the boxing gloves cake I just did this past weekend, I had the same problem.... I just globbed the icing on in the area I was having problems with and finally got it to stay on the cake ... not sure how to stop it from doing that.

Sounds like you need to thin your icing a bit. I found that if you use the big wilton icing tip or just a piping bag to apply the icing, it wont come off as much. I also found the easiest fix is to thin the icing just a bit. Hope this helps.

Do you do a crumb coat first and like Chasevp said use thin icing?

What works great for me is to ice sculpted cakes with an extra large basketweave tip used like the cake icer tip. The cake icer tip is a little big, which is why I started using the basketweave tip. This is also helps with getting into all the nooks and crannys of some cake sculptures... Plus, you don't get a ton of crumbs in the icing!

Courtney

and most important, FREZZE then icing

Everybody has there own way I primarly to 3d cakes. I'll share my process which seems to work extremly well for me so here I go. First I start with a very dense cake. Then I fill the layers like normal and do a thing crumb coat. The icing consistence is pretty thin. Then I put the freshly crumb coated cake in the fridge for at least 15 to 20mins. Then I use a good knife to make my exhaggerated shape. Now the fun part. This is what make my life a whole lot easier. Like someone said before I use a wilton tip (#789) to reice the parts I've removed. Apply some pressure when doing it so it sticks. I then use a spatula to smooth the lines out. So I then rerefridgerate the cake for about 5 to 10mins. I find that when I do this, I can press on the cake a litte more to concave the indentations and curves I want. I cover all my 3d cakes with MMF fondant. So while the cake is rerefridging, I make my MMF and get it ready to put on the cake. Then when I get the MMF ready I just take the cake out and cover that bad boy. Wha la! Hope this helps. If you want to see some of my cakes you can go to www.myspace.com/sscakeman . Don't worry there all PG13 the naughty ones are in a private collection.

When working with 3D cakes, I use a firm cake usually pound cake. I bake at 325 degrees for about one hour or 1:15 minutes to prevent the cake from turning hard/too dark. Freeze the cake overnight in plastic wrap. Fill it and crumb coat it with a light icing. Sometimes I use water or corn syrup to thin it down. Place cake back into the freezer until it is time to start with the decoration.

It's interesting to read how everyone does their 3D cakes!

I also primarily do 3D cakes. I bake ahead and freeze, unless I'm using chocolate cake, which I don't freeze b/c the mini choc chips get too hard. I assemble and fill my frozen cakes, then carve them. Then, I wrap in plastic wrap, un-iced, to thaw. Then when thawed I ice with the basketweave tip, smooth it out, and then usually cover with fondant. I work at night so it usually takes me 2-3 days to do a 3D cake. The good thing about doing a cake over a couple of days is that everything has a chance to settle.

Courtney