I was wondering if there was a trick to getting sharp, crisp edges on a round cake (where the side meets the top)? I have been using the paper towel method for a while now, and it works pretty good, but I am still having a little trouble with the edges, it's not bad, but I have seen better! Thanks!

Sorry but not much help, join the club in the neverending quest for sharp edges! Best of luck!

The best way to do this is the "upside down" frosting method. You can find it under Articles.

Sherry

I know I read this technique on cc, but can't seem to find it now.

Anyway, you spread your icing on a piece of parchment circle that's slightly larger than the diameter of the cake and freeze it. This will become the top of the cake.

Next, you take your frosted cake, place the frozen cake circle on top, place a sturdy board or cake circle on top of that, then flip everything upside down and place on decorating stand.

Using a spatula that parallel to the sides of the iced cake, and resting againt the stand, you spin the stand.

Flip everything back over, remove the parchment and voilla, the top of the cake is flat, and where the edges meet is crisp. Hope this helps

Here's the link, with photos:

http://cakecentral.com/article6-Upside-Down-Icing-Technique-for-Perfectly-Smooth-Icing.html

Thanks all, I saw this artical on cc before. I was hoping it wasnt the best way for the sharp edges! Do a lot of people use this method? for some reason it seems complicated and time consuming. Maybe I should just try it sometime!

What I do is when I'm frosting the top of my cake I make sure the frosting comes out and over the edge so it's thicker than my sides. Then I take my spatula and frost the sides while turning my turn table so now I have a crisp straight edge instead of rounded. Hope that makes sense.

I'm not real good at this just yet myself but one thing I found that is really helping me get a much sharper, neater looking edge is a plastic putty knife or spackle scraper. My DH got me several sizes from Home Depot ( or stores like that). I use my icer tip to put a thick layer of frosting on the sides and top of my cake then gently scrape the putty knife along the edges and across the top and it surely helps make a much neating look.
Give it a try!
KimAZ

ladyonzlake, so then you frost the cake but frosting on top overhangs the sides? Getting the sharp edges is difficult so I am going to give this a try.

Yep, it's kinda hard to explain but that's pretty much what I do. I use the icing tip and start on the top in the middle of the cake working towards the outside so that there's extra frosting on the edge and then I do the sides. I smooth the top with a spatula and then the sides. I like the spackle idea as it has a straighter edge than our spatulas. I've been meaning to buy one.

I like to use a metal bench scraper. set it on the turntable touching the cardboard edge. Hold in place and rotate the turntable. I was so surprised the last cake I made I iced in about 4 mins. Sometimes in the past it has taken me 20 mins. I put big globs of icing on the top. smooth them over the edges, then roughly cover the edges before I start the smoothing. The excess from the sides gets swept across the top. I would say the big thing is practice. A nice smooth buttercream is a must also.

The putty knife is a definite plus. Just tried mine today and I love it!

I too just tried a 6 inch spackle knife from Lowe's and it was a God send! i put it in boiling water for a few seconds, wipe it dry with a clean paper towel and it's like putting a hot knife in soft butter! the frosting simply smoothes to almost glass! I LOVE IT!