I am having 2 different parties for my daughter. For the family party I need to frost 24 cupcakes. I'm going to use the wilton buttercream that makes 3 cups, and frost the cupcakes with tall swirls using the big 1M tip. For the second cake, I'm doing 2-9 in. rounds. I'm trying to copy the beach cake that I saw here.

1. Will one recipe of frosting be enough for 24 swirled cupcakes? That's a lot of frosting on each cupcake. I assume that it should be medium consistency, right?


2. I want to make a piping gel "ocean" on half of the 9 in. cake. Do I frost with bc underneath? If so, should the bc be white, or blue?

3. Is a tip 1 or 2 too skinny for writing? And how many Tbsp are needed to write "Happy Birthday Alexandra"? I hope that will fit on the cake...maybe I gave her a name that is just too long for a round cake. Maybe I'll just do happy birthday.

4. If I have 3 cups of icing for the 9 in rounds, will it be enough to crumb coat the cake, frost the cake, pipe a border around it and do the writing as well?

5. This is going to be my first attempt at levelling a cake. I don't want to buy a leveler so I'm just going to eyeball it using toothpics as a guide and a good serrated knife. Then I will put on a crumb coat. Should that icing be thin consistency? And how much do I thin for a crumb coat, about 1 cup?

Sorry for all of the questions. I would love to take a Wilton class, but don't have the time or money. I have already learned a lot just from reading all of your posts here and on the wilton site. Thanks, everyone!

Kelly

Wow...lots of questions.

As far as using the piping gel, you should frost with BC underneath but keep in mind that adding the piping gel with magnify any bumps or uneven spots in your frosting (which is good if you are doing waves).

As far as leveling, I usually use a serrated knife across the top on my pan before transferring to a cooling rack, but for large cakes I use a clean guitar string (it works great for leveling), I have read here that you can also use tooth floss. If you do use tooth picks and a good eye for leveling, I would using a sewing measure tape and mark with the tooth picks to get a good level cake.

I have learned with the frosting that it is better to have too much than not enough. You can always use the extra frosting in a week or two for a cake or cupcakes just to have around the house.

I have also learned that the crumb coat "crusts" better when it is not thinned.

Good luck and be sure to post pictures!!!

I would probably make 3 batches of icing, just to be safe. That stuff lasts for months anyways. The crumb coat icing I use is pretty thin.

Wilton sells videos I think.

according to wilton's chart on cups for icing a cake.

a 10 inch round cake takes approx. 5 cups icing to ice and decorate a 2 layer cake.
a 8 inch round cake takes approx. 4 cups...
a 9 inch contour cake takes approx. 2 1/2 cups icing...

I use thin icing to crumb coat my cake.

for the ocean I would put bc icing on first just so nothing shows through.

good luck!