Cake Central › Cake Forums › Cake Talk › How Do I? › Nice Clean Lines and Corners
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Nice Clean Lines and Corners

post #1 of 30
3/15/11 at 6:15am
Thread Starter 
I've done a few cakes now and I've learned a lot. One thing I cannot figure out is how to get the nice sharp lines and edges on a cake! Even with the round ones, I feel like my cake shape is more rounded than it should be on the top.

How do you get your fondant to be so nice?

See on my cake below how rounded it is? It just seems....abnormally round.

Image
Had my blog listed and then realized one day that all you could see was "misadventuresofanal..." Took that sucker right off.
Reply
Had my blog listed and then realized one day that all you could see was "misadventuresofanal..." Took that sucker right off.
Reply
post #2 of 30
3/15/11 at 9:06am
Hi Kristiemarie

I use a pizza cutter for the icing & i also use a spirit level for the tops of my cakes.

Hope this helps icon_smile.gif
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 30
3/15/11 at 9:15am
Don't feel alone. I would like to know this info too. I am also new to this and I did a 3 tier and they all came out rounded instead of sharp clean lines. It still looked pretty good.
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 30
3/15/11 at 9:32am
How tall are your cakes? If they were the standard 4", then it would not seem as rounded since the sides would be taller (don't know if that makes any sense). Also, I find that I get more "rounded" edges if I used American Buttercream. If I used SMBC, I would put it in the fridge till it got hard and put the fondant on that to get sharper corners (most of the cakes in my photos). Then, I find Ganache gives the sharpest results.

Also, I use 2 paddles (fondant smoothers) like in planet cake's you tube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=We26gwKS_tw
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 30
3/15/11 at 9:39am
I guess my first question would be- are the tops of your cakes level before you frost them? Are they level AFTER you frost them?

Once they are covered in buttercream-and level-put them in the fridge until they are firm. This really helps! Now when you put on the fondant, the frosting on the edges won't smush down the sides when you are smoothing.

Also- use a fondant smoother or two, rather than just your hands! These really are a great tool for creating flat, smooth sides and tops.

HTH And keep practicing! icon_smile.gif You're doin' great!
With 30 years as a cake artist under my belt, I'm just here to share my knowledge and experience to anyone willing to listen!
Reply
With 30 years as a cake artist under my belt, I'm just here to share my knowledge and experience to anyone willing to listen!
Reply
post #6 of 30
3/15/11 at 9:48am
I will try that. Thanks for the help.
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 30
3/15/11 at 10:02am
SO I just realized this awesome trick! Instead of frosting in BC under the fondant, do a chocolate ganache, then stick in the freezer until firm (30 min or so) then cover with your fondant. It makes a HUGE difference. It's firm enough to hold up to the heavy fondant and will keep the nice crisp edge.

Now, you can do this with BC too, but you have to be a little more careful and you might have to let it freeze a little longer (an hour?) if you look at my last few cakes (the duck, the toy story cake...they all were done by freezing first. Toy story was ganache, the Duck was BC) It does make the fondant harder to stick to the cake though, so I get my hand wet and pat the frozen cake sides a bit before covering so the fondant will stick.

I was giddy when I got my cake to have sharp edges the first time.
Hope this helps!
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 30
3/15/11 at 10:02am
Thread Starter 
Hm, maybe the bc isn't firm enough. I will admit I haven't checked to see if they are level after frosting.

I'll check that vid out too. Thanks all!!!!
Had my blog listed and then realized one day that all you could see was "misadventuresofanal..." Took that sucker right off.
Reply
Had my blog listed and then realized one day that all you could see was "misadventuresofanal..." Took that sucker right off.
Reply
post #9 of 30
3/15/11 at 10:23am
I LOVE to use ganache! Also, when doing a crumb coat, whether using BC or ganache, I use a bench scraper and my turn table, put it right up to the side, nice and level, and turn while keeping the scraper against the side. Works beautifully. Here is a tutorial for it: http://www.designmeacake.com/id48.html
Reply
Reply
post #10 of 30
3/15/11 at 11:38am
Thread Starter 
Seriously, that designmeacake tut was the best. I can safely say with 100% certainty that my cakes DO NOT look like that under my fondant. LOL But they will!!
Had my blog listed and then realized one day that all you could see was "misadventuresofanal..." Took that sucker right off.
Reply
Had my blog listed and then realized one day that all you could see was "misadventuresofanal..." Took that sucker right off.
Reply
post #11 of 30
3/15/11 at 12:00pm
I reccomend Sharon zambito's DVDs. She covers these issues and they're a great investment!
Reply
Reply
post #12 of 30
3/16/11 at 10:48am
Well Kristie- that would explain your fondant issues then! A good-looking fondant cake starts with a good foundation! icon_biggrin.gif Edna's videos are SO very helpful - she messes around with her icing more than I do, but the result is the same: straight buttercream sides=straight fondant sides and nice edges. thumbs_up.gif

Happy practicing! icon_biggrin.gif
With 30 years as a cake artist under my belt, I'm just here to share my knowledge and experience to anyone willing to listen!
Reply
With 30 years as a cake artist under my belt, I'm just here to share my knowledge and experience to anyone willing to listen!
Reply
post #13 of 30
3/16/11 at 1:31pm
Ganache under fondant. That's the trick.

Here's a good explanation.

http://sugarsweetcakesandtreats.blogspot.com/2010/05/covering-cake-in-ganache.html

Also, the Planet Cake book is a good one.
Reply
Reply
post #14 of 30
3/16/11 at 1:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by K1976

I reccomend Sharon zambito's DVDs. She covers these issues and they're a great investment!



I completely agree! I have several of Sharon Zambito's DVDs, they are excellent!
Reply
Reply
post #15 of 30
3/17/11 at 3:39am
Sharons DVDs are great and will help you with getting straight edges!!

What i have learnt so far....do not put a lot of icing on the top of the cake, but if you do then freeze the cake awhile so that it firms up and dont move around a lot...work quickly cos it will thaw and start to move around.

Most importantly, i find that most of the time, you still end up with some sort of roundness and thats where the 2 smoothers come in very handy. You need to force the corners to appear by working with the 2 smoothers at the same time with a bit of force, vertically pushing up and horizontally on top of the cake from the center to the edge. sharon teaches that really well.

Hope this helps and then you just keep practising and you will get better. I am still learning as well.
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: How Do I?
Cake Central › Cake Forums › Cake Talk › How Do I? › Nice Clean Lines and Corners