Hi Cakers!

Please help me find out why my round cakes never have a completely round top edge. They always look like the picture below.

I use Sharon's Zambito BC recipe. I use a foam core cake circle as a guide for my bench scraper so I can get even sides. I use the method Sharon Zambito uses to take the excess icing off the top with a spatula. This weekend I hot glued a small level on the spatula AND a ruler to be sure that I am keeping it straight when taking the excess top off. Well....this is what I get....

Suggestions.....

You just need to polish off the sides after you get to this stage with the top. You have pushed a tiny bit of icing over onto the side. Run the scraper around the side one more time and the excess will come off.

My tops always look like that too! I have such a hard time having them look like perfect circles on top. They always look lopsided

This is a great youtube tutorial with a method that can really help. Sort of, if the sides are right, so goes the top:

I was generalizing to the use of the "L-square" to help with finding an acceptable depth of icing for the sides of the cake and to help in getting it even on the vertical sides of the cake.

If the cake is centered its board (and the board is the appropriate amount larger than the cake--for me, that's about a 1/4th inch all the way around) and the board edge is smooth, it can be a very quick way to get a smooth coat of icing on the cake.

I don't go to the great lengths shown in the video--it's not THAT important to me. Many people find that various tips, tricks, and tools, can help them find a way that works for them.

Personally, I generally use a bench scraper in pretty much the same manner, but this tool comes in really handy for cakes that are taller than my scraper, so it's not a "fail" for me.

Rae

I appreciate the youtube link.

I cut my boards 1/4 larger than the cake. I use my bench scraper as a guide. The sides of my cakes are always straight. But, I can't wrap my head around why the tops look like they do??


Thanks again!

Maybe when you scrape the sides your bence scaper is not at a true right angle. Maybe it's wobbling a little.
Does this make sense?

I used to have a terrible time with the tops. Then I figured out what I needed to change by watching some youtube. I had been running my blade around the top as I turned the cake. Once I switched to bringing the blade from the outer edge of the cake, in towards the middle, it made all the difference for me. I go from the outside in, then turn the cake, go from the outside in, and repeat. No more overhangs for me and it stays round.

Editing to add.....I just reread your original post, not sure if that is how Sharon does it or not, maybe that is how you are doing it. I just do a number of scrapes in and turn and keep doing that several times till it is flat. Maybe more turns and less aggressive scrapes? Not taking so much off each time?

denetteb...

Thanks. That is what I am doing now.

I just did another one. This time I sat down in a chair while I scraped the sides with the bench scraper. I wanted to be sure the scraper was 100% straight. And it was.

While, the top was not as wavy as my picture, it still had a slight wave to it.

Geesh.

You would think after 5 years of caking, I can get this down!!!

Mine don't end up perfectly smooth/flat just from the scraper either. Then I bring out the Viva/roller and get it better. That eliminates or minimizes any imperfections so that no one would see or notice them. Of course that doesn't work with a non-crusting recipe but I use a crusting recipe.

I have recently been using the "Upside Down Frosting Method" and have found I can do a bit better job that way with smooth tops, crisp edges and a better round shape top. I even used it on my latest heart shaped cake and it came out pretty good. I still need a little more practice, but I love this method...so far it seems to be what is working the best for me. But as mentioned, you have to try different ways and find out what tools and methods work for you.

Good luck!

In case you might be interested, this is the link....
http://jessicakesblog.blogspot.ca/2011/06/video-tutorial-upside-down-frosting.html

I recently found the guide that Rae posted and have found it makes all the difference, definitely worked for me.

It's not Rae's method but one she posted on her previous post, go back a page and you will find it. Good luck!

If I'm following your original post correctly, you cut your own boards. My guess is you're using your board as a guide and your board may not be perfectly circular. That's why I don't use foam core. I can never get them round round

Okay, I'm trying to contain myself. This is the 4th cake dummy this weekend I iced. This is the FIRST cake in 5 years that I have been able to get a round top with BC icing!!!!!!

Okay, now think. Why in the h^## did I get a perfect round top?? Well, what I did this time was sit my butt down in a chair and scrape the icing off the side with a bench scraper. I did this to be sure my scraper was 100% straight. I normally just bend over and eye it.

I hot glued a small level to my spatula to make sure when I took the excess off the top it was level all the way until the middle of the cake.

Regarding my boards not being cut in a complete circle. I use a circle cutter from the scrapbooking section that has a blade on it that makes perfect circles. I use that as my guide with a hot knife to cut it out. Thanks for the input! =)

Let's hope I keep this up. I really want to do borderless borders.... Now my next quest, lets get those pesky spatula marks off the top of the cake....=)

Looks great!

Mikel, wet your spatula and glide it over the top. Don't dry it off-that's what helps me to get rid of those marks.