Hi talented bakers!  I have my first wedding cake request and I really want it to be a sharp and clean professional look.  Of course the design request is a simple smooth buttercream- the hardest (for me) to do.

My question:  I recently read that professional bakers will "trim" the sides of their cakes to get them perfectly straight and even (even when I bake the same batter in the same pan they don't always line up exactly),  My cakes are going to be round, how would that even be possible?

Do you guys do this?  Im worried because one of the 3 tiers is going to be dark chocolate, and if I have crumbs alll over the place what if they start to show thru? My goal is to have this cake look clean and smooth--- so any advice you all have for me would be HUGE!  Thanks so much !

I always have fans that blow the crumbs away after trimming.  You could always think about doing a crumb coat, let it harden and then go back over it with a pastry bag using the #789 icing tip.  Before smoothing, i always mist my icing with water from a spray bottle which helps my spatula glide over icing and smooths it really well.   Always remember to use the outer edge of spatula and try to avoid putting the entire flat side down...will make uneven in some places.
 

Go to youtube and search 'the Icing Man Cometh', it's an Alton Brown clip. Go to about 15 minutes in, and he will cover both simple trimming and crumb coating.

Way easier than explaining, lol.

Thanks guys!  I do a crumb coat every time but never have trimmed the sides.  It seemed the cuts would be to raw.  I love the method of using the electric knife.  Ill be putting it to the test today.  As usual, thanks for the great ideas!!  PS I watched the entire Good Eats show, I love that guy:D

Trimming the sides of the cake before icing.  Whew!  Tried this for the first time today. Read about this here on CC forum and decided to give it a try.

Used a long serrated knife.  It was easier than I anticipated and surprisingly it was easier to put the crumb coat of icing on.  It's in the fridge firming up.  I thought that this would be a lot of wasted cake, but it's not at all.  This will be the first time that will try to use the cardboard below the cake to even and smooth the sides.

fingers crossed.

I am wondering if there would be less crumbs by using a straight edge knife......will try it someday soon.