Cake Decorating/Frosting Help

MelKut

Hey everybody.... tomorrow I'm going to be baking a cake for my little brother's 7th birthday party on Saturday. I just have a few questions and am hoping for some helpful tips I'm going to be using a Duncan Hines box mix and pumpkin

How to frost a cake without ruining it/making a big crumbly mess? (I heard freezing it helps? and putting on a 'sealant' of frosting before all out frosting it?)
Is there a way to put one layer on the other in a better fashion then just trying to hold it and drop? lol

any other hints would be great, I know there is some professional (basically) cake people here, but I'm am just a simple amateur haha I have a good idea for the decorating, its just the technique that I'm worried about

Thanks! :flowerforyou:

kellyjb80

Frosting tip: If your using the store bought icing in a "can" make sure to whipping for a few minutes first with a hand mixer. This should double the amount of icing and make it a lot easier to spread.

catfish9

Some advice from bad experiences: Make sure the cake has cooled completely, or it will melt your frosting. Also, make sure that your frosting is room temperature! If it's too hard, it will tear your cake when you try to spread it.

If you do decide to whip the frosting a bit, make sure you don't over-do it. Apparently, over-whipped frosting kind of starts to liquefy.

When you put on the second layer, just place it as carefully as you can. You'll be able to slide it a little bit to adjust. I don't know if there's a better way, but I've always had luck with that.

kellyjb80

*Oh I forgot to mention that freezing the cake is also a great tip as it make the cake a bit denser and therefore easier to work with. My mother-in-law is the owner/operator of her own bakery (been in the business for 30+) years and has always frozen her wedding cakes. Just make sure to let it defrost a bit before icing. Freezing the cakes should also make laying a bit easier.

Pebble321

Putting a thin layer of icing (frosting) on first defnitely helps keeps the crumbs down.
Put a bit of your icing in a separate bowl, spread it really thinly all over the cake, don't worry too much about it being neat, this is just to "seal" it first. Let it set then spread on the next layer.
I've never tried freezing the cake but that sounds like a good idea - just make sure it doesn't get "wet" as it thaws.

MelKut

Awesome! Thanks everyone for the tips, they were all very helpful I'll be sure to tell you all how it turned out lol post some pics if I don't scarf the cake down before I get a chance

alegrria72

Like others have said, make sure the cake is completely cooled. Putting a thin layer to catch the crumbs will really help. Once you have that layer on, put it in the fridge for 30 mins to let it set then put on the top layer. Good luck!

Package02

Awesome! Thanks everyone for the tips, they were all very helpful I'll be sure to tell you all how it turned out lol post some pics if I don't scarf the cake down before I get a chance

I was just gonna say make sure you post a pic haha nothing is better than good old home made cake. Now if only someone I know would have a birthday so I could have an excuse to have a piece

WickedGarden

when cake is completely cooled, slice horizontally (if you are doing layers) if you baked two 8" rounds, slice off the 'hump' on the top of both cakes.

using a pastry/basting brush, brush away any crumbs.

I personally think it's easier to put the frosting in a ziploc baggie, cut off the corner and pipe a thick spiral of frosting onto the cake. frost outwards-from the center to the edge. If you don't put a bunch of frosting on when you do this, you will tend to 'pull crumbs off' the cake. It's easier to take away excess frosting, than not having enough and then 'ripping off' chunks of cake.