The smooth texture of a profesionally done wedding cake..is there a way to ge the same texture on a homemade?

Question

I am making 13 small wedding cakes for my moms casual wedding. To be placed on tables.

I was just wondering if there was a way to get the same smooth texture on a pro done wedding cake , on a homemade wedding cake?

I've heard some people "melt" the icing and mixing butter and a little milk in and then pouring that over the cake...it turned out ok...but I am kind of scared to try that lol...

Any ideas or tips?

Also...what are some cake decorationg ideas?

White, Lemon, and pink is sort of the theme...

Should we make each cake different or the same?

Sigh..This is hard!

Thanks for all the help!

Answer 1

Avoid fondant....nasty tasting stuff....someone here said it tasted like foot...that was a complement.....

The 'melted icing with butter & milk' sounds like ganache.....and yup you do pour it over the cake.....I don';t have any ganache recipes off the top of my head but it does set up smooth..and you can put on as many layers as you wish.......ganache is traditionally chocolate but if you do white choc ganache you can color it with professional food coloring paste..not the liquid you get in the grocery store...good luck...

Answer 2

That really smooth icing you see on professional wedding cakes is actually fondant icing.  The texture is like a dough that you literally roll out with a rolling pin and then drape over the cake.

Then the icing is smoothed out over the edges with a *very* little amount of water on the tips of your fingers to smooth out any wrinkles.

It takes a lot of practice to work with fondant, but that is how 80% of wedding cakes are done, and I'm pretty sure that's what you mean by "smooth texture".

Answer 3

The smooth texture you're referring to is called fondant. It takes practice because it's almost like play dough, and must be rolled out than draped over the cake, and fitted to it. You could try that.

Answer 4

http://whatscookingamerica.net/PegW/Fond...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fondant

otherwise, I would suggest what others have suggested.

here's what I think you should get, and you can get it at a cooking or large craft store (like michael's) or you can even order them online:

1.) a large frosting spatula. it will look like a long knife without a sharp edge.

2.) a plastic pastry bag. this is for decorating. you will also want to get decorating tips to match what kind of designs you want to create (shell border, roses, etc.) usually on the box it shows what kind of designs you can make. you can get a small stand to make designs on (like roses) but it's not necessary, and it may end up being more difficult for you anyway. I would practice for a while on a sheet of paper with the pastry bag before you use it on the actual cakes, so you can get a hang of it. it's pretty easy once you learn how to use it.

3.) a decorating comb, icing triangle, or icing sculptor. these are all basically the same thing - they give a texture to the icing, usually lines that run around the circumference of the cake, like this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000VM...

4.) if you're using fondant, you might want to invest in a textured rolling pin for your fondant. this will give it a texture, like this: http://www.sugarcraft.com/catalog/gumpas... (scroll down to see everything) these give a very professional look to a cake.

5.) a cake leveler. this makes it so that the top of your cake is flat, which will be a big difference in how professional it looks.

as for whether you should make them the same, I would have around three designs you stuck with, and maybe one that's special. that way, you have four of the same cake 3 times, which makes 12, and then one cake is special for the cake cutting. I don't know how you should split up colors, but I would say the special cake should be all white.

Answer 5

My mother smooths the frosting as much as possible, then takes a frosting spreader (kinda like an extra long, square knife - no cutting edges, though) and dips it in lukewarm water.  Continue to smooth the frosting with that, it makes for a much nicer "finish."

Fondant is the professional way to go.  But I've never tried it so I don't know how difficult it is.

Whatever you do, I'd suggest trying it on a "practice" cake first, so you know what you're getting into...

Answer 6

I tried to make fondant for my wedding cake but never had any luck with it; I never determined if my recipe from an old cake decorating course was at fault or not.

To smooth butter cream frosting the utensil (frosting spreader) is dipped in hot water, excess water shaken off, and then the heat gives that smooth finish you want.

Have you taken a course?  Do you know about crumb coats?  Do you know how to pipe flowers?

Answer 7

You can use butter cream, and to get it smooth, just use a smooth blade like spatula preferably metal dipped in HOT water,  this will melt the butter again giving it a smooth finish

Answer 8

There is this stuff called Fondant. It's what most of the really REALLY smooth wedding cakes are made of. You can buy it at a cake shop, and you can use food coloring to change the color, and it comes with all the directions and stuff, but you do have to roll it out VERY VERY VERY thin and it's super sweet, but very effective!

I think what you should do, is do very simple cakes, and then have them in the different colors, that way it's not too much since they are going on tables.

Answer 9

It is very labour-intensive to get the cake looking so good - especially without practice and experience.  The professionals (that I know of) put numerous thin layers on the cake to make it look like that.  The fondant goes on in at least 3 layers - each time smoothing the surface out just a little more.  It is a very fine art and I would suggest you get someone who ices cakes for a living to give you some more hands-on advice.

Answer 10

Fondant is difficult to work with and tastes like a foot.

It takes some time, but you can get it smooth.  Make sure you're working with a straight edge knife.  There are also a few tools you could pick up at your local party store or chef's store that'll help you make it super smooth.  

If you work at it long enough,  you can get it almost flat.  My mother works with warm frosting and manages to get it completely flat.

Answer 11

I'm going to say that butter cream icing would be best to use and it's easy to smooth onto the cake.