Since I really have not tried any new recipes lately I thought I might share with you a frosting recipe that I discovered last week, and a few cake decorating tips I've learned! There are lots of cream cheese frosting recipes out there, but this one is specifically for decorating! Which means it crusts as it dries.
Cream Cheese Decorators Icing1-8oz package cream cheese (I wouldn't use low fat for this - it might change the outcome)
1/2 cube of butter
1/2 c. shortening
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 - 2 pounds of powdered sugar (depending on what you are using the frosting for)
Cream together cheese, butter and shortening. Add vanilla. Slowly add powdered sugar. Store in refrigerator.
On to cake decorating!
One of the things I learned while taking my Wilton Course is that icing consistency is SUPER important! No wonder this cake didn't work! My icing was too thin!
I think the most helpful thing to do is to make the following recipe, and make yourself some thin, medium, and stiff consistency icing so that you know what it looks like and feels like. This is disgusting frosting, but it's a learners frosting.
Wilton Buttercream Icing1 cup solid shortening
1 tsp. flavoring (vanilla, almond, butter, etc.)
2 T. milk
1 lb. powdered sugar (4 cups)
pinch of salt
Cream shortening, flavoring, adn water. Add sugar and salt and mix on medium speed until mixed. BLend an addition minute until creamy.
The recipe above will give you a stiff consistency icing. That's used for the roses, and probably some different flowers (i haven't learned them yet)
Medium consistency: Stars, borders, flowers that lie flat. Add one teaspoon of water to each cup of stiff icing.
Thin: Writing, making vines, leaves, and icing a cake. Add two teaspoons of water for each cup of stiff icing.
Other tips: Put a glob of icing on your cake platter or board before you put the first layer on. Then it won't slide off
After you have assembed your cake, you might want to put skewers or cake dowels in it so the layers won't slide off. I did that for Easton's birthday cake. Thank goodness!
Cut off the mound on top of the cake after it comes out of the oven so both top and bottom are flat.
Use medium consistency icing in the middle of the layers so it won't all squish out.
Ice the cake with a thin coat called a "crumb coat" before you do anything else. Let it sit out for 30 minutes so it can crust up and then go ahead and ice your cake. That way you won't have unsightly crumbs all up in your frosting!!
To get a smooth frosting, run a metal long spatula under hot hot hot water, wipe off the water, then use the hot metal spatula to kind of melt the frosting together. The cream cheese icing above is really really hard to get perfectly smooth. Probably impossible. The Wilton recipe is a lot easier. I've also heard that you can mist your cake with water (in a spray bottle) and then run your knife over it.
Everything else, the flowers, borders, etc. is just technique! You can find hundreds of videos on YouTube showing you how to do it! Or you can come over and I"ll show you (even though I am SO a beginner)` Or you can take the class! It's so fun!
