Smoothing Royal Icing

Working with royal icing can be a royal pain to get it super smooth, but compared to fondant, I’d take royal icing any day! With royal icing there are two major tips to remember to result in the smoothest cake possible.

For those of you who wish you could have a cake as smooth as the cakes on TV… well, you can! The first tip to remember when smoothing royal icing is that you can’t forget the crumb coat. A crumb coat seals in the freshness of your cake and contains the crumb sunder a thin layer of hard icing.

In addition to the crumb coating you need a print-less paper towel (I love Viva)! You see, cake decorating is all about knowing what tool to use for what job. Even tools you wouldn’t usually see in a kitchen, you may find work the best! You just have to know where to look and what to look for.

So after you have your crumb coat, you can frost the cake with the rest of the thinker frosting. Always start with more frosting then you think you’ll need and pile it on the top of your cake. Smooth it out with a spatula or rubber scraper, working in circles and working down the cake to the bottom.

Once your cake is completely frosted, you then let a light “air crust” form. This keeps the paper towel from sticking when you use it on the next stage.

After the “air crust” has formed, you can lay a smooth paper towel on the cake. Press lightly and use two fingers to smooth the paper towel onto the cake. Work in circles, back and forth, any way you want to have the smoothest finish you can! When you think the cake is smooth, lift up the paper towel and repress it in a spot you haven’t yet smoothed. Repeat the same process.

Once you get the hang of smoothing it with a print-less paper towel, you can experiment with printed paper towels. Fun designs on paper towels can look so unique on top of a cake. And who would have thought that it was all done with a simple paper towel!