How To Frost A Cake

Anybody knows the icing on the block is the all-time office, but information technology can also be one of the more than challenging steps of the block-making process. And it's not merely the fancy swirls, bobs and swags you meet in bakeries. A slick, crumb-free frosting on a cake or cupcake is an accomplishment in itself. This guide will help you get there and beyond.

Before You Start

Attempting to spread frosting onto warm cake layers is a recipe for sloppy disaster. Chill your cake layers for at least two hours, or better, overnight. If you lot've fabricated your frosting ahead, make sure it'south at room temperature before you start.
A large offset spatula and some parchment paper are small investments that will pay dividends. You'll also need a long, preferably serrated pocketknife to trim the cake layers and cutting them in half. If you're a cupcake fan, option upwards a small get-go spatula as well.
If y'all love baking (or at to the lowest degree, cake-making) consider buying a rotating block turntable on a pedestal. While non essential, it does help accomplish a satiny finish quickly and hands. A cake carrier will help y'all transport your cake to the political party.

Prepare Your Cake

Yous've baked your block. You've permit the layers absurd. Only before you can cover them with a luscious layer of frosting, you demand to get your block gear up. Make certain the layers take cooled for a couple of hours after they come out of the oven, or even overnight in the refrigerator. When yous're gear up to frost, follow these steps.

How to Prepare a Cake for Frosting

These steps beneath are specific to layer cakes, only you tin use the basic information to get the nigh out of frosting pound cakes and bundt cakes, likewise (although you might consider glazing those, and we'll help y'all with that).

Cut three or four parchment or wax paper strips to place under the block. Then, use a serrated knife to trim off any peaks from the tops of the cakes so they lie flat and even. (Swallow these trimmings as your reward for having broiled the block in the kickoff place.)

Identify the paper strips on the edges of a serving plate and invert one cake layer onto information technology so cut side is facing down; this helps minimize crumbs. Make sure the strips are tucked partially under the block to proceed them from moving around, and partially sticking out to cover the serving plate. The strips help go on you lot keep from frosting the plate as well as the cake. Finally, brush away any loose crumbs using a pastry castor. Merely exist gentle – yous don't want to create more crumbs.

Haven't decided what cake you desire to broil? We've got lots of ideas for yous.

Karsten Moran for The New York Times

Tips

• If your layers are thick and you lot'd like to halve them to make a four-layer block, find your longest serrated knife to do the job. It'southward difficult to do this well, so take your fourth dimension. First, score a level horizontal line around the perimeter of the layer to guide you lot as you cutting. And then identify one manus on top of the cake, and evenly cutting the layer beyond the scored line. Use less pressure and rely more than on the back-and-forth sawing motion of your knife to cutting the cake.

• If you lot're planning to carry your cake in a block carrier, brand sure the block plate fits inside information technology. Or, ice the cake on a paper-thin round that's at least 1 to 2 inches larger in diameter than your block.

• If you want additional flavor or sweetness, brush a obviously or flavored uncomplicated syrup onto top of each cake layer.

Frostings

When it comes to choosing the correct frosting for your cake, your options range from a silky buttercream to a rich, bittersweet ganache. While there are no rules about matching frosting to cakes, conduct in mind that sturdier cakes, like butter and pound cakes, can stand up to all frostings, whether a delicate buttercream or a heavy fudge. Merely for airy confections like sponge and chiffon cakes, stick to a lighter frosting, similar a 7-minute meringue.

Buttercream & Cream Cheese

Buttercream Frosting

The unifying feature of all buttercream frostings, whether sweetened with carbohydrate syrup or jam, is the liberal utilize of butter. These frostings become well with whatsoever kind of butter cake, sponge cake, or fruit-filled cake, but avoid using them on flourless cakes. Brand sure all your ingredients are at room temperature earlier you first; if your frosting looks curdled, it'due south probably considering they were either too warm or too common cold. Buttercream frosting can be fabricated up to two weeks ahead and stored in the refrigerator. Just brand sure you bring it to room temperature before frosting your cake.

Here'southward a foolproof method: In a metal bowl, combine 4 large egg whites with a pinch of table salt and 1 cup sugar. Prepare the bowl over a pot with an inch of simmering water and whisk the mixture over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Remove the bowl from the heat and beat with an electrical mixture until stiff peaks form. Vanquish in 3 sticks softened unsalted butter, 1 spoonful at a time, until the buttercream is smooth. Then, vanquish in whatever flavoring you'd like to apply, like vanilla excerpt, lemon juice or brandy.

If the frosting (or your kitchen) seems too warm, stick the bowl in the refrigerator for a few minutes, and then continue chirapsia. If it'southward too common cold, let the frosting warm up, then proceed beating until it comes together. This may take several minutes, so don't give up.
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Foam Cheese Frosting

Foam cheese frosting has the same polish silky texture of buttercream, but with an added tangy, sweet-tart flavor. It's a breeze to make and is the traditional frosting for carrot cakes, just consider it for anything from simple white layer cakes to devil'southward nutrient and fudge cakes. As with buttercreams, make sure your ingredients are at room temperature. Foam cheese frosting can ordinarily be made a week ahead.

Here's how y'all do it: Using an electric mixer, shell together one pound softened cream cheese with 1 stick softened unsalted butter until smooth. Slowly vanquish in 6 cups confectioners' saccharide until very smooth, about 3 minutes. Beat in 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or 1 tablespoon lemon juice plus ane teaspoon grated lemon zest. Thin the frosting with a fiddling milk if information technology seems too thick to spread.

Fudge & Ganache

Fudge Frosting

Rich and dark, fudge frostings are like the soft and spreadable version of their eponymous processed. This frosting should be used very soon after making, before it firms up and becomes difficult to spread. If you must go far alee, you'll need to reheat it, beating it until spreadable.

Hither's how to make it: Finally chop 6 ounces unsweetened chocolate. In a minor bucket over medium-low heat, heat 1 ane/2 cup sugar, 1 cup heavy cream or milk, and a compression of table salt until the sugar dissolves. Pour the hot sugar mixture into a basin and add together the chopped chocolate, 1 stick of softened unsalted butter and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or other flavoring (bourbon is nice). Stir until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth. Place the bowl with the warm chocolate mixture into another larger bowl filled with ice. Using an electrical mixer, shell until thick and fudgy.
Ganache Frosting

Ganaches, made from chocolate mixed with butter or foam, are smoother and silkier than fudge frostings, simply merely as rich. They can be made from bittersweet, milk or white chocolate. Use semisweet chocolate for a sweeter ganache, and bittersweet or extra-bittersweet chocolate for something less sugary. Ganache can commonly be made a week or two ahead. Shop it in the refrigerator and bring it to room temperature while beating it once again before frosting your block.

Here's an piece of cake, standard method for perfect ganache: Finely chop 12 ounces bittersweet chocolate and place it in a big, heatproof basin. In a small saucepan, oestrus i 1/ii cups heavy cream with a pinch of table salt until it comes to a simmer. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate. Let the mixture sit for a infinitesimal, and so stir until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is smooth. Stir in 4 tablespoons unsalted butter and 1 to two tablespoons flavoring, like vanilla, rum or espresso.

7-Infinitesimal Meringue

Beating eggs whites with sugar gives a sleeky, billowing meringue frosting that's a archetype on kokosnoot cakes and Lady Baltimore cakes. Seven-minute meringue frostings, also called Swiss meringues, are made in a double banality over simmering h2o to dissolve the saccharide, using electrical beaters to reach the barm. Cakes with meringue frostings are all-time served the day they are frosted.

Here's how y'all practice information technology: in a metallic bowl, combine two egg whites, one one/3 cups sugar, i/4 teaspoon foam of tartar and a pinch of salt. Beat with an electric mixer until well combined. Place the bowl on meridian of a pot filled with an inch of simmering water. Over low rut, shell the egg mixture until it'south thick and fluffy, about 7 minutes. Mix in i teaspoon vanilla extract. Make sure you frost your cake immediately, or the meringue will house up and become impossible to utilise. And never shop meringue frosting in the refrigerator; the humidity volition make it bead and cry.

Glazes

Karsten Moran for The New York Times

Made from confectioners' sugar or chocolate, glazes are a subset of frostings. Instead of being practical with a spatula, glazes are thin plenty to pour over the top. They will run down the cake's sides in attractive drips, so harden as they ready. It's useful to place your cake or cupcake on a rack instead of a plate to apply the glaze, so the glaze doesn't pool around the bottom. When the glaze has set, transfer the cake to a serving plate, using a large offset spatula if you have one. Glazes are great for simple bundt cakes and pound cakes – really, whatsoever cake in which you want to guild the lily.

Hither's a elementary glaze: in a large basin, whisk together ii cups confectioners' sugar with 1/four loving cup milk or foam and ane teaspoon vanilla extract. Add more milk, a teaspoon at a time, until the desired consistency is reached. It should be thick yet pourable. You can substitute cold coffee, orange juice or lemon juice for all or part of the milk.

Frost Your Cake

Y'all've baked your block layers, chilled them downward, de-crumbed them and have them all set up for frosting. Follow these steps for the neatest, virtually evenly frosted and best-looking cakes. A but and beautifully frosted cake needs no farther decoration if you have the fourth dimension to do information technology right – but rainbow sprinkles or chopped basics hide a multitude of frosting sins, so don't fret if it's not perfect.

How to Frost a Cake

Make sure the bottom block layer is sitting on parchment strips to keep the cake plate clean and frosting-free. Using an offset spatula or a knife, spread the frosting your filling evenly on top of the bottom cake layer. Then, using a big offset spatula if you have one, advisedly pick up your 2nd layer and gently place it on the frosted layer, trimmed side downwardly. If the layer isn't centered, use your hands to position it before you lot apply the frosting. Repeat if you've got more than layers and filling.

Requite your layers another castor to remove whatsoever more stray crumbs, and and so prepare the nibble coat. This is a thin blanket of frosting that seals the crumbs to the cake and then they don't bear witness through. Take almost 1/2 cup of frosting and thin it out with a little milk or water so it's very easy to spread. With an offset spatula, spread a thin layer of it on the tops and sides of the cake, then chill until ready, nigh 15 minutes. Repeat if y'all tin can still see crumbs showing through the icing. Chocolate and night cakes will often need two crumb coats; white or yellow cakes are more forgiving.

Now frost the cake with the unthinned frosting using an offset spatula. Beginning with top of the block, spreading the frosting all the style to the edge of the layer. And then, frost the sides. If the cake is on a turntable, spin it around every bit you frost for an even coating. When y'all're done, remove the parchment newspaper strips and admire your nice, make clean plate. But don't do this yet if you lot are planning on piping any decorations on the sides or lesser of the block. Read on for more details on how to do that.

Decorating

There'southward naught wrong with a plain and simple frosted cake. Merely if y'all desire to add some fancy swirls, roses, shell borders and other frippery, hither'southward how. We'll also testify y'all how to write neatly on a cake with a pastry handbag. Your birthday cakes take never looked ameliorate.

Decorating With a Spatula

For a basic wavy expect all over the cake, use an offset spatula or a pocketknife and a dorsum-and-forth motion to create swirls all over the frosting. This is one of the easiest ways to add together texture and a archetype diner block look to your cake. If you're using a fudge frosting or a meringue, you tin can lift the spatula to pull upward some of the frosting and create spikes all over the surface of the cake. (This doesn't piece of work likewise with ganache or buttercream, though.) Yous could likewise use a fork to create striped patterns on the block.

Karsten Moran for The New York Times

Decorating With Garnishes

To add texture to your block, you could printing chopped basics, kokosnoot, mini chocolate chips, chocolate shavings or curls, or sprinkles into the sides or top of the cake. Sliced strawberries, whole raspberries, pomegranate seeds or other fruit look overnice also, simply don't add together them until just earlier serving or they will water down and maybe stain the frosting.

Karsten Moran for The New York Times

Decorating With a Pastry Purse

To pipe out letters, borders, flowers, dots and swirls, you'll demand a pastry bag, or a zip-top plastic pocketbook approximation of one. (Nosotros'll tell you how to do that.) Hither's how to use information technology:

First, assemble the pastry bag. If using a dispensable plastic bag, snip off the tip to create an opening. For any kind of pastry bag, plastic or coated material, insert a coupler down through the bag into the opening. Using a coupler, a plastic plumbing equipment that connects the bag to the tip, makes it easier to change tips; otherwise, you'll have to remove the frosting from the purse to become to the tip. And then, screw the tip on to the coupler. You tin also merely insert the tip directly into pocketbook if yous don't have a coupler.

To load the frosting into the bag, invert the bag, tip down, into a glass and fold the bag over the sides. Using a spatula or large spoon, press the frosting downwards into the handbag, getting it as far into the pocketbook as possible. You'll want to avoid equally many air bubbles as possible. One time you've filled the bag – about halfway is best – twist the top shut and press a little frosting out through the tip. Hold the bag about the tip with your ascendant hand, and utilise your other mitt to button the frosting out of the pocketbook from the top, continuing to twist the bag top equally you go. At present your bag is set up for action.

If y'all don't have a pastry bag, you tin also use a nix-top bag with the corner cut off. Cull a heavy-duty bag that is easy to seal, and a gallon-sized bag is easier to handle for adults (if you're working with kids, though, choose a quart size.) Cut a very minor opening in one corner for writing, and a larger opening for other decorations. Y'all tin attach tips and couplers to a plastic handbag as well every bit you can with a pastry bag.

Karsten Moran for The New York Times

To brand stars and borders, choose a star tip. Use a polish tip for writing, dots, and stripes. Choose the shell tip for leaves, shells, and borders. And for flowers? A flower tip, of course. Before you starting time decorating your cake, practice whatsoever you lot have in mind on a plate. Information technology's hard to neatly correct piping gone wrong without refrosting the cake.

To pipe flowers, fit your pastry bag with a flower tip and fill up bag with frosting. Identify the bag straight upwardly and down, at a 90 degree angle from the block. Squeeze the bag gently while simultaneously turning the pocketbook slightly. Pull up slowly.

To pipage borders, fit your pastry bag with a star tip and fill the bag with frosting. Hold the pastry bag at a 45-degree angle, bear upon the tip to where y'all want to start the border, then squeeze difficult while pulling the handbag directly up. Stop squeezing and bring the pocketbook down nigh ane/2-inch away from where you started. Continue in that fashion all the way around the top or bottom edge of the block.

Karsten Moran for The New York Times

Writing on a Cake

Information technology's easier to write on height of the cake in the center before yous pipe any borders or decorates on the top of the cake. It gives you more room to work, and if you make a mistake, information technology's still easy to re-frost the top of the cake and outset again. Practice writing the message with frosting on a flat surface earlier trying information technology on the cake. Brand sure you make at least 2 kinds of frosting for your block, or make a light frosting and tint it for the frosting used as decoration.

To write on a block, cull a pastry tip with a modest hole. The smaller the hole, the more elegant the letters will await. Using a toothpick, place a dot where you desire each letter of the words to go, spacing them equally. And so utilize the same toothpick to trace out the letters in the frosting. This is your guide. Piping over the toothpick-lined letters, using firm, even pressure on the pastry handbag. And remember: cursory is meliorate.

Frost a Cupcake

Although cupcakes are but small cakes, the technique for frosting them is dissimilar from large layer cakes. For one thing, if yous've baked the cupcakes in paper liners, you won't have to deal with a crumb coat, and you can spread the frosting on with a pocketknife or pipe information technology on with a pastry pocketbook. Most frostings and glazes piece of work for cupcakes, but meringues tin can exist challenging on such a small-scale surface.

Frosting With a Pastry Bag

Using a pastry bag or zip-top purse fitted with a star or manifestly tip, swirl your frosting on the cupcake, starting at the outer edge of the cake and moving toward the center. Top with sprinkles, chopped basics, chocolate shavings or kokosnoot flakes.

Karsten Moran for The New York Times

Frosting With a Knife

Yous can also use a small outset spatula or butter knife to spread frosting on meridian of the cupcakes in an even layer. Wield the spatula or knife with a back-and-forth motility to create swirls all over the frosting, or lift it up all over the frosting to create spikes. This works all-time with fudge and meringue frostings. Buttercreams and ganaches are usually as well soft.

Transporting and Storage

Y'all've baked, frosted and busy your gorgeous cake. Now how are you going to get information technology to the party without ruining information technology? Read on for some solutions.

Karsten Moran for The New York Times

A cake carrier is a audio and not-as well-steep investment. Make sure to frost the cake on a cake plate or cardboard round that fits within the carrier. The plate or circular should exist at least an inch larger in diameter than the cake.

A large paper-thin box is some other option for conveying the block. An upside down plastic tub container could as well piece of work if it's large enough.

If your cake plate or cardboard round is smaller than the cake carrier or box you're using for transport, use stiff double sided tape (or make a tape ring) to tape the plate or board to the bottom of the carrier. You don't want it to skid and knock around.

If you're driving to an event with a block and can't discover someone to concur the block carrier in her lap (the safest place), the floor of the car is safer than the back seats. If you want to put the cake in the trunk, line the trunk with a nonslip mat or yoga mat and then the block carrier stays put and doesn't slide around.

You can buy cupcake carriers made peculiarly for transporting cupcakes. Or, render the cupcakes to your cleaned out blistering can. Place a toothpick in each corner cupcake and lightly drape plastic wrap over the top.

Always bring some leftover icing and other decorations to repair whatsoever frosting damage at the party.