Look, Ma! No fondant!

Fondant.  Love it?  Hate it?  It’s really taken over the cake decorating world.  Most of the cake shows on TV show bakers covering every cake in blankets of it.  Yes, it makes the cake look perfectly smooth when applied correctly.  But here’s the thing: Who wants to eat all of that?  Most people peel it off, taking their precious icing with it.  Not only do you have to dissect your piece in order to then eat it, but it ends up being a waste.  So, guess what?  You don’t have to cover your cake in fondant in order to get that smooth fondant look.  Use an icing scraper.  After you ice your cake, set the scraper lightly against the edge of the cake.  Spin your turn table while holding the scraper against the cake.  It takes lots of practice, but you should be able to make the sides smooth.

Scraping cake 1

After doing the sides, you can then pull the top edges across the top of the cake to smooth it down.  Pull all the edges towards the center.

Scraping cakes 2

After a lot of practice using a nice basic butter cream, you should be able to give your cakes a nice smooth service upon which to work your decorating magic!

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