How to ice a cake like a professional cake decorator

Now that you have your cake baked and cooled and on your board. Hopefully your icing is already made if not refer back to How to Decorated Like a Professional for the icing recipe. First thing we need to do is make sure that there is no crumbs on the cake or on the board. If this happens use a butter knife to pick them out of the icing. You will need the following supplies to ice a cake; 1. 12" spatula 2. 7" spatula 3. Metal decorating comb

1, First thing we need to do is to stir the icing to make sure that everything is mixed really good and it will give the smooth spreading ability.

2. Get a good amount on your 12" spatula and put on top of cake. Do this several times all around the top of the cake making sure that one or two goes in the center of the cake.

3. Take your 12" spatula and starting with one of the piles of icing using a S style motion with your wrist start spreading the icing. Don't spread to thin or you will get cake in your icing. Work the piles of icing together and working it out to the edges. Don't worry if you think there is to much on top we will solve that problem as we go.

4. Using your 7" spatula get icing on it and start on one side using the same S motion and work the icing along the side pull any extra icing on the top edges to help with the sides. Again don't spread to thin or you will get cake in your icing. Continue this until the sides and top have been iced. Don't worry if it looks awful, most do but we will correct this problem in the next few steps.

5. Next get your metal decorators comb, we will be using the side with the smallest teeth. The first thing we are going to start with is the sides. Start at one corner and put the comb against the cake, your going to pull the comb toward you along the side of the cake. Do not put to much pressure while doing this or you will get cake in the icing. Do not worry if you think there is still to much icing on the sides you can repeat this step as many times as necessary to achieve the result you want. The ideal result is not to have any cake showing on the sides and for it to be a smooth combed look.

6. Next we will move to the top of the cake, this is a little more trickier than the sides but you can do it. Start at one corner of the cake still using the small teeth side of comb and pull toward the center of your cake. Work your way along from the corner along the edges of the cake still pulling toward the center of the cake. Once you have done the entire cake, you need to got to the center of the cake and smooth the icing down in different directions. Once that is accomplished slowly will hardly any pressure go from one end to the other. This give it a uniformed looked.

7. When you are pulling the icing on the sides and the top you will have icing left on the comb if there is no crumbs in it just put back in icing bowl. If at the end of the step and the cake still feels and looks like too much icing you can start over with the steps. Just remember to do the sides first and then the top. Once you are satisfied with cake take your 7" spatula and run along the bottom of the cake on the board and remove any excess icing that may accumulated there.

Now that you have baked the cake and made the icing and iced the cake you are ready for the next step. I will be post next how to make professional looking border by using your tips.

Hope you are having fun. And remember the more you practice the better you will get at it.

If you have any questions or don't fully understand something please email me.