Cake Survival Guide

Frosting a Warm Cake

You might be anxious to dig into your cake and start frosting too soon after the cake comes out of the oven. Even a slightly warm cake will cause a frosting to melt and it could even slide off.  The solution is to be patient and make certain to wait until the cake completly cools.

Domed Cake

Cake layers can sometimes dome or puff up in the center which will make them hard to stack the layers and leave large gaps that necessitate filling with extra frosting.  If you make extra frosting to fill in the gaps the cake will be overly sweet and rich.  The solution is to trim off the dome so you end up with even layers.  The excess trimmings are a treat for the cook!

Frosting is cold

Frostings can be made ahead and stored in the refrigerator until ready to use.  However if you don't allow the frosting to soften at room temperature the frosting will be overly stiff making it difficult to spread.  While applying you can even end up taking chunks out of the cake and it's very difficult to fix.  The solution is to allow your frosting to reach a spreadable consistency by allowing it to warm to room temperature before applying the frosting.

Messy Slicing

A beautifully frosted layer cake can turn into an ugly duckling after the first slice.  When slicing the knife can drag frosting and crumbs as it cuts.  To maintain a picture perfect presentation take the time to clean the knife by dipping into hot water and then drying it off in between each slice.