A "crumb coat" is a thin layer of frosting that seals in the afore mentioned crumbs. It need not be perfectly smooth or particularly even, it just catches the crumbs. The crumb coat is also a must for sculpted cakes. I usually pop a cake into the freezer after it has been baked and cooled to room temperature (Wrapped first in plastic wrap and then in aluminum foil). A firm cake is much easier to carve. After it has firmed up a bit in the freezer, I unwrap it, and carve according to my plan. I usually have a drawing or picture to work from. Here is Hello Kitty's crumb coat:
You can see all the cake crumbs and even some of the cake, but it's ok! After the crumb coat has been applied, return the cake to the fridge to firm up the frosting, in this case it's my buttercream frosting.
If this cake was going to be covered in fondant, this is the point when the fondant would be applied. However, for Hello Kitty, I applied the second layer of frosting and found that I could still see the cake in a couple of spots, so I popped it back into the fridge, and applied more frosting where it was necessary. The trick to smoothing out frosting evenly, is using an off set spatula that you have run under HOT water. The hot water slightly melts the butter in the frosting and easily smooths out the frosting. Return the spatula to the hot water after every couple of passes on the cake and keep a towel handy for drying it off after you run it under the water.
I made Kitty's features and bow out of fondant and found some thick black licorice for her whiskers. The pink sprinkles set off her smooth white frosting perfectly (and cover the cake board as well)!
While it's nearly impossible to achieve the perfectly smooth look of fondant with frosting, it can come pretty close.
Here's Hello Kitty boxed up and ready to feed a gaggle of six year old girls. Doesn't she look a little sad to be trapped in the box?
I think she looks happy to be going to a party!
ReplyDeleteI think that Hello Kitty looks like the "cat in the bubble".
ReplyDeletePlease dont eat me..Im too pretty!
ReplyDeletehow could u cut into such cuteness?"ADOOORABLE" "DONT BE TARDY FOR THE PARTY"
ReplyDeletewhats the price of this exact cake
ReplyDeleteSteffy, this cake serves about 25 people and is $115. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThis cake is so amazing! I love it. Great job. I'm taking this picture to a cake artist in my town to ask them to replicate it.
ReplyDeleteThis cake was carved from 2 layers of 11" x 14" cake!
ReplyDeleteDo you have a template for carving the cake? I would like to make one for a Hello Kitty themed birthday party. Thanks so much. Your instructions and pictures blew me away.
ReplyDeleteHi! Anon June 9th! I think I enlarged an image of Kitty to use as a pattern to carve this cake. I generally just go to FedEx Kinkos and give them the size I need it increased to and presto- instant template!
ReplyDeleteI was the Anon June 9th person who asked about the template. My 1st cake carving project was a success. I filled the bow with pink stars and used black Twistlers for the whiskers. Everyone loved it. They were all wows and ohhhs and taking pictures of it. Thank you for the excellent instructions! I am now motivated to try another cake carving project.
ReplyDeleteThis is an amazing webpage! I have my first project Hello Kitty cake to make this Sunday. This is sooo detailed and is just so easy to follow! I will keep you posted! THANK YOU SOO MUCH!
ReplyDeletehi there, do you put a filling in the middle of the cake? i tried making a 9" round cake with buttercream filling, but i'm having several problems due to our humid weather. 1st, when i cover it with fondant, the fondant becomes too moist and sticky and 2nd, after covering it with fondant and putting some decorations on it, the cake tends to slide off to one side :(
ReplyDeletemy questions are: 1. how thick should be the filling and coating be?
2. what can i do to make the fondant dry up again when it becomes too moist?
hope you could help me this. thanks a lot! :)
Anon August 10- I generally use a buttercream filling, but I have used a lemon curd or fruit preserve filling in some of my cakes. Use a buttercream dam to hold in any curd/softer filling by piping buttercream or whatever frosting you are using around edge of the cakes and then fill the insides with your filling. (Your fillings and frostings will stick better if you are working with frozen cakes). They are easier to level, frost, and carve if they are frozen. (Even the most experienced cake makers will agree that it is acceptable to freeze a cake for a few hours or over night before you work with it, this is very different from a week or a month old frozen cake, which I do not advocate). Also, if your cakes are sliding, you can dowel them after you fondant it.
ReplyDeleteAs for the humidity, if you are working in the south as I do, central air conditioning pretty much moderates any dramatic swing in humidity. But even as a frozen cake begins to defrost as you work with the decorations and fondant, it will begin to make the fondant a bit tacky or a little sticky. If you have used corn starch to roll out the fondant, this gives you a longer window to work with the fondant before it gets sticky. The other option is that the longer your cake is out in the relative dry air of an air conditioned kitchen the fondant will begin to dry out! So the longer it takes to work on fussy fondant details, the drier your fondant will become- this is a double edged sword!
Good luck!
Your cake is really beautifull!
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of cake did you use? I've read that pound cake is the best to use when carving. Is that what you used for this cake?
ReplyDeleteThis was just a chocolate cake that I firmed up in the freezer for a bit before I carved it!
ReplyDelete