How to Ice & Smooth a Cake with Swiss Meringue Buttercream

[silverteacakes]

I recently made SMBC for my son's cake and I LOVE it! I smoothed it on the cake and placed in fridge for 1/2 hour. I covered my cake with chocolate MMF and the SMBC thawed quickly. I had dents and pockets in my fondant. :( Where did I go wrong? Maybe I did not leave the cake in the fridge long enough to harden the SMBC. After smoothing the cake, should I place back in the fridge to harden again before covering with fondant? Thanks in advance for your assistance on this. Silverteacakes

[HappyCakesBakes]

@silverteacakes Hi! My best guess is that the SMBC got a little soft while you were smoothing the fondant and got pushed around creating the dents... I always make sure that the icing is solid before covering it with fondant, so yes, after smoothing, I pop it back in the fridge... I take it out, right after I've rolled out my fondant, so it doesn't have time to get soft. I find it easier to work with a cold cake...

[silverteacakes]

@HappyCakesBakes You are correct. I left my cake out while rolling out my fondant. I did not think to have my fondant ready before pulling the cake out of the fridge. Also, I don't think 30 minutes was long enough to chill in the fridge. Your video says to leave it for an hour. I will do this next time. One more question, once you cover the cake with fondant and it's nice and smooth, do you place it back in the fridge? What about condensation? Will you have a gooey mess?

[HappyCakesBakes]

@silverteacakes I bet the extra chill time will help tremendously! Yes, always put my cakes in the fridge, even with fondant... It makes it easier to work with when decorating, and much easier to transport! I've never had condensation cause a problem for me.. just DON'T touch the cake until the condensation evaporates otherwise you'll get fingerprints... but I don't live in an especially humid climate either, so that might make a difference.

[silverteacakes]

@HappyCakesBakes Thanks for the quick replies. I do appreciate your help and time. I do live in a very humid climate (South Florida). I will do a practice cake with all the advice you have given me. I don't plan to put my cakes out in the heat so I would imagine the condensation should not be an issue. I have read so much about fondant covered cakes going from the fridge to the heat and the fondant ruins the outside of the cake. I don't want to learn the hard way. :) Thank u.

[melissy516]

thanks for the tutorial! will fondant decorations "stick" to the cake once it has been chilled? do i use water to adhere them? thanks!

[HappyCakesBakes]

@melissy516 Hi! I generally don't have a problem with fondant sticking to the chilled buttercream cake... but if you are having trouble with it adhering you can try adding a little piping gel or even just a little "fresh" buttercream. I'm not sure how well water would work with a Swiss Meringue Buttercream (I've never tried it)... I think the high butter content would repel water making the decorations more likely to slide around....

[hana764]

ty for the vid..I was having trouble with smoothing the cake

[MissCiasiab]

What's the recipe for the cake? Can we just use white flavor from the boxed mix that we buy at the store? Do you recommend this for beginners? Also, I want to try to do your butter cream recipe but it seems like it would take me hours. Do you know if they sell any butter cream at the store? What do you recommend? Thanks a lot! :)

[HappyCakesBakes]

@MissCiasiab I like a recipe from Ron Ben Israel, you can Google "Ron's Sublime Vanilla Cake" to get the recipe or recently I found one by Crumb Boss Google "Crumb Boss Vanilla Cake" both recipes are great (YouTube won't let me post the links here...)! But you could use a boxed mix if you don't want to try a scratch recipe. I would not use a store bought icing with this smoothing technique, you need an icing with real butter in it. Give my recipe a try, it's easier than it looks!

[HappyCakesBakes]

@MissCiasiab And yes, beginners can do this... It does take a bit of practice to be able to quickly get a smooth cake... So it might take a beginner a bit longer... When I first started I would go around and around and around, seemingly forever! But after a few cakes you get a better feel for how much pressure to put on and what angle to hold the scraper, ect... I hope you give it a try, Good Luck!

[3poppyseeds]

Great video and I will be checking out your blog more often. I too was wondering about your turntable. I have a few from Wilton, ok but not what I like. Thanks for the tip. I was wondering about filling your cake with the strawberry SMBC, did you make a dam, like we do with regular BC? With the softness of the SMBC, it seems like it would not hold up.

[HappyCakesBakes]

@3poppyseeds Actually, I don't use a dam if I am just filling a cake with SMBC. It is soft, but the strawberry buttercream is the same consistency as what I ice the cake with... also I refrigerate my cakes between steps, so the filling layers set hard before I ice my cake- and then refrigerate again if I am covering with fondant so the buttercream is hard when i smooth the fondant. Nothing "squishes" out this way. If I was using a filling other than buttercream I would use a dam though. HTH!

[NappynHappy81]

I have another question..How would you smooth icing on shaped cakes?

[HappyCakesBakes]

@NappynHappy81 For a shaped cake or a cake with odd angles/edges I use a combination of a small offset spatula, and a plastic "table scraper" that is flexible enough to bend and I've even used just my hands, the I've got "hot hands" and my body temp is enough to soften the surface so I can smooth it. You could probably even use a piece of cardboard that you can bend to the shape you need :)

[ecuaricanchula]

Great Video !!!!!!!! If I were to cover my cake in fondant after smoothing out the buttercream, do i need to put my cake in the fridge again to harden before applying fondant ?

[HappyCakesBakes]

@ecuaricanchula Yes! Swiss Buttercream tends to be much softer/lighter than an American style buttercream... I always let it set up hard in the frudge before covering with fondant, it is much easier to work with that way and you'll have sharper, cleaner edges :) The only drawback is you have to work quickly when smoothing because the cold cake will cause the fondant to stiffen up a little, and the temp difference can cause condensation.

[NappynHappy81]

Thanks for such a wonderful tutorial! I would like to ask you a few questions: Do you let your cake warm up to room temperature before removing additional icing or covering with fondant? If you were covering your cake with fondant would you still do the final smoothing technique you showed here?

[HappyCakesBakes]

@NappynHappy81 Hi! I'm sorry I didn't see your comment before... I would suggest you let you cake chill an become hard before covering it with fondant... I find Swiss Meringue Buttercream to be on the soft side and imagine you would have a very difficult time trying to smooth it when soft. Also, yes, I do still do the final smoothing technique when covering a cake with fondant. Fondant will show ever lump and bump, you can't have smooth fondant without smooth buttercream :)

[NappynHappy81]

@HappyCakesBakes Thanks. I appreciate your reply. What have you found to be the best way to get fondant on without tearing and getting elephant skin. I still struggle with this. 

[HappyCakesBakes]

@NappynHappy81 I use "The Mat" by Sweetwise (shop {dot] sweetwise {dot} com). With this tool you don't use any cornstarch or powdered sugar, which speed up the drying of the top layer of fondant leading to elephant skin. And also work quickly! I always make sure to work quickly and adhere the fondant at the top edge first, because that's the area I tend to find it tears. If you don't use The Mat, then use the least amount of 'dust' possible and work as quickly as possible.

[NappynHappy81]

@HappyCakesBakes I have the mat also. I am still "learning" to like it. It seems as if I have to season it before each use to prevent sticking. Maybe it's because I don't use it frequently. I am going to keep working with it thought because I like not worrying about corn starch or powdered sugar.

[HappyCakesBakes]

@NappynHappy81 Also... you might rub a tiny amount of shortening on the fondant to help keep the fondant supple enough while you're working to cover your cake, most of the shortening should absorb into the fondant after a few hours, but if you use too much you can end up with streaks, so be cautious if you try it... i really suggest The Mat though, it's about $19 plus shipping and is one of my most valued cake decorating tools! Sweetwise has a Youtube channel and video demo.

[MrMikeProductionz]

where can i buy a scraper like that?

[HappyCakesBakes]

@MrMikeProductionz I got mine at the grocery store (Stop and Shop), but you can probably find them at Target or Walmart. The brand I got was Calphalon I believe, but Oxo and Chef Mate make them, and I'm sure some others. It's called a bench scraper, or sometimes a pastry scraper/chopper...the Chef Mate one is called Chop n Scoop. If you have a hard time finding one, you can also use a putty knife from the hardware store!

[bellafroggy]

wow!! so smooth!! x

[TheGreedyBaker]

This is an amazing video tutorial, thank you so much!

[lemontea128]

You have a very unique turn table. Did you make it yourself??

[HappyCakesBakes]

@lemontea128 Actually, it's the Ateco 12" turn table (I think they call it a revolving cake stand) it was about $45 from Amazon and I love it! It turns so smoothly and has a nice heavy/sturdy base, and raises the cake up for me... What you see on top, is a 12" wooden cutting board that I use a lot, instead of a cake board, when I make cakes for my family or practice... I just use a small piece of non-skid shelf liner under it so it doesn't slide on my turn table :)

[lemontea128]

@HappyCakesBakes cooolll!!! I might just do the same. :o)