Frosting Do's and Do Not's

So here's the other end of this blog spectrum: cupcakes. I make my own cakes and cupcakes and run a business via Facebook: facebook.com/CupcakesBySuzie I love this job. I get to do what I love, and get paid for it all while making people happy in the process. And every day is a learning experience. I've made plenty of mistakes while cooking and baking- we all have. The key is learning from my mistakes. And now I'm here to help keep you from making some of my mistakes. And this blog's topic for mistakes is frosting.

Never try to frost a hot, or even warm cake. The frosting will melt or separate and won't taste very good anymore. If you're in a rush to get a cake done, put it in the fridge to cool it faster. Make sure the cake is cooled completely, then frost the cake.

When making buttercream from scratch, don't use shortening or margarine. Always use butter. Even if your recipe calls for shortening, substitute butter for the shortening. It'll taste better, it'll be healthier, and there won't the shortening greasiness in your frosting.

When making whipped cream- either on it's own or part of a whipped cream frosting- always use sugerfine sugar. There won't be any graininess that granulated sugar would leave, and the whipped cream wouldn't be overly think the way powdered sugar would make it.

If you're going to use frosting from a can, always stir it well before putting it on a cake. This incorporates air and makes the frosting fluffy. It also reduces the from-the-can texture most store-bought frostings have.

When using fondant as a cover-all frosting for a cake, make sure you apply a layer of either store-bought of home made buttercream first. If you don't, the fondant won't stick to the cake. And the even layer of frosting removes any unevenness of the cake, making the fondant layer nice and even.

I hope these tips will help your next cake come out awesome. If any of your have any other tips you'd like to share with me, feel free to. I'm all for free advice and a mistake not made. Until next time..

Keep Smilin' :)