Baking Tips: Frosting Cakes

I have made countless homemade cakes... and this is the best way to create a smooth, professional looking cake with perfect icing. First, make sure the cake is completely cooled before icing. I recommend letting layer cakes cool on wire racks because it allows the bottom of the cake to cool too. If you try cooling a hot cake on a plate or wrapped in plastic wrap, condensation forms which leads to a soggy cake. If you do not plan on icing the cake the same day that you bake it, you can cool the cakes completely and then wrap the cakes tightly in plastic wrap. Cakes can be frozen and they turn out just fine. Cakes should never be left in the refrigerator because it drys them out.

Now that the cakes are cooled, they can be iced. Take a small amount of icing and thin it down by mixing in a little water, milk, etc. For example, if the icing was made with milk, thin it with milk. For layer cakes, first frost the in between layers with the regular frosting (and assemble the layers one on top of another) and then frost the entire outside of the cake with the thinned frosting. This is called the "crumb layer." It helps to lock down all the loose crumbs and also sets and preserves the cake to ensure it does not dry out. Let the crumb coat dry for at least 20 minutes. Then, frost the entire cake with the regular icing and its done!