How to Prevent the Three Huge Errors Cake Decorators Make
Whats in a cake? It brings smiles to millions of children as they watch you make one. Weddings will not be complete without the wedding cake. So it matters if its not created perfectly. To prevent any baking tragedy, stop big-time errors as early as now.
1. How can I freeze my cake so it wont dry out easily?
In baking, it is important to plan ahead of time to do away with doing last-minute touches, so sometimes you even have to say no to your own childs request. But then, would you really do that? Should this be the case, then at least you must be informed at least twelve hours before the actual occasion so you can properly plan.
An important step in preplanning is to learn the technique of properly freezing the cake. This way you can do the actual baking days, even weeks, before filling and icing them. Baking your cakes early will save you a lot of time and hassle in the days and hours before an important event.
Yet you have to keep in mind that freezing cakes may render them blunt and dry. Hence, it is essential that you keep and wrap the cake without the icing.
You can utilize a plastic wrap to cover the cake in two to three layers. Make use of the aluminum foil to prevent moisture and air from being trapped in the wrapped cake. Mind you, they can absolutely last even longer than fruitcakes.
The cake must be taken from the freezer a day before you add icing so the cake can still have time to thaw.
Defrost to room temperature and then ice.
The problem with freezing cakes already iced is that the icing will pick up condensation from the air and sweat during the defrosting process.
Youll end up with soggy icing and droopy decorations. It isnt ideal.
So bake cakes as early as possible.
2. Can I stop filling from sliding into the outer edges of the cake?
In the cake decorating world, there is a great battle being fought every day in kitchens around the world. Its the Battle of the Bulge, and upset bakers are desperately crying out for help.
There is the typical question as to how you can prevent filling from bulging into the edges of the cake and then into the icing.
Perhaps you can begin with baking the cake before putting on the filling. A one-day-advance cake baking will create a firmer and more settled cake that can support heavy filling.
These are some tips on how to stop fillings from crossing boundaries.
a.) Initially, you can make an icing dam at the edges of the cake. It will act as a barrier and prevent the filling from overflowing into the outer edges.
b.) Coat your entire assembled cake with a crumb coat of a thinned version of your final icing.
c.) Then allow the cake to firm up by storing it in a freezer for two to three hours.
Once chilled, the icing dams and the crumb coat will work together to seal your cake and contain the filling. Ice your cake with the final icing, and voila! And expect no more bulging after.
3. I have a hard time with crumbs in my icing. What can I do?
The crumb. Such an itty-bitty piece of cake and such a big, huge annoyance when it comes to ice a cake. They are out to damage the intricate cake decoration you have already made.
No wonder a lot of bakers are getting nuts over this; they just dont know, however, theres a good way to end this.
For this problem, you can utilize a crumb coat. It is a fine layer of glaze or icing that you can cover on your assembled cake so it will cement any crumbs that are in the layer of the cake. When the crumb coat dries, it will prevent crumbs from sticking into the final icing.
To put a crumb coat, you take a few of the icing and you thin it with any liquid thats part of the recipe until it turns viscous. You cover the entire cake with the thinned icing.
Once everything dries up, the crumb then becomes glued to the surface of the cake. You can make the drying process faster by freezing your cake. It does decrease the problem with crumbs so you dont mind about the additional time you have to spend for this.
Hopefully, with these tips, you can bake almost anything.
