49 Comments

That’s a really interesting point… I’ve always used two smoothers, might have to find some acetate now. Thanks for sharing x

Thanks for sharing this precious informations.
You’re great!!!
I’m gona try this :)
Thanks a lot! :))))

Thank you so much for sharing this.

Thank you very much for this. I am definitely going to try it out!

I am so envious of your sharp edges! Thank you for sharing this!

i feel like i have just found a box of treasure! ^^
thanks for sharing xo

Fantastic tutorial. Very generous of you!

Thanks guys – I hope it’s been of some use :)

Fabulous tutorial! Have to give this a go!

Thank you. I’m a new decorator and learn something new from my online friends every day.

I’ll likely post a ganache’ing tutorial soon too as I realise that it’s a fairly integral part of the process!

very helpful!

Thank you for your knowledge!

Thanks for sharing. I would love a ganaching tutorial :-)

Tortacouture….your crisp fondant corners are AMAZING!!!! After just completing my second 3-tiered fondant stacked cake, this is mesmerizing to me how razor sharp your edges are.

I have a question…what method do you use to apply the thin fondant to the cake? 3 mm is pretty thin, so I’m guessing you use your mat to lift and apply, then peel the mat off? Also, I’ve found that if I roll the fondant too thin, that it is more apt to leave dimples and creases and not apply as smoothly to the cake, as when I roll the fondant out more thickly.

This question is a little off topic, but when doweling, do you cut your dowels flush to the top of the tier? I used to do this, but a few times found that inevitably, one dowel was a tad taller, causing a slight gap of space between my two cakes…so frustrating to have to take the tier off again, cut the dowel and restack. To get around this, I saw on a tutorial to recess the dowels slightly, which I’ve been doing, but I’m finding that despite a very thick buttercream dam to hold my filling in, and letting the cake settle overnight, that I’m getting a slight bulge between layers. Do you think this could be caused by the dowels not being completely cut flush to the tier?

Always a learning experience :)

Thank you so much!

Hey Susy, thanks :)

I don’t use a mat – I did buy a mat, but I didn’t like it, I just use a big heavy duty wooden rolling pin to roll it out and then use a PVC pipe to transfer the fondant to the cake. As you say, because the of the thinness of the fondant, you have to make sure that the ganache underneath is near perfect as possible as you will see everything through it. However, I don’t have issues with it not going on smoothly, if you take the time to make sure that you are constantly fanning out your fondant so that you don’ have dimples, you wont have creases. Plus the acetate I use smooths out all these little inconsistencies.

I use bubble tea straws for dowelling and I like to cut them a smidge shorter so that the cake on top sinks in a little bit. Because I use ganache, I never have problems with bulging – the ganache is amazing and holds everything in. However, using the upside down method and a spirit level should prevent any uneveness on the top of the cake.

Really it’s all just about practice – I am FAR from perfect, BUT I am anal! lol I spend waaaaaaaaay too much time trying to get my ganache smooth and perfect before the fondant, but it makes covering the cake soooooo much easier and I love it!

Thank you so much for responding…I’ve never heard of the upside down method; something I can google to keep me busy today! I use basically Sharon Zambito’s method of smoothing buttercream, and I can’t imagine where the bulge came from…it’s so small that I’m the only one who really notices (I’m anal too!!), but it’s frustrating to me. My icing dam was so thick, I actually had to use 2 hands to squeeze it out of the bag to pipe it!! Ohhhh….I’m just thinking of something as I’m sitting here typing. I do make sure that my cakes are level quite frequently, and I may have given the top of the cake a little squish here and there to make it perfectly level. I bet that’s when the bulging occurred! I squished after I applied the fondant lightly, but enough to do it, I bet’cha! Every time I make another cake, I learn so much from my experiences. It’s frustrating at times though (especially for us perfectionists) because I really want everything perfect right off the bat, and just when I feel like I know exactly what I’m doing….I’m humbled once again!

I use the bubble straws too…love them! Maybe I went down a little too much though~I probably cut about 1/4" below the surface. Between that and the squishing….sure to cause a battle of the bulge!

Your cakes are amazing!!! I can’t even believe how perfectly square your cakes are…..they look like little boxes!!! Can’t wait til my next fondant cake to practice!

Thank you again so much! I love this forum and website…I just signed up today, and there’s great information and photos to inspire!

Best,

Susan

I only level my cakes before ganache or fondant – I squish it like you do, but then scrape any bulge down so that the sides of the cake are flat again. However the ganache does the greatest job in holding everything in – you couldn’t squish a cake with ganache on it without the ganache cracking and making a mess.
I would say that a quarter inch is just too shallow and would also promote bulging. I cut mines just shorter than the fondant.

I am learning all the time too – just when I think I have something mastered, it shows me who is boss lol However I LOVE cake decorating, in fact there is nothing more satisfying to me than a perfectly covered cake – simple but amazing!

I know, we really are easy keepers, aren’t we?? Just let us master the perfect cake, and it makes our entire day!! :)

Oh I could stare at a plain well covered cake for hours lol – sometimes I don’t want to decorate a cake if I think it looks fab plain. Some of my favourite cake photo’s are of plain undecorated cakes lol.

just a quick note to let you know I found a good place to get the acetate mentioned here by the fab Jo!! UK Card Crafts sell 5 sheets of Acetate (500 micron) for £1.60….it actually costs more to ship them!!

Sasha

Thank you, very helpful

you’re welcome :)

Does anyone knows where to get acetate sheets in the USA??

Awesome tutorial! I would like to know where to get acetate sheets in the US also. Also, what is a corner rounder?

And the acetate is great for making stencils, piping royal icing scrolls onto etc

You could try Ebay, thats where I get mine from in the UK.

Hi What is the best white chocolate for ganaching the cake? Any particular brand you can suggest? I got ghirardelli’s but is not real white chocolate. Just baking bits.

Thank you so much for posting, your edges are fantastic!

very good tutorial thank you very much xxxxxx

I love your cakes!! amazing edges!! if you ever have time Would you be able to show us your fabulous smoothing techniques on youtube? just a short one?!! pretty please with sugar on it!!

Thanks for taking the time to write this out. I would love it if you explained how you level a cake. That I find a much bigger challenge than covering it.
Thanks!

do you use acetate sheets or an acetate fondant smoother? i thought i saw a clear fondant smoother. ill have to look it up. thanks for sharing. waiting on your upside down ganaching tutorial ; )
your the best and have been admiring your work for awhile. just want to say thanks for always being open and answering questions. not everyone is as cordial.

AWESOME!!! was just going to ask a questions about sharpness of corners and then I fell onto this!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK you!!! I love ganache!! I’m gonna try this next time!!!

Hi

So to get the sharp edges I would use two xray sheets and push them together? Do you have demo anywhere?

Please let me know thank you

Wowzers, I never knew there were all these responses. OK acetate can be bought in any craft store, they come in different thicknesses, you just need one that is fairly firm but still flexible.

Chocolate for ganache – for dark chocolate I’d recommend Callebaut 70% callets, but for white and milk it has to be Belcolade easimelt. I buy all my chocolate from HB Ingredients in the UK, I think they must owe me some commission, because I have recommended them to everyone and I’m sure I’ve increased their profits!! lol.

With regards to a video – stay tuned because I am going to be filming myself making my wedding cake, so it will be repurposed into a tutorial too!!!!

Hi, I love your tutorial and the way you get those edges perfect. I wanted to ask with regard to the dark chocolate 73%, does it have a bitter taste to it? Can you use buttercream on top of the ganache. I have seen the upside down method before on youtube.

I have never used the acetate sheets and have just learned about it now. Do you use them for the upside down method? Also, do you wait for the ganache to dry before removing the top? Thank you such much for your help.

I found a site called BakeDeco.com that sells all the acetate sheets and strips etc. They are located in NY. Not sure if the pricing is good but they sell in bluk.

Hi Tortacouture!…..I just want to say a MASSIVE thankyou for posting this.
Im a fellow Scot from Edinburgh :) and have never really had a problem with buttercream (unless we have the 1 hot day a year lol)
But more recently over the past few weeks the humidity here in scotland has been horrendous(Grr) resulting in a mini melt down for me and a upcoming 3 tier wedding cake due tomorrow!
So after finding this thread with very clear instructions on your ganache i decided to take the bull by the horns and give it a go.
Hot footed down to sainsburys for my supplies and skipped home to make my ganache(what could go wrong i thought)
NOTHING….It went perfect!..Loved working with the ganache,And if im honest my edges in the past were never as good as i wanted,But for some reason everything fell into place,Edges too,Ok so there not razor sharp but i can now see improvement,Which makes me smile with joy!..Im a convert :)
Thankyou again Mandy

When you brush your ganache with boiled water before applying fondant is it cool or warm water? I have problems at this stage. The pastry brush is very smooth and once I brush water onto the ganache it leaves pastry brush streaks in the ganache and it looses it perfect smoothness. What advice do you have?

Would love to see pictures of the process. thanks so much for sharing!!

Thank you so much for this. I am definately going to try it out next year. :)

thanks alot for this tutorial.

it seems that I found the answer to my questions about sharp edges… Unfortunately , i didnt understand the most important part. The one with the acetate… I m good in english but not good enough
( im from Hungary)… could I hope for someone to put a pic in how u use acetate to make sharp edges ? I know is a lot to ask, so if u can`t, is ok.

Thank you for your sharing !! :*

I love your tutorial and all the details. Thank you so much for all that information. For over 18 years I refuse to do fondant work. With your help, I’m no longer so overwhelmed by it.

Lyn

http://www.CakeDecoratingForKids.com

Wow, thanks so much for sharing! Can the acetate be used for making custom-shaped cakes? For example, a cake in the shape of a guitar where sharp edges are wanted but there are curves in the shape?

Amazing!!! Will definitely try this!

Great tutorial! I am off to go see where I can buy some acetate! Thank you

thank you so much :)

Thank you so much for this information! X