Hi everyone! I’ve got another tutorial 🙂 This is another request I’ve gotten a few times, how do I smooth my buttercream. There are loads of tutorials and instructions for smoothing American Buttercream, with the “Viva Paper Towel” method probably the most common… that’s the method I use when I have to use American Buttercream. But, as much as I researched when I started working with Swiss Meringue Buttercream (SMBC), I haven’t seen many demonstrations on smoothing it… so I thought I would make a video showing my technique.
One of the most common techniques you will read about is the “Hot Knife” method. The idea is you dip a spatula in hot water and dry it off. The heat from the spatula melts the butter in your buttercream and leaves a smooth surface. It works, that is the technique I used when I started… However, if you are not covering your cake with fondant you will see the discolored streaky-ness this method creates. Which is why, you will also read a lot of complaints about this method.
Another method, that I’ve found intriguing, but have not tried is called the “Upside Down” method. With this technique you spread an even layer of buttercream on a piece of parchment, then place your cake upside down on the parchment and ice the sides as usual and after you smooth the sides, invert the cake, you are left with sharp corners and a smooth surface…. I just don’t have a lot of trouble getting the sharp corners and it seems like a few extra steps…
So, the way I smooth my cakes, is to simply scrape the cold and hardened buttercream with my offset spatula and bench scraper. Kind of just “shaving” off the imperfections, I do not use a hot knife, spatula or bench scraper. By working quickly and keeping the cake cold you can avoid any discoloration! Plus, you get the same, or better, results without the few extra, unnecessary steps. While I am using SMBC, this method should also work with any non-crusting, butter based buttercream, as long as it sets hard in the fridge.
So, here is a demonstration of how I ice and smooth my cakes!
I hope you find it helpful 🙂 You can find the Swiss Meringue Buttercream recipe that I use here.
Happy Caking 🙂
March 17, 2012 @ 4:24 am
Do you ever have problems with the smbc sagging when the cake comes to room temp? Beautiful work, by the way.
March 17, 2012 @ 2:56 pm
Hi Kathy,
I've only had trouble with sagging buttercream if my kitchen is too warm… Your sister-in-law emailed me… I sent her some troubleshooting suggestions! Good Luck!
May 20, 2012 @ 12:25 pm
Hi Renee-
Came across your tutorial today! I also use this method. What I notice is when the buttercream comes back to room temp some small bubbles (unbroken) form on the surface. Do you notice this at all?
May 23, 2012 @ 12:26 am
Hi Merissa- I do occasionally get tiny bubbles, but as I smooth it I fill them in or "spackle" the surface. I find it happens most often when there is a lot of air bubbles in my buttercream to begin with, it's not an "all-the-time" thing for me. If I have a lot of bubbles in my buttercream I will use a spatula to stir/beat the icing before I ice my cake, and that helps eliminate a lot of the bubbles.
May 23, 2012 @ 4:06 pm
thanks for your reply! I have been trying to find a solution to this problem since last summer. Last summer I was trying to save time by using the carton egg whites. I now realize that was part of the problem. I don't know why that contributed to the problem so much. I find it works a lot better now that I have gone back to separating the eggs. but I still notice the unbroken bubbles that are forming later. Not sure exactly why that is. I have been wondering if perhaps there are tiny bubbles trapped beneath the surface that expand as buttercream warms up. Who knows! I just can't seem to give up this method though!
November 11, 2012 @ 2:13 pm
Hi Renee. Your tutorial has been very helpful to me in getting my cakes smooth. I still need a lot of practice as I find that I need to get the buttercream very smooth before I chill it to scrape off the imperfections. I did notice though that with colored buttercream, after chilling, when I go to scrape off the excess, I get streaks and color discolorations. Do you have any idea why this happens. Thank you so much for your time. Fran
November 12, 2012 @ 8:25 pm
that is the result of the butter in the icing melting. Even in non colored meringue icing it will discolor to yellow if it gets too warm. I find that it takes a lot of practice to smooth colored buttercream without any streaking. A few things that will help-
get your icing as smooth as possible before chilling, then you won't need to scrape as much after and there won't be as much friction to melt the buttercream.
make sure you pull away with your scraper and clean it very often to avoid spreading the scrapings back on to the cake. I keep a separate bowl for the discarded buttercream because once it is scraped it will never be the same color as the original buttercream.
make sure the cake stays very cold. You may need to stop every now and then and chill the cake before you continue scraping to keep the buttercream cold enough to not melt.
December 1, 2012 @ 4:14 pm
Can you please make a video for your swiss style buttercream Thank you