10 Cake Hacks You'll Wish You Knew Sooner

From fixing broken cake layers and  preventing leaning cakes to achieving   impossibly smooth frosting you'll wish  you knew these 10 cake hacks sooner!   Prevent cakes from cracking or crumbling  by turning them out of their pans this way.   Place a cooling rack on top of the cake pan  and then grip both the rack and the pan and   flip them both over together. Lift the cake pan  up and voila! Intact cake layers every time. Air   bubbles in your frosting or dents or gaps or  uneven parts? Here's a hack for those! Heat a   metal cake comb by dipping it into a pan of hot  water or using a blowtorch along the edge and   then scrape around your cake. The hot metal  will melt the very outer layer of frosting,   pulling that melted frosting around the cake with  it and filling in imperfections in the frosting   to create a super smooth surface. Bulges in the  sides of your frosting? You won't have any if you   use this hack! For runny fillings like caramel  or lemon curd pipe a ring of buttercream around   the edge of the cake before spooning in your  filling. The ring of buttercream is called a dam   and it will hold the filling in so it doesn't ooze  out which is what causes a bulge underneath the   frosting in between cake layers. After assembling  your cake scrape around the sides to flatten the   buttercream sticking out from between the layers  and then frost and decorate and your sides will   be straight without bulges. For evenly baked cakes  with level tops, no domes and no burned edges the   secret is baking strips. I resisted buying these  for a long time but they really aren't a gimmick.   You could soak old towels or cloths in water  instead if you want to make your own DIY version   of them. Look at the difference between the same  cake batter baked in just a cake pan and baked in   a pan with a baking strip! If your cakes break or  crumble or crack or fall apart as you're turning   them out of their pans maybe because you didn't  grease the pan or you didn't wait five minutes for   them to cool and firm up slightly in their pans,  don't throw them away! Wait for them to cool,   wrap them in plastic wrap and freeze them to hold  the pieces together. Then use them as normal,   layering them with buttercream as your filling  and when this buttercream sets it will hold the   crumbled cakes together like glue. You can even  spread it on to attach a piece that's fallen off   completely! Chill the cake in the fridge to  set the buttercream and then frost it with   buttercream and this buttercream when it sets  will also hold the cake together so that by the   time you've decorated it and you serve it, no one  will ever know how destroyed and ugly these cake   layers were to begin with! For super tall cakes  that won't collapse or topple over layer your   first three or four cakes with filling and then  add supports, which you can do using boba straws,   pushing one down to the bottom of the cake and  then pinch it where it sticks out above the cake   and cut it there so it's the same height as the  cake so far. Measure another three straws to be   the same height and then push them all into the  cake, spacing them about two inches apart from   each other. Spread some frosting on top to act  as glue and then put another cake board on top,   one that's as wide as the cake. You can trim the  board if it's a bit too big which happens because   some cake recipes shrink slightly after baking as  they're cooling. Use some buttercream to attach   your next cake layer and continue to assemble  your cake with the next three or four layers.   Final step: take a long wooden dowel and push it  down through the middle of the cake all the way   to the bottom. It will poke straight through that  cardboard cake board in the middle. Mark the top   with a pencil and then pull it out and cut it at  the line with some wire cutters or a sharp knife   or whatever tool you have then push it back down.  I haven't finished frosting and decorating this   cake yet but when I do I know it will be stable  enough to display and transport without problems.   If your cake looks like it's leaning sideways your  layers aren't placed directly on top of each other   but even if you've already started frosting your  cake it's not too late to fix this. Spread some   more frosting to fill in the lean so down here at  the bottom of this side and up here at the top of   this side and then when you scrape around the cake  press your comb down on the cake board to line it   up straight and you'll smooth this frosting  you've spread on to create straight sides on   the cake. Add your final layer of frosting and  you've got rid of the leaning or tilting effect!   There are two parts to this hack for perfectly  neat cake slices. First, let your frosting set   before cutting the cake which you can do quickly  by putting the cake in the fridge or freezer for   30 minutes. Next, dip your knife in a glass of  warm water and dry it before cutting. Now your   knife will slice cleanly through the frosting  and cake and the frosting will be firm enough   that you can balance the slice as you place it  onto a plate. To transfer your cake from its cake   board onto a cake stand the hack is to chill the  cake first. The frosting will get cold and firm   and then you can slice underneath it with an  offset spatula or a cake comb to separate it   from the cake board and then lift it up and  lower it down onto a cake stand and you can   adjust it to center it on the stand because the  frosting is firm enough to push against without   damaging it. Need a hack for condensation on  cakes? Condensation is caused by two things so   let's solve them both. The first cause is moisture  in the fridge or freezer so always wrap your cake   in two layers of plastic if you're going to chill  it for more than about an hour or store it inside   a cake caddy or any other airtight container in  the fridge or freezer. The second cause which is   more common is a big change in temperature. Avoid  moving a cake from the freezer straight to room   temperature or from the fridge to a hot room.  If you need to refrigerate your cake move it   to a cool room so in summer this usually means  using air conditioning or a fan. If you do get   condensation droplets on your cake dab them with  a paper towel to absorb the liquid. If you want to   take your cake skills to the next level and learn  hundreds of cake decorating techniques and designs   visit my cake school on www.britishgirlbakes.com  and join my ClubPLUS Membership for access to   every MasterCourse, MiniCourse, Live Workshop  and 5 Minute Fridays. I hope to see you there!

Channel: British Girl Bakes

Views: 29,369

Keywords: buttercream cake, easy cake decorating ideas, cake decorating, cake decorating videos for beginners, cake decorating ideas, buttercream cake decorating, cake decorating tutorial, british girl bakes, cake hacks, cake tips, cake tips and tricks, baking hacks, baking tips

Id: ZEv0c5HIsKc

Length: 6min 13sec (373 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 27 2023