Square Cakes Are Annoying! (But This Makes It Easier)

in this video I'm going to  show you how I ice a square   cake with sharp edges in American buttercream hi it's Karolyn if you want to learn how to bake  and decorate amazing cakes then I would love for   you to join me by hitting subscribe and the Bell  so I'm doing it this week I'm making a square cake   and if you watch my channel you know how much I do  not like to do this but I have told you the next   time I make a square cake I will film it so you  can see my process of how I ice it and get sharp   edges so that's what we're going to review in this  video I am starting with my cake already baked and   filled so I made a 10 inch square cake and it's  three layers I prefer to make these bigger cakes   three layers not torted and I have a video talking  about torting cakes I hate that I do this all the   time I don't know why I do but I will link that  in the description but that way when when it's a   three layer cake it's a little higher and it looks  more like a cube rather than a flat square that   doesn't make any sense but you know what I'm  talking about it just looks better when these   cakes are bigger that they're a little higher and  real quick before we get started I just finished   the voiceover and it was a little hard for me to  explain in the video I am cutting a board a little   bit bigger than the than the cake is so this way  that board is going to be used as a guide to help   me get really straight lines and sharp edges  around the cake everything that I use or any   videos that I've read for reference will be linked  in the description for you so let's get started all right I am starting with a three layer 10  inch cake this is strawberry cake with cream   cheese filling and I have video showing you  how I make both of them I will link that in   the description and I filled it and wrapped it  in plastic wrap and let it settle for about an   hour and a half before I started this process  now I want to measure how big this cake is and   it's about nine and a half by nine and a half  cakes do shrink a little bit after you bake   them I want this overhang of this square  piece that I'm making to be about 3 8 of   an inch bigger than the cake on either side so  I'm just measuring and I'm trying to put the 3 8   in inch off to one side and then I'm measuring 3  8 inch bigger on the other side you see how that   takes me to just before 10 and a half inches  so I hope this makes sense I want this Square   it will make sense as I go on but I want this  Square to be 10 and 3 8 inch by 10 and 3 8 inch okay so I have this piece of foam core board  this is a quarter inch thick foam core board   I have an edible marker I'm lining up my ruler  on the one Edge and then I'm marking 10 and 3 8   and I'm making three dots so I can connect  them and then turn it 90 degree wait was   that 90 degrees and then I'm doing the same  thing marking those marks at the 10 and 3 8.   uh Notch and then I have this carpet knife and you  can use an X-Acto Knife as well I'm lining up the   ruler with the edge and I'm connecting those  three dots and I just want to hold that ruler   straight you don't want the ruler to move it's so  annoying when it moves and I'm just cutting this   Square out so again lining it up at the top and  connecting those dots and cutting this Square out   just be careful because this blade is very sharp  and you do not want to cut your little fingers off okay now I have this Glade press and seal and  I'm going to pull out two really long strips   of that where it overlaps in the middle  fold that one side back and I'm really   going to press it down onto that square so it  overlaps and then I'm going to flip it over   and then fold in one side and the other so I just  want to wrap this in a food safe plastic wrap now   I want this to be able to stick so I have to cut  these little Corners off you'll see why I do it   because I want the plastic to stick as I fold it  down if that other plastic was there it wouldn't   stick to that piece I hope that makes sense  and I'm doing the same thing on the other side   so now this is completely covered in that food  safe plastic wrap and there's our little square now I put it on top of the cake and you can  see how it's sticking out over the edges just   a little bit like we measured now I'm putting  this cake on another cake so this is going to   be an upper tier this is why I did it this way  so when I filled this cake I put it on that   cardboard Circle and I put a piece of wax paper  on there because I'm going to have to move this   cake around because it's an upper tier if this  is going to be the bottom tier of your cake you   could just put it on a cake board and eliminate  this step but I'm getting some icing all on the   bottom to cover the cake and then I'm taking  that board that I cut and putting that down   onto the cake and now this is the board I'm going  to ice this on but I'm not keeping it on there so   I'm putting this piece of non-slip pad underneath  so it doesn't move around as I'm icing the cake   if you're just sticking this cake onto that  bottom board then you can take off that piece   of non-slip pad that's going to help me easily  lift this cake off to put it on top of another   cake when I'm ready to do so okay so I'm going  to stick another piece of non-slip pad underneath   and now nothing's going to slide around as I'm  doing this so I'm removing the piece of plastic now it looks a little crooked and wonky so I'm  going to get this in the right position I have   gloves on my hands do you see how I'm looking  at that white uh square that I cut out and   I'm just trying to make sure that the cake is  evenly placed on top of it so there's an even   border the whole way around I have a big batch of  American buttercream icing I have a video showing   you how I make that and I will link that in  the description so now I am putting a crumb   coat on here and I'm only bringing the spatula  down to the white board not all the way down to   the gold board so the crumb coat is going to  be a thin coat of icing and I'm just putting   pressing it really hard against the side of  the cake so no air bubbles form behind it   and again I'm resting the tip of that spatula  on that white board that I cut out previously and I just want to make sure that I'm covering  the entire cake with a thin layer of icing so   when I cover the top half of this cake do you  see how I'm letting the icing stick over the   top of the cake that's going to help me level  off the icing you'll see what I mean once I   start to do it but I just want to make sure  that the icing is sticking out over top of   the cake and then I'm going to fill in the top  of the cake with a thin layer of buttercream as   well now this is just a crumb coat it's not  going to look perfect and that's okay so now   I have a hot pot of water and a bench scraper  and I'm going to dip that in there to get the   metal hot wipe it off with my paper towel so  it's dry and then I'm resting the bottom of   that bench Scraper on that white board not  on the gold one because this is a crumb coat   I'm just trying to get a thin layer of icing  on here so again I'm just wiping this excess   icing resting the bottom of that bench Scraper  on the white board that I cut out previously and I wiped off a little too much so I don't  want any cake showing through this crumb coat and anywhere that I accidentally take  off too much I'm just adding a little   bit more icing on here it's not going to look  perfect it's just a crumb coat that is okay and now I'm holding my spatula level and I'm  pushing the icing back to just level off this   this icing now you want to make sure that you make  it as straight as you can you see when I get to   the corner I don't go all the way off of The Edge  I will review this later in this video but making   the corners in these cakes is a little challenging  there's a whole process to it so I'm just gently   pushing back this icing to level off this cake  and to finish this crumb coat so that looks   good I'm going to stick that back in the fridge  for about four hours so that icing can solidify and I got it out of the refrigerator look  that icing is hard now and I can put on this   next coat now when I put on this next coat  I'm bringing the tip of my spatula all the   way down to that gold board so I'm covering  the white board now so this is giving this   thicker layer of buttercream icing and that's  the reason why we make this board this board is   going to serve as a guide to the thickness of  the buttercream and it's going to help us get   these straight edges and sharp Corners so I'm  just doing the same thing that I did with the   crumb coat and I am putting that buttercream  along the bottom half of the cake and after I   do the bottom half I will do the top half now  very important when you're making these square   cakes is to get enough icing on those Corners the  corners need to be built out so you can shave the   icing down and get sharp edges you will see  what I mean as I can continue this process so now before I did the top half of the  cake I just decided to fill in the top   of the cake which sometimes I do that you  know sometimes I fill in the top after I   have all the icing on the sides it doesn't  matter either way is fine and now again   so I'm putting this icing on the top half  of the cake making sure that the icing is   sticking out over the top of the cake so we  can level it off and make a nice sharp edge and pay attention to your Corners as you  do this it's the trickiest part in these   Square cases do you see how I kind of wrapped  it around the side right and you just want to   make sure that there is icing sticking up  over the top of the cake and I'll see how   that one corner is drooped down so I added a  little more icing it looks like we're adding   a lot but we're going to scrape a lot of it off  in order to get these sharp edges and corners okay now I'm going to keep dipping this in the  hot water to heat up the metal wipe it off with a   paper towel you're not going to see me do that  every time but I'm going to now I don't wipe   it all the way down to the edge do you see how I  stopped before I got to the end I am putting that   bench scraper all the way down to that gold board  now right before we rested it on the white board   now I'm resting the bottom part of that bench  Scraper on that gold board so I'm using the white   board that we cut as a guide and it's helping me  pull that icing in a straight line now once I get   to the other side you see how I'm not stopping  I'm not going past the end I'm stopping before I   get to the edge that's how you get these perfect  corners on these cakes and I'm pushing the bench   scraper away from me so I can see the corners  right so I'm starting in one corner and then I go   to the other side and it's not perfect you see how  the line is still a little wavy you really have to   work at it to get these these Corners straight so  I'm starting at one side and pushing it back not   going all the way to the end and then starting at  the very same corner and going down the other side   and do you see how I'm holding it at like a 45  degree angle and pushing it against the cake to   try to get these Corners now this it's still the  corners are not perfect we put a lot of icing on   here so I'm using that bench scraper to scrape  it off now that bottom part there was not enough   icing there for me to get a sharp corner so I had  to add a little more you see how I'm holding that   against the cake and pressing it back to try to  get these sharp Corners these square cakes I'm   telling you it's a big pain in the butt this is  why I don't do it that much because look at all it   takes just to get one corner I'm working on this  one corner back and forth back and forth trying to   get this perfect so do you see how I'm starting  on one side and going down the other now I have   to pop these little Bubbles and then I can flatten  them out with my bench scraper you see how I push   back that corner and then it it formed a little  bump so we have to get rid of that bump again   hold this straight and create a sharp edge there  by pressing the icing back now I keep dipping my   bench scraper in the hot water and wiping it off  with the paper towel you don't see me doing that   every time because I didn't want this to be so  long but I'm just working that one corner holding   that on a 45 degree angle and pressing it back I  have that bench scraper rested on the gold board   using that white board that I cut as a guide and  that's really helping me get those straight lines   on either side that's why I cut that board a  little bigger than the cake so we had enough   room for the icing and then I can use that board  as a guide to help keep this straight and perfect   got another little hole there let's pop that  and then wipe that warm blade on there to get   rid of that hole now that's sticking out again  on the side so again I'm just working the bench   scraper back and forth trying to get rid of  the wave in the corners and get a sharp corner and the flatter I hold it against the cake  the more it Smooths out that buttercream   now there are some lines in there we will  smooth them out in the process a little   later in in this video and again I didn't  have enough icing in that corner so I had   to add a little more and then I'm taking  my warm bench scraper and wiping that down see how I'm using that edge to get  that sharp cut right there it made   that corner so much sharper but you've got  to work very slowly and take real good care   of these Corners see how I'm trying to  wipe away that excess icing very gently all right now we have to smooth it out so it  looks nice and pretty and not all Jagged like   that I have a Viva paper towel one side has  a pattern the other side doesn't I'm sticking   the side that does not have the pattern on  it wrapping it around the corner now I'm not   rounding the corner I'm just putting it on one  side pull it a little tight and wrapping it on   the other side and I'm trying to keep these  Corners sharp this Viva paper towel method   only works with a crusting buttercream if you  are using Swiss meringue or a buttercream that   does not crust this will not work so you're going  to have to do a different smoothing process now   I'm keeping that that paper towel sorry wrapped  around the corner and using my fondant smoother   now to help smooth out that buttercream  because there were a lot of imperfections   in there I'm not taking my smoother and rounding  it around the the corner because I don't want that   cornered around I want to keep it as sharp  as I can so again sticking that down on one   side pulling that tight and then wrapping  it around trying not to round that corner and that looks good for now I put a little too  much icing sticking over the top of the cake so   I just removed a little bit of it and now I need  to press this back and I want to make a sharp even   Edge what you need to do is hold that spatula  straight right so you see how it's curving up   a little too much so I have a little too much  icing still I want to make this level with that   top of the cake so I'm sitting eye level with the  cake holding that spatula straight and pressing   it back to smooth out this icing now when I get  to the corners I'm not putting the spatula all   the way over the edge or else I would have messed  it up right so I have to be very careful when you   get to those Corners right let me remove the  rest of this icing there's a little too much now I'm using the back half of my spatula  lined up with that line that I previously   made and pressing this back do you see it as I  got to the corner I didn't go all the way over   right so now I'm trying to work this corner  it's a little sticking up a little bit right   there and I need to flatten it out and there  was a little bit sticking up there so do you   see how I'm just trying to straighten this  line holding my spatula perfectly level if   you hold it on an angle your cake is going to  be on an angle and that looks pretty good I'm   going to stick that in the fridge for about 10  minutes just so that icing can form a crust and now I can use my butcher paper to smooth  this out even further and again this will   only work if you use a crusting buttercream  like my American buttercream if you're using   Swiss meringue you're going to  have to do a completely different   um smoothing process for this but again I'm doing  the same thing that I did with that paper towel   I'm I'm going to one corner and then the other  corner so I'm not wrapping it around and I'm not   rounding out that corner I'm trying to keep it as  sharp as I can I'm putting that fondant smoother   all the way down to that gold board holding  it very straight and trying to get these sides   straight now I want to refine that top Edge and  I'm holding that spatula perfectly level and just   really taking care of the corners so you can see  that there's a little bit of an imperfection that   I'm just pressing back and make sure you take  care of the corners so they are nice and sharp so I'm just really refining this trying to make  sure that this cube is perfectly straight and   level and then I'm just dipping my spatula in  some hot water getting some hot water on there   and dropping that on the very top of the cake  and I'm just using that hot water to smooth   this out then I take the spatula from the edges  and push it in just to make sure that top of the   top of the cake is perfectly smooth and then one  more time for good measure I'm just refining the   edges and the corners with the paper and the  fondant smoother and there is your Square cake so there you go there is the lengthy tiring  process of icing a square cake with nice sharp   edges in buttercream icing now I know that this  was a quick video I can probably maybe I'll make   like I'll do a class or something on this to to  go into further detail but you can get the gist   of the entire process of really working those  Corners that's like the most important part   of this because anyone can make a square cake  with round corners right it's to try to really   get those sharp edges that makes these square  cakes look so much better now I know it was a   little weird with my non-slip pad and everything  because I'm actually going to be putting that cake   on another cake so that's actually the third or  the second to the last the bottom is almost the   bottoms here I don't know why I could talk but  I have to put that cake on top of another cake   and by the time I make this video video I'm not  going to have the finished cake to put over here   so I won't be able to do that in this video so  sorry about that but that's why I use that piece   of non-slip pad underneath the cake now you can  actually leave it there because it's not actually   touching the cake if you want to keep that as the  bottom tier on that gold board like I showed you   in this video but the reason that I did it like  that I didn't tape it down you could duct tape   it down or whatever but I think that non-slip pad  works really good but like I was saying the reason   that I did that is I'm going to be lifting that  cake off of that gold board and sticking it on top   of another tier so that non-slip pad underneath  that helps the cake to not shift around when I   was icing it and it helps me to easily lift that  cake up so I can transfer it onto another cake now one thing I want to say about  that glad press and seal it does   um there is it's a food safe plastic so it can  touch the cake without any issue however I do   let people know whenever I wrap a board in that  plastic to not use a serrated knife when they are   cutting the cake I'm going to let them know that  there is a piece of plastic covering that board   underneath that cake and just to be very careful  when you are cutting it I hope that made sense so I think that's it if you guys have any other  questions about this please let me know but do   you see why and I don't want to complain but  you know with any job there are things that   you love to do and things that drive you a little  crazy and square cakes and those stinking Corners   they take forever like if I had to do that in a  round cake it would have taken less than half the   time so that's why I just prefer to stick to  round cakes because this process is a little   little time consuming but if you have any  questions or comments leave them leave them   below and just a reminder I did just start my  cake Academy membership program and I'm going   to link that in the description for you there  are three tiers to that the cake popped here   is the basic tier where you can just support me  with my content creation and get some free and   discounted extras like recipes and PDFs that I  release but the two upper tiers the cupcake tier   and the dessert table tier both give access to  my exclusive Facebook group it's a private group   where we can share our cakes get some pricing  advice get some advice on how to bake your cakes   any design advice that you need and I'm also going  to be going live in that Facebook group and going   to be teaching classes so I would love to have  you as a member and in order to be a member of   that Facebook group you do need to be a member  of the cupcake or the dessert tables here but   again all of that is going to be listed in the  description and I would love to have you aboard please like this video if you liked it and if  you are enjoying my tutorials I would be so   grateful if you could buy me a coffee my link  is pinned in the comments below and also these   shirts are available too man I'm really like  selling myself right now but these are listed   down below as well and please keep in touch  on socials and you can check out my website   everything's listed in the description and if  you want to stick around you can watch this   video next and hit subscribe and the bell  if you haven't already thank you so much   for watching I love you guys and remember it's  cake have fun I will see you on the next one bye

Channel: Karolyns Kakes

Views: 10,335

Keywords: square cake, how to frost a square cake, how to make a square cake, square birthday cake, square, cake, cakes, how to, american buttercream, smooth frosting, sharp corners on cake, square cake with sharp corners, sharp edges, square cake sharp edges, square cake design, square cake icing, level square cake, how to ice a square cake, buttercream, icing, smooth, karolyns kakes

Id: Qd6XyEhMgPA

Length: 22min 54sec (1374 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 19 2023