Upside Down Frosting Technique

I first saw this technique demonstrated by Jessie Cakes a while back and have wanted to try it for a while.  A recent post on one of my Facebook haunts brought it back to the forefront of my mind and I decided to give it a go for our family Easter Cake this year.  I'm a complete novice but I was very happy with the results I achieved and am confident they will only get better with practise.  So here is a realistic pic of what the average joe can expect to achieve using this fabulous techinique and frosting your cake UPSIDE DOWN :)

For starters to do this you'll need a spackling knife, a piece of card, some grease proof paper and a decorators turntable.  

Trace around the top of your pan onto the card and tape down a piece of grase proof paper making sure there are no creases.

 Add your Buttercream and spread until it is about 1/4in past the circle you traced.

Place in the fridge for about 15 minutes.

Once chilled, remove from fridge and position the top cake layer upside down on the buttercream circle.

Fill stack and crumb coat your cake and return to the fridge for 15 miuntes.

Remove from fridge and add the final coat of buttercream to the side of your cake.  Be generous as you will remove the excess in the next step.

Forgive my photo,  the spackling knife should be held at a 45degree angle not straight on.  It was just hard for me to hold it correctly and snap the picture.  I should say it also took a few spins for me to get the hang of the correct angle to hold it.

Using your clean spackling knife held at approx 45 degree angle place your hand all the way around the cake back to where the knife is touching the cake and spin the turntable all the way around without stopping.  Make sure the spackling knife is touching the board as you do this.   If you need to go over it again make sure the spackling knife is clean each time you go around.

When you are happy with it turn the cake over onto its board.  Remove the cardboard from the top but do not remove the greaseproof paper.  Return the cake to the fridge for 15 minutes.

Remove from the fridge and carefully peel away the grease proof paper and Voila!

You should have a flat top and nice crisp edges.  Now as I said, I'm a novice.  This demonstation is the first time I have EVER tried this technique.  So no, mine doesn't look as perfect as Jessie Cakes but I think it does show that you can get very clean lines with this technique and with a little practice mine could look as good as hers.  So there you have it.  The upside down frosting technique is the way forward in my books.

 So what to do with my lovely cake.  It is Easter after all so I decided to make a treat for the Family to enjoy Easter Sunday.  And since I'm sharing techniques in this post I thought I would add another very useful tip.  This one is for piping with buttercream.  I have reusable bags but would often use the diposable ones because I hate the clean up.  Then I discovered this handy tip.

First place the buttercream in some cling film.

Then roll up the ends of the cling film.

 Insert the coupler and then insert the icing into your piping bag.

Pull the end of the cling film out.

And cut it off.  

 Twist your bag closed and it is ready to use.

When your done simply remove the insert and throw it away and the inside of your bag will still be clean.

Chocolate Wedding Cake

My Sister in Law was kind enough to ask me to make her Wedding Cake for this weekend.  I have created a 2 tier Chocolate Mudd Cake with Ivory Roses and Purple Hydrangea.

I used Wiltons recipe for Chocolate Fondant and was pleased with the results.  Allbeit I did find it much harder to roll out, but the end result looked and tasted lovely.

I used my new Blossom Art Hydrangea cutter to make the lovely little hydrangeas and add purple accents around my Ivory gumpaste roses.

 I also experimented with Gelatin Butterflies for the first time.  I used the PME Butterfly Cutters and "painted" a thin layer of gelatin directly onto the cutter.  After a couple of hours I peeled the gelatin off and placed in a folded piece of cardboard to dry completely in the folded butterfly shape.  It was surprisingly easy to work with.  I thought the gelatin would be very delicate and break easily but it was very much the opposite.  It peels very easily from the cutter without breaking and dries very stable and hard. 

My Chocolate Mudd Cake recipe is the bomb if I do say so myself.  It has a dense rich texture and is almost like a Chocolate Brownie.  Perfect for any chocolate lover and the perfect consistency for a wedding cake.  

Chocolate Mudd Cake

Ingredients:
250g unsalted butter
250g chopped dark chocolate
1 packet instant cappuccino
175ml hot water
150g plain flour
60g cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon biocarbonate of soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
450g caster sugar
4 eggs
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
125ml sourcream

Method:


Heat oven to 170C / 350F / Gas Mark 4

Place butter, chopped dark chocolate, instant cappuccino and hot water in a sauce pan and stir on medium heat until smooth.

Mix plain flour, cocoa powder, biocarbonate of soda, salt and sugar in a large mixing bowl and sieve together.


Mix eggs, oil and sourcream together in a seperate bowl. 

Make a well in the centre of your flour mixture and pour in chocolate mixture and egg mixture.  Stir together until well blended. 

Pour into prepared tin and until cake tester comes out clean when inserted into the centre, approximately 1 hour. 

Recipe makes 1 9inch Round.