How Long Does A Cake Need To Cool Before Frosting

Everyone knows the icing on the cake is the best part, but it tin also be one of the more challenging steps of the cake-making process. And it's not just the fancy swirls, bobs and swags y'all meet in bakeries. A slick, crumb-free frosting on a cake or cupcake is an achievement in itself. This guide will help y'all become in that location and across.

Before You Start

Attempting to spread frosting onto warm cake layers is a recipe for sloppy disaster. Chill your block layers for at to the lowest degree ii hours, or better, overnight. If you've made your frosting ahead, make sure information technology'due south at room temperature earlier you start.
A large starting time spatula and some parchment paper are small investments that will pay dividends. You'll as well need a long, preferably serrated knife to trim the cake layers and cut them in one-half. If y'all're a cupcake fan, option upward a small-scale commencement spatula every bit well.
If you honey baking (or at least, cake-making) consider ownership a rotating cake turntable on a pedestal. While not essential, it does help attain a satiny finish quickly and easily. A cake carrier volition help y'all transport your cake to the party.

Prepare Your Cake

Y'all've baked your cake. Y'all've permit the layers absurd. Only earlier y'all can embrace them with a luscious layer of frosting, you demand to get your block ready. Brand sure the layers have cooled for a couple of hours later they come out of the oven, or even overnight in the refrigerator. When you're ready to frost, follow these steps.

How to Prepare a Cake for Frosting

These steps below are specific to layer cakes, simply you lot tin can use the bones information to get the well-nigh out of frosting pound cakes and bundt cakes, too (although you might consider glazing those, and nosotros'll help you with that).

Cut three or four parchment or wax newspaper strips to identify under the cake. Then, use a serrated knife to trim off any peaks from the tops of the cakes so they prevarication flat and even. (Eat these trimmings equally your advantage for having baked the cake in the kickoff place.)

Place the newspaper strips on the edges of a serving plate and invert 1 cake layer onto it then cut side is facing down; this helps minimize crumbs. Make sure the strips are tucked partially under the cake to go along them from moving around, and partially sticking out to cover the serving plate. The strips aid keep you keep from frosting the plate as well every bit the cake. Finally, brush away any loose crumbs using a pastry brush. Merely be gentle – you don't want to create more than crumbs.

Haven't decided what cake you want to broil? Nosotros've got lots of ideas for you lot.

Karsten Moran for The New York Times

Tips

• If your layers are thick and you'd like to halve them to brand a four-layer cake, notice your longest serrated knife to practice the job. Information technology's hard to do this well, so have your fourth dimension. Get-go, score a level horizontal line effectually the perimeter of the layer to guide you every bit yous cutting. Then place ane manus on top of the cake, and evenly cut the layer across the scored line. Utilize less pressure and rely more than on the back-and-forth sawing motion of your knife to cut the cake.

• If you're planning to carry your block in a cake carrier, make certain the cake plate fits inside it. Or, ice the cake on a cardboard round that's at to the lowest degree 1 to 2 inches larger in diameter than your cake.

• If y'all want additional flavor or sugariness, brush a plain or flavored simple syrup onto acme of each cake layer.

Frostings

When it comes to choosing the right frosting for your cake, your options range from a silky buttercream to a rich, bloodshot ganache. While there are no rules near matching frosting to cakes, bear in mind that sturdier cakes, similar butter and pound cakes, can stand up to all frostings, whether a delicate buttercream or a heavy fudge. Simply for airy confections like sponge and chiffon cakes, stick to a lighter frosting, similar a 7-minute meringue.

Buttercream & Cream Cheese

Buttercream Frosting

The unifying feature of all buttercream frostings, whether sweetened with saccharide syrup or jam, is the liberal use of butter. These frostings go well with any kind of butter block, sponge block, or fruit-filled cake, merely avoid using them on flourless cakes. Brand sure all your ingredients are at room temperature before y'all first; if your frosting looks curdled, it's probably considering they were either too warm or too cold. Buttercream frosting tin be made up to ii weeks alee and stored in the refrigerator. Simply make sure you bring it to room temperature earlier frosting your cake.

Hither'due south a foolproof method: In a metal basin, combine 4 big egg whites with a pinch of common salt and 1 cup carbohydrate. Fix the bowl over a pot with an inch of simmering water and whisk the mixture over low heat until the saccharide dissolves. Remove the bowl from the oestrus and beat with an electric mixture until stiff peaks course. Beat in 3 sticks softened unsalted butter, one spoonful at a fourth dimension, until the buttercream is smooth. And then, shell in whatever flavoring you'd like to use, like vanilla extract, lemon juice or brandy.

If the frosting (or your kitchen) seems too warm, stick the bowl in the fridge for a few minutes, and then continue chirapsia. If information technology'southward likewise cold, let the frosting warm up, then continue beating until it comes together. This may take several minutes, so don't give upward.
Karsten Moran for The New York Times

Cream Cheese Frosting

Cream cheese frosting has the same polish silky texture of buttercream, only with an added tangy, sweetness-tart flavor. Information technology'southward a breeze to brand and is the traditional frosting for carrot cakes, but consider it for anything from uncomplicated white layer cakes to devil'due south nutrient and fudge cakes. Equally with buttercreams, make certain your ingredients are at room temperature. Cream cheese frosting can usually be made a week alee.

Here's how you lot do information technology: Using an electric mixer, shell together 1 pound softened foam cheese with 1 stick softened unsalted butter until shine. Slowly vanquish in 6 cups confectioners' sugar until very smooth, about three minutes. Beat in ane/2 teaspoon common salt, and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or 1 tablespoon lemon juice plus ane teaspoon grated lemon zest. Thin the frosting with a little milk if it seems likewise thick to spread.

Fudge & Ganache

Fudge Frosting

Rich and dark, fudge frostings are like the soft and spreadable version of their eponymous candy. This frosting should be used very shortly after making, before it firms up and becomes difficult to spread. If y'all must make information technology alee, y'all'll need to reheat it, beating it until spreadable.

Here's how to go far: Finally chop 6 ounces unsweetened chocolate. In a small saucepan over medium-low rut, heat one 1/ii cup sugar, one cup heavy foam or milk, and a pinch of salt until the saccharide dissolves. Pour the hot sugar mixture into a bowl and add the chopped chocolate, 1 stick of softened unsalted butter and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or other flavoring (bourbon is nice). Stir until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth. Place the bowl with the warm chocolate mixture into another larger bowl filled with water ice. Using an electrical mixer, beat until thick and fudgy.
Ganache Frosting

Ganaches, made from chocolate mixed with butter or cream, are smoother and silkier than fudge frostings, but just as rich. They can be made from bittersweet, milk or white chocolate. Utilize semisweet chocolate for a sweeter ganache, and bloodshot or extra-bittersweet chocolate for something less sugary. Ganache tin commonly be made a week or two ahead. Store information technology in the fridge and bring information technology to room temperature while beating information technology again before frosting your cake.

Here's an easy, standard method for perfect ganache: Finely chop 12 ounces bittersweet chocolate and place it in a big, heatproof basin. In a modest saucepan, estrus i one/2 cups heavy cream with a pinch of salt until it comes to a simmer. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate. Let the mixture sit for a infinitesimal, then stir until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is smooth. Stir in 4 tablespoons unsalted butter and 1 to 2 tablespoons flavoring, similar vanilla, rum or espresso.

7-Minute Meringue

Beating eggs whites with sugar gives a glossy, billowing meringue frosting that's a archetype on coconut cakes and Lady Baltimore cakes. Seven-minute meringue frostings, also called Swiss meringues, are made in a double boiler over simmering water to dissolve the carbohydrate, using electric beaters to attain the froth. Cakes with meringue frostings are best served the 24-hour interval they are frosted.

Hither's how you do it: in a metal bowl, combine 2 egg whites, ane 1/3 cups sugar, ane/4 teaspoon cream of tartar and a pinch of salt. Crush with an electric mixer until well combined. Identify the basin on tiptop of a pot filled with an inch of simmering water. Over low oestrus, trounce the egg mixture until information technology'southward thick and fluffy, about 7 minutes. Mix in i teaspoon vanilla extract. Make sure you lot frost your cake immediately, or the meringue volition firm up and become incommunicable to utilise. And never store meringue frosting in the refrigerator; the humidity volition make it bead and weep.

Glazes

Karsten Moran for The New York Times

Fabricated from confectioners' sugar or chocolate, glazes are a subset of frostings. Instead of being applied with a spatula, glazes are thin enough to pour over the meridian. They will run down the block's sides in attractive drips, and and so harden every bit they ready. It's useful to place your cake or cupcake on a rack instead of a plate to apply the coat, so the coat doesn't pool effectually the bottom. When the glaze has fix, transfer the cake to a serving plate, using a large offset spatula if you have 1. Glazes are great for simple bundt cakes and pound cakes – actually, whatsoever cake in which you lot want to guild the lily.

Here'southward a uncomplicated glaze: in a large bowl, whisk together 2 cups confectioners' sugar with one/4 cup milk or cream and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Add together more milk, a teaspoon at a time, until the desired consistency is reached. It should be thick all the same pourable. You can substitute cold java, orange juice or lemon juice for all or part of the milk.

Frost Your Cake

You've broiled your cake layers, chilled them down, de-crumbed them and have them all ready for frosting. Follow these steps for the neatest, most evenly frosted and all-time-looking cakes. A but and beautifully frosted block needs no farther ornament if you have the time to exercise it right – but rainbow sprinkles or chopped nuts hibernate a multitude of frosting sins, so don't fret if it's not perfect.

How to Frost a Cake

Make certain the bottom block layer is sitting on parchment strips to keep the block plate clean and frosting-free. Using an offset spatula or a knife, spread the frosting your filling evenly on top of the bottom cake layer. Then, using a large offset spatula if you have one, carefully pick upwards your 2d layer and gently place information technology on the frosted layer, trimmed side downwardly. If the layer isn't centered, use your hands to position it before you employ the frosting. Repeat if you've got more than layers and filling.

Give your layers another brush to remove whatsoever more stray crumbs, and so fix the nibble coat. This is a sparse coating of frosting that seals the crumbs to the cake so they don't testify through. Take virtually 1/2 cup of frosting and sparse it out with a little milk or h2o so it'south very piece of cake to spread. With an offset spatula, spread a thin layer of it on the tops and sides of the block, then chill until set, about 15 minutes. Repeat if y'all can even so see crumbs showing through the icing. Chocolate and dark cakes will ofttimes need 2 crumb coats; white or xanthous cakes are more forgiving.

At present frost the cake with the unthinned frosting using an offset spatula. Start with tiptop of the cake, spreading the frosting all the style to the edge of the layer. Then, frost the sides. If the block is on a turntable, spin it around as you frost for an even coating. When y'all're washed, remove the parchment paper strips and admire your overnice, clean plate. Just don't practise this yet if y'all are planning on piping any decorations on the sides or bottom of the cake. Read on for more details on how to do that.

Decorating

There'due south cypher incorrect with a plainly and elementary frosted cake. But if you want to add some fancy swirls, roses, shell borders and other frippery, hither'southward how. We'll also testify y'all how to write neatly on a cake with a pastry bag. Your birthday cakes take never looked better.

Decorating With a Spatula

For a basic wavy look all over the block, employ an offset spatula or a knife and a back-and-forth movement to create swirls all over the frosting. This is one of the easiest ways to add texture and a archetype diner cake expect to your cake. If you're using a fudge frosting or a meringue, you tin elevator the spatula to pull up some of the frosting and create spikes all over the surface of the block. (This doesn't work as well with ganache or buttercream, though.) Y'all could also apply a fork to create striped patterns on the cake.

Karsten Moran for The New York Times

Decorating With Garnishes

To add texture to your block, you could press chopped nuts, kokosnoot, mini chocolate chips, chocolate shavings or curls, or sprinkles into the sides or height of the cake. Sliced strawberries, whole raspberries, pomegranate seeds or other fruit look nice too, merely don't add together them until just before serving or they will water down and possibly stain the frosting.

Karsten Moran for The New York Times

Decorating With a Pastry Bag

To pipe out letters, borders, flowers, dots and swirls, you'll need a pastry purse, or a zip-meridian plastic purse approximation of i. (Nosotros'll tell yous how to do that.) Here's how to use it:

Start, assemble the pastry purse. If using a disposable plastic purse, snip off the tip to create an opening. For any kind of pastry purse, plastic or coated textile, insert a coupler down through the pocketbook into the opening. Using a coupler, a plastic fitting that connects the purse to the tip, makes it easier to alter tips; otherwise, yous'll have to remove the frosting from the bag to go to the tip. And so, spiral the tip on to the coupler. You can also just insert the tip directly into handbag if you don't have a coupler.

To load the frosting into the bag, invert the bag, tip down, into a drinking glass and fold the bag over the sides. Using a spatula or large spoon, press the frosting downwards into the bag, getting it as far into the handbag as possible. You'll want to avoid every bit many air bubbling as possible. Once you've filled the purse – about halfway is all-time – twist the top shut and press a little frosting out through the tip. Agree the handbag near the tip with your dominant manus, and utilize your other hand to push the frosting out of the bag from the summit, continuing to twist the bag meridian as y'all get. Now your handbag is ready for action.

If you don't accept a pastry bag, yous can also use a zip-peak bag with the corner cutting off. Choose a heavy-duty handbag that is easy to seal, and a gallon-sized bag is easier to handle for adults (if you're working with kids, though, choose a quart size.) Cut a very small opening in 1 corner for writing, and a larger opening for other decorations. You can attach tips and couplers to a plastic purse every bit well equally yous can with a pastry pocketbook.

Karsten Moran for The New York Times

To make stars and borders, choose a star tip. Use a smooth tip for writing, dots, and stripes. Choose the shell tip for leaves, shells, and borders. And for flowers? A flower tip, of class. Before y'all commencement decorating your block, practice whatever you have in heed on a plate. It'southward difficult to neatly correct piping gone wrong without refrosting the cake.

To pipe flowers, fit your pastry bag with a flower tip and fill bag with frosting. Place the bag straight up and downwards, at a 90 caste bending from the block. Squeeze the handbag gently while simultaneously turning the bag slightly. Pull up slowly.

To pipe borders, fit your pastry bag with a star tip and fill the bag with frosting. Hold the pastry purse at a 45-caste bending, impact the tip to where you want to start the border, then squeeze hard while pulling the handbag direct up. Stop squeezing and bring the bag downwardly most ane/2-inch away from where you started. Continue in that fashion all the way effectually the meridian or bottom edge of the block.

Karsten Moran for The New York Times

Writing on a Cake

It's easier to write on top of the block in the center before you pipage any borders or decorates on the top of the cake. It gives you more room to work, and if yous make a mistake, it's notwithstanding easy to re-frost the elevation of the cake and start again. Do writing the message with frosting on a flat surface before trying information technology on the cake. Make sure you make at least 2 kinds of frosting for your cake, or make a light frosting and tint it for the frosting used as ornamentation.

To write on a block, choose a pastry tip with a small hole. The smaller the hole, the more elegant the letters will look. Using a toothpick, identify a dot where you want each letter of the alphabet of the words to get, spacing them equally. Then utilise the same toothpick to trace out the letters in the frosting. This is your guide. Pipe over the toothpick-lined letters, using firm, fifty-fifty pressure on the pastry bag. And call back: brief is better.

Frost a Cupcake

Although cupcakes are simply small cakes, the technique for frosting them is unlike from large layer cakes. For one affair, if you've broiled the cupcakes in paper liners, you won't accept to bargain with a crumb glaze, and y'all can spread the frosting on with a knife or pipe information technology on with a pastry bag. Nigh frostings and glazes work for cupcakes, but meringues can be challenging on such a modest surface.

Frosting With a Pastry Bag

Using a pastry purse or zippo-tiptop bag fitted with a star or plain tip, swirl your frosting on the cupcake, starting at the outer edge of the cake and moving toward the middle. Superlative with sprinkles, chopped nuts, chocolate shavings or coconut flakes.

Karsten Moran for The New York Times

Frosting With a Knife

Y'all tin likewise use a small-scale offset spatula or butter knife to spread frosting on pinnacle of the cupcakes in an even layer. Wield the spatula or pocketknife with a back-and-forth motion to create swirls all over the frosting, or elevator information technology up all over the frosting to create spikes. This works best with fudge and meringue frostings. Buttercreams and ganaches are usually as well soft.

Transporting and Storage

Yous've baked, frosted and decorated your gorgeous block. At present how are you going to become it to the party without ruining it? Read on for some solutions.

Karsten Moran for The New York Times

A cake carrier is a sound and not-also-steep investment. Make sure to frost the cake on a cake plate or cardboard circular that fits inside the carrier. The plate or round should be at least an inch larger in diameter than the cake.

A large cardboard box is another selection for conveying the cake. An upside down plastic tub container could also piece of work if it's big enough.

If your cake plate or cardboard circular is smaller than the cake carrier or box y'all're using for transport, employ potent double sided tape (or make a tape band) to record the plate or board to the bottom of the carrier. You don't want it to slip and knock around.

If you're driving to an outcome with a cake and can't observe someone to hold the cake carrier in her lap (the safest place), the floor of the machine is safer than the dorsum seats. If yous want to put the cake in the trunk, line the trunk with a nonslip mat or yoga mat then the cake carrier stays put and doesn't slide effectually.

You can purchase cupcake carriers made specially for transporting cupcakes. Or, return the cupcakes to your cleaned out baking tin. Place a toothpick in each corner cupcake and lightly drape plastic wrap over the top.

Ever bring some leftover icing and other decorations to repair whatever frosting damage at the political party.