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Icing Tips




Source of Recipe


by Grandpoohbah, from Baking 911


Recipe Link: http://www.baking911.com/decorating/cakes_frostandfill.htm


C. Apply crumb and icing coats:

A crumb coat "holds" the crumbs that often appear all over a cake before you apply the final icing coat. You'll notice that you don't have to be neat when applying it. The final coat will be cleaned up and smoothed after it has been applied and crusted. It's best to apply both so they come to about a 1/4-inch thick in total, but that's not always the case.

Crumb coating serves many purposes. (You do not have to apply a crumb coat. If you skip it, then apply two icing coats instead, one at a time.) It provides a smooth, crumb-free surface for icing on; it seals the cake so crumbs don't appear on the final, iced cake. It can be used to fill in any cracks or divots in the cake. Another is to seal the cake and hold in the cake's moisture.

A crumb layer is also a good idea when cake is an opposite color, chocolate cake/white icing, so you don't see the cake through the frosting. It provides a cake surface on which to pipe intricate decorations on, such as done with the basketweave pattern. (NOTE: A second icing coat is necessary before piping when it does not entirely cover the cake's surface.) If covering the cake with Rolled Fondant, the crumb coat serves as the glue that binds it to the cake.

HOW TO CRUMB COAT YOUR CAKE: Crumb coating is done with regular icing, applying a THIN coat. Ideally, you should crumb coat your cake, let it set and then frost immediately. (Allow the base layer to dry for a minimum of 40 minutes or refrigerate it for 10 minutes before moving on to applying the final layer of frosting.)

If you leave the cake sit too long between crumb coating and final icing, I sometimes find crusted icing pieces showing in the final coating. Generally, you can assemble the cake and apply a thin "crumb coat" of frosting and then freeze it. Then, finish decorating after the cake is thawed. (However, I once froze a cake overnight after crumb coating and the whole thing slid off when I went to frost it!) NOTE: with a frozen cake, you can crumb coat it while frozen and let thaw.

When applying a glaze, do not apply a crumb or icing coat beforehand.