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a 8" chocolate cake frosted with chocolate buttercream

How To Frost A Cake

ayacaliva
Let's practice frosting a simple cake using this step-by-step guide with detailed images and a video!
Total Time 30 minutes
Course a whole cake
Cuisine Baking

Equipment

  • Spatula I like to use a smaller spatula for 6"-10" cakes. Pick whichever works for you!
  • Dough scraper steady, long dough scraper
  • Turning table
  • Pastry tip optional

Ingredients
  

  • Cake of your choice
  • Frosting of your choice I used buttercream today.

Instructions
 

Prep: Chill cakes beforehand before frosting. (Optional)

    Crumb coat

    • Place a cake on a center of a turning table.
      placing a chocolate cake on a center of a turning table
    • Cut off an uneven part of the surface to make it flatter. (Optional)
      cutting off the uneven surface of a chocolate cake
    • Drop a big scoop of frosting and spread it evenly
      spreading a chocolate buttercream evenly with a spatula on top of a chocolate cake
    • Repeat it for all the layers. 
      Make sure that the cake is standing straight. For the last layer, spread the frosting thinly on top.
      spreading chocolate buttercream on top of a chocolate cake
    • Fill all the gaps on the side with the frosting. Again, frost thinly.
      crumb coating the side of the whole cake
    • Clean off the frosting on a turning table.
      cleaning up the buttercream on a turning table
    • Clean off the corner edge with a spatula.
      cleaning off the edge to create a sharp edge
    • Chill it in the fridge until the frosting gets hardened.
      a crumb coated cake

    Final coat

    • Drop a big scoop of frosting on top and spread evenly. Spread it over the edge.
      spreading chocolate buttercream on top of a cake as a final coat
    • Coat all over the side with the same thickness.
      coating chocolate buttercream on a side as a final coat
    • Add additional frosting on the top corner edge.
      adding more buttercream on corner edges of the whole cake to frost a cake
    • Smooth out the side with a dough scraper:
      Freeze your arm and dough scraper (hold it straight) at 4 o'clock (or 8 o'clock if left-handed.) and move only a turning table. fade out when you are done.
      how to move a turning table and arm to frost a cake
    • Fill gaps and holes with additional frosting if there is any and repeat the process 10 until you are happy with the look.
      filling holes and gaps to finish a final coat
    • Clean off the corner edge with a spatula.
      cleaning the buttercream on corner edge of a cake to create sharp clean edge.
    • Clean off the frosting on a turning table.
      cleaning off buttercream on a turning table
    • Chill it in the fridge until the frosting gets hardened.
      frosted chocolate cake with no piping on top

    Decorations

    • Add additional frosting on the center and spread thinly to smooth out the surface. (Optional. Do this when you don't hide the surface with decorations completely.)
      smoothing the surface of a frosted cake
    • Attach any ingredient of your choice on the bottom edge. (Optional)
      attaching cacao nibs on the side of a whole chocolate cake
    • Pipe buttercream on top:
      Try to pipe with the same size, volume, and intervals to create a clean look.
      piping swirls with buttercream on top of a whole cake
    • Decorate with fruits or whatever you like. Done!
      placing blueberries on top of a chocolate cake

    Video

    Keyword cake decorating, how to frost a cake
    Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!