I used 2, 6" round cake layers baked in 3" deep tins
AND
1, 6" round cake layer baked in a 4"deep tin for this double barrel cake.
Jennifer Dockter of The Farmer's Wife Cakes shared some great tips with me before I started my first ever buttercream stripes cake and they were a big help!
Aaaaand you can get 17% off Ester's Icing combs by entering Jennifer's code at checkout... thefarmerswifecakes
Here are the tips she shared:
- Use American buttercream for stripes. Some cakers swear by using Swiss and Italian for their stripe cakes, but I’ve found them to not be stiff enough. Also, when the heated metal comb hits that butter in American, it smooths wonderfully.
- If there are big gaps happening while smoothing, get it semi-looking ok, freeze for 20-30 mins and then fill in the gaps with more bc and smooth again. After it gets to looking how you want it, freeze for another 20-30 and then fill with the contrasting colors of choice.
- Use warmed, flat scraper to smooth. My Cakeheads scraper has been a total lifesaver for this...annnnnndddd pretty much everything else. Just sayin’.
- If you find that your BC is dragging in front of or behind the comb, use a spray bottle filled with water and lightly spray the cake and then go over it with the comb. :)
- It’s going to look like crap for the first few (and sometimes a ton of) spins. Don’t give up. Keep going. It takes a lot of determination!
More advice from Teresa Davidson of Next Generation Cakes by T on making perfect, smudge free stripes...
1) Use plenty of buttercream on the cake sides. It needs to be deeper than the comb teeth.
2) Make sure the sides are straight after frosting.
3)The comb works best if the cake is chilled and the buttercream is hard to the touch.
4) It is best to use a piping bag to fill in any depressions/gaps when using the comb. Warm the comb a bit.
5) Chill the cake before piping the strips. I chill mine overnight.
6) After piping the stripes, use a piping bag to fill any gaps, etc. as you use your straight edge scraper to scrape away the excess frosting so the stripes are clean.
7) Patience is required.
8)All butter buttercream is required.
Join the Cakeheads family to see how I made the honey bee topper, the edible mead/wine bottle and the faux-honey drip...and soooo many more fun cake tutorials!
This is an adaptation of Lauren Kitchen's Easy Buttercream recipe. It's a little bit sweeter than her original recipe (but definitely not too sweet!) and works well for piping flowers and buttercream designs, as a buttercream underneath fondant (as it hardens in the fridge nicely to get those sharp edges on your fondant) or just left as a buttercream finish on your cake. It's my new favorite!
The only white (vanilla) cake recipe I’ll use, now, as it’s moist, dense, carves well, and is RIDICULOUSLY delicious! (Works great for cupcakes, too!) Just leave out the almond extract and substitute it for more vanilla if you want this to be a delicious vanilla cake!
The only chocolate cake recipe I’ll use, now, as it’s moist, dense, carves well, and is RIDICULOUSLY delicious!
(We're running low in stock and don't currently have them listed on Amazon.)
Measuring 10″ in height, the Cakeheads bench scraper is ideal for icing double barrel height cake tiers as well as regular height tiers, and its curved handle sits flush with your cake board creating a 90 degree angle, helping you achieve perfectly vertical sides when icing your cakes.
Measures 6in x 12in
Double sided to emboss or raise the pattern in your paste
Flexible, strong and easy to wash.
Made from food grade plastic
