A mug, a bucket and a little creativity

As I've stated before, I'm in the process of relocating to Baltimore, so I am building business in this area as well as Philadelphia. Sometimes, I forget items that I need in behind in one state or another. I left my mixer in Baltimore. My kitchenaid stand mixer that I love like a family member. So, I had to use my hand mixer. Not so bad, right? At 4 am, I realized that I had left my fondant smoother and part of my turn table as well. I had a McGyver moment and looked around to see what I could use: a mug and a bucket.

I placed the cakes set on cake boards on the bucket that was turned upside down and used that as a turn table. May not seem like a big deal to you, but I was pretty proud of myself not having a melt down. Something that is very easy to do so eary in the AM with little sleep and with a long day ahead. If you do find yourself in the same predicament, I would advise you to be careful with spinning the cake around. I found myself having a few close calls with the cake slipping off. Other than that, it worked like a charm. I was able to dirty ice my cake very well.

I then iced the 1st cake for the day with the crusting buttercream that I made with my HAND mixer. (I am so spoiled and used to using my KA mixer. I didn't skimp on the the mixing time 10 to 15 mins to make sure it nice and smooth when applied. It was a lot of buttercream and I used a lot of elbow grease, but it was so worth it!). After I placed the buttercream on the cake I needed to be able to smooth it over using the VIVA towel method. Since I left my fondant smoother, I used a mug. One that was pretty smooth and not ornate. I've seen people do it with just their hands, but when I try, I always wind up with finger marks. I think it came out pretty well.



Based on a design by Pink Cake Box


After that, I had to smooth the fondant on the next cake. One day when watching Amazing Wedding Cakes, I saw Christopher Garren use a ball of fondant dusted with powdered sugar to smooth out fondant. It worked very well in my opinion. 

Using this method provided me with a very smooth surface to hand paint the roses on this cake. The first cake was a triple chocolate fudge cake for a customer in Philadelphia. The second cake was a white almond sour cream cake, I delivered to Baltimore.