The Secret to Perfectly Frosting a Cake Is in Your Microwave
This simple TikTok hack could seriously level up your cake decorating skills.
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We’ve all been victims of baking fails. You try your best to recreate something you saw in a photo, on TV, or popping up on your feed only to realize that, without the proper tools, it’s going to look less chic, more shabby. Luckily, when it comes to decorating cakes, one key piece of equipment you may not have invested in is already sitting in your microwave.
Firstly, if you’re not familiar with Brunch With Babs, the social media star and self-described “internet mom/grandma you didn’t know you needed” it’s time to add her to your feed. She’s got plenty of helpful tips, advice and recipes. In a recent TikTok post, Babs shared how she turned a unremarkable store-bought cake into an Easter-ready robin’s egg-themed showstopper by simply scraping off and reusing the frosting. If that doesn’t quite blow your mind, the hack Babs reveals about halfway into the video will.
@brunchwithbabs Robin Egg Cake 🪺 Need something beautiful for your Easter table? Turn a store bought cake into something truly noteworthy in under 20 minutes! AND if you choose to make your own cake remember my cookbook Celebrate with Babs has many to choose from including my carrot cake on pg 94 📖 XO Babs INGREDIENTS: Store bought or homemade cake (any size - cupcakes work too!) White store bought or homemade frosting 10 drops blue food coloring 2 drops green food coloring ½ cup sweetened coconut, toasted 2 tsp cocoa powder 4 tsp vanilla extract Chocolate candy mini-eggs INSTRUCTIONS: Start with a cold cake. Remove all of the decorations if using a store bought cake. Mix the food coloring into the frosting until you reach your desired blue. Frost cake over white frosting with robin's egg blue frosting. Mix together vanilla and cocoa powder to create mixture for speckles. To make speckles, dip a paintbrush or pastry brush into cocoa mixture and using your fingers, flick bits of cocoa mixture all over the cake. To create the nest, make a small well of frosting in the middle of the cake and mound toasted coconut on top of the frosting mound. Place the eggs in nest - you can speckle eggs before putting them in the nest if you want 🪺 #easter #easterdessert #happyeaster ♬ original sound - Babs
While professional bakers use spinning cake stands or turntables to smoothly and efficiently work their way around a round cake, amateur or occasional bakers might not have one of those handy. Then again, they just might. “Here’s a grandma tip,” Babs offers. “If you don’t have a lazy susan for frosting your cake, use the one from your microwave. Just put it on your table or even your cake stand for easy frosting.” Indeed, the glass plate is sturdy (and easily washable), while the wheeled ring underneath will spin perfectly on a smooth countertop. No wonder the video has over 1.3 million views on TikTok and a whopping 2.9 million views on Instagram.
This forehead-smackingly genius hack perfectly complements our step-by-step guide to frosting a cake. (We set the cake on an upside-down cake pan to make it easier to move and turn on your work surface.) Then apply a thin crumb coat layer of frosting and chill the cake before applying a second, decorative layer. You’ll still want an offset spatula to spread the frosting instead of a knife, but another piece of standard silverware — a spoon — is perfect for making those fancy swirls and swoops on top.
Combine that with Babs’ tip and maybe your homemade cakes won’t look so shabby after all!
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