How To Frost a Dark-Colored Cake

Influencers make frosting a cake look so easy, right? It's not rocket science, but it's also not as easy as it looks. If you struggle with frosting a cake without getting a ton of crumbs in your final layer, this post is for you. Here are my top tips for frosting a cake perfectly every time!

First, you want to make sure that your icing or frosting is the right consistency. It should never be too thick or too thin and watery. You should be able to move a spatula smoothly through it, and it should hold its shape. Any store-bought icing will work well for this; however, I like to use my easy American-style buttercream!

Next, you want to make sure you're using the proper technique! I have a chocolate cake that I baked using this Betty Crocker mix because frosting a dark-colored cake with white icing is the worst-case scenario.

It's much easier to see the crumbs of chocolate, red velvet, carrot, and spice cake, to name a few, because the crumbs are darker and would stand out against the white icing. My cake has been leveled and filled, and I use an offset metal spatula and a turntable to frost my cake.

The angled spatula keeps your hands up and away from the surface of the cake, and the turntable makes it easy for you to see all around your cake from a single vantage point. When applying icing to a bare cake, always make sure there is a lot of icing between your spatula and the cake itself.

Start by frosting the top of the cake. When your icing is smooth and the right consistency, you'll be able to push the icing across the surface of your cake, holding your spatula at a slight angle without pulling up an excessive amount of crumbs.

If you do pick up crumbs, don't worry; it happens to the most experienced bakers from time to time. Whenever you see crumbs, never place them into your icing container. Instead, wipe them onto a paper towel and continue frosting your cake. Stay vigilant and continue to watch for stray crumbs as you place the spatula back and forth into your frosting container.

Next, frost the sides of your cake using a spatula with the same idea of keeping a lot of icing between the bare cake and the spatula. Remember: You're going against BARE CAKE! Instead of holding the spatula horizontally and smearing frosting along the width of your cake, try holding the spatula vertically and only apply icing in two to three-inch sections at a time.

Don't smooth the icing and try tp make it look perfect right now for two reasons: 1) The goal at this point is to get icing to stick to the cake, and 2) This is just my first layer of frosting. Yes, that's right; this is only my first layer of frosting, which is referred to as a crumb coat!

A crumb coat is a very thin layer of icing that's intended to encapsulate loose crumbs and keep them from showing up in your final layer of frosting, and this is the key to a beautiful blank canvas. A crumb coat of icing should be so thin that you can see your cake through the frosting.

Next removing the excess frosting from the sides of the cake. Then, remove the excess frosting from the top of the cake. Use the spatula and/or a paper towel to remove the excess frosting from the cake board.

Now that the crumb coat is complete, place the cake in the refrigerator for 10 to 15 minutes. After the cake has been in the refrigerator, it should be set, meaning you can lightly touch the icing and not have any icing stick to your fingers. We know that our crumbs are now trapped!

Next, frost your cake using the same technique as before, starting with the top, moving to the sides, and then finishing the top edges. To get nice sharp cake edges, hold the spatula at a slight angle and bring the excess frosting along the top edge straight in.

To make your cake appear smoother, place it back into the refrigerator for about five minutes to set. Then, use a small square, maybe about three by three inches of parchment paper to gently smooth the frosting with your fingers.

The final crumb-free cake is now ready for your decorations!