Demo: Sharp edges on cake layers

[gfron1]

How well does it work...well, for me I've had it for over 5 years and this is the first time that it did what I wanted. But I've always assumed it was my skills or my baking, not the tool itself. No matter how many times I've tried, I can not make a horizontal cut on my own - frozen, not frozen - that is truly horizontal. As I've said, this not my strongpoint.

It works by gently sawing back and forth with the serrated wire. I think that once it breaks the crust, it works much better.

[reenicake]

2. I have been using a shortening/powerder sugar/egg white frosting for the simple fact that it's white and gets crusty. This cake is to be ivory and is undecorated, is there another frosting which may simplify the task of getting sharp corners?

My fillings are usually based on the Neoclassic buttercream from "The Cake Bible" and completely inappropriate for frosting the outside of a cake in summer.

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If you have a lot of whites left over from using the yolks in fillings, you might want to try a meringue buttercream, as a previous poster suggested. I like swiss for smaller amounts, italian for bigger ones, although I have made a 3-quart eggwhite batch of swiss meringue in a 30-qt mixer.

Basic technique: 1 part eggwhites, 2 parts sugar, 3 parts butter. (this is cups, pounds, whatever. it is marvelous this way, you can just make exactly what you need.)

put the whites and sugar in the bowl of a mixer. Bring a pan of water to a simmer and whisk the whites/sugar mixture over the water until it is hot. No need to constantly whisk, just enough to prevent scrambling. (I usually add a pinch of salt at this point too.) Feel with your fingers to see if the sugar is completely dissolved. I usually go to 140 degrees for safety's sake.

Take the bowl off the hot water and put it on the mixer with the whip. Beat on high speed until the bottom of the bowl has cooled off and you get a billowy meringue. Meanwhile cut the butter up in 2" cubes.

Stop the mixer. Add about a third of the butter; at first the meringue will fall, this is fine. It will help get it out of the innards of the whip. Switch to the paddle and beat in the rest of the butter in two or three lots. Then beat on medium speed until it is very light. if your butter is soft you may need to set the bottom of the bowl in ice water; if the butter is very cold set the bowl back in the hot water briefly. Beat a good 10 minutes. it may break but it will always come back together. Flavor and enjoy.

I ice pretty much all my buttercream cakes with meringue buttercream -- www.reenicakes.com. A nice idea for an ivory color is using part brown sugar.