INSTRUCTIONAL

THE OPPOSITE OF SHARP-AS-SHIT

AKA HOW TO CREATE RAW-TEXTURED EDGES EFFORTLESSLY

TOOLS

masonite board 1–2 sizes larger than your cake

Magnolia Kitchen turntable

non-slip mat

icing of your choice

Magnolia Kitchen offset spatula

3 chilled one-layer cakes, trimmed

9-inch Magnolia Kitchen sharp-as-shit scraper

So in my last book I was all about the sharp-as-shit edges and was all teachy teach teach of the Magnolia Kitchen sharp-as-shit ways. Well, I still obsess over sharp-as-shit but the raw-textured edge is my new jam—it’s close to perfection, but at the same time a little rough around the edges. A little crown of imperfection on a cake, reminding us to embrace texture in design.

You will see the raw-textured edge used throughout this book, which is why I ended up putting it in as an instructional. If you are all waaaa that you wanted a sharp-as-shit instructional, well my friends that is in the other book and it’s super-extensive (including amazing detail on how to trim your cakes!). Or you can always check out my online courses if you want to see my face and have me teach you how to do it in a moving film.

I often call the main part of this process my ‘ganache on ganache’ technique, but it can be done with any of my buttercreams or ganaches.

  1. Set up the masonite board on your turntable, with the non-slip mat between the board and the turntable to stop it slip-sliding up the wazoo.
  2. Prep your icing. I’m using my delicious AF Beurre Noisette Buttercream, but you can just as easily use ganache. Make sure it is well whipped, soft and a spreadable consistency. Using your offset spatula, smear a blob of icing on the cake board.
  3. Gently place your first layer of trimmed cake on the board—make sure it is bang in the centre.
  4. Scoop a generous amount of icing onto the top of the cake with your spatula.
  1. Spread evenly with your offset spatula until smooth and flat. You want a thickness of about 1.5 cm (5/8 in) between the layers of cake.
  2. Carefully add the second layer of cake, making sure it is centred and aligned. Press it down firmly. Scoop a generous amount of icing onto the top of the cake.
  3. Spread evenly with your offset spatula until smooth and flat.
  4. Carefully add the third layer of cake, making sure it is centred and aligned. Press it down firmly.
  5. Spread a small amount of icing around the outside layers to lock in the crumbs—this is called a crumb coating. Move your offset spatula back and forth, pushing the icing into the cake, and scrape away any excess crumb-filled icing.
  6. Scoop a generous amount of icing on top of the third layer, and spread it evenly with your offset spatula.
  7. Make sure it is nice and flat and smooth—this is the final top of the cake.
  8. Now completely cover the sides of the cake, ensuring that your messy-as-fuck icing is at least 1.5 cm (5/8 in) thick. (This bit is why I call it ganache on ganache . . . if I’m using ganache of course.)
  9. Keep going until it’s all nicely covered.
  1. Now grab your Magnolia Kitchen sharp-as-shit scraper. Hold it at about a 60-degree angle with the edge flush against the icing but don’t press too hard. Turn the turntable as you pull the scraper towards you—you want to gently scrape back the icing in quarter-turns until you have removed 50% of the excess icing. Position the scraper, do a quarter-turn, remove the icing from the scraper, wipe clean, and repeat.
  2. If your raw edges aren’t obvious or high enough, you can add more icing around the top with your spatula.
  3. Back to scraping, and this time no stopping and starting—it’s gotta be a FULL ROTATION each time from here on in. Keep doing this until the icing is completely smooth. As you scrape, the icing will push up slightly and reach above the top edge of the cake, creating the raw-textured-edge beauty.
  4. Boom! And there you have your raw-textured edge.