Smooth kitchen roll for smoothing buttercream icing.

[TickledOnion]

I'm making a Peppa Pig birthday cake for DD and using buttercream to ice it.

I've found lots of advise online saying that you can make buttercream look almost as smooth as fondant by waiting for it to harden a little then smoothing it down using smooth kitchen roll/paper towels and just the heat from your hands. This sounds great as my buttercream always looks a bit rubbish.

BUT... I don't know where to find smooth paper towels. All the ones in the UK have a bobbly appearance which I don't want to transfer to my cake. Does anyone know of a make in the UK that is smooth. The websites where I got the advise from are American and refer to Viva paper towels.

Or do you think baking paper/greaseproof paper would work?

Thanks in advance for you help oh wise mumsnetters.

Try heating a knife in hot water and smoothing the butter icing with it or damp cling film?

No idea, but intrigued, so bumping!

You could try Reynolds freezer paper. It's from the US, and has a smooth waxed finish on one side. I use it for crafts but it would be easy to use for your icing, I would have thought. I ordered mine online, but I think some craft shops have it too (Hobbycraft?). I don't think parchment or baking paper would work - not quite 'non stick' enough, perhaps?

Thanks for these suggestions. I've tried the knife in hot water and found it a bit tricky. Maybe my knife was too wet.

I wondered abot the non-stickiness of greasproof paper, but kitchen roll isn't non-stick and that is supposed to work. Do you think toilet roll would work or is that just grim?

I've also just read about crumb coating a cake which looks like a good idea to help with a smooth finish.

Toilet roll definitely won't work! It will stick to your cake and spoil all your efforts. Likewise our kitchen roll. Crumb coating sounds good!

Viva IS smooth, freakily so. I get the impression it's not only made of paper, but I don't know what else would be in it!

I posted a thread asking how to smooth butter icing a while back but I have since found a book that recommends doing the warm spatula knife thing then waiting for the butter icing to crust before using grease proof paper and a cake smoother over it.

Let us know how it turns out.

Thanks boogiewoogie, I think I'll try that. Made the cakes last night and cut them out. They are now in the freezer ready for icing on Saturday.

Don't like the sound of freaky smooth viva paper InvaderZim!