Strain the warmed mixture into a small bowl and brush a thin layer onto the cake to seal the surface. Melt 1/2 cup jelly, jam, or preserves with 1 Tbs.
The sleek, translucent coating that this creates is especially useful if you’re planning to finish the cake with a warm chocolate glaze. I’ve found that I don’t need to make extra frosting, since I wind up needing less for the final layer.Īs an alternative to frosting, strained preserves also make a fine crumb coat. This layer is allowed to set for one to two hours before the cake is frosted and decorated. It is a thinned layer of frosting applied to the cake, as it is almost cool, or just cooled. It’s all too easy to jump right in with a generous dollop of frosting, but skipping the crumb coat isn’t recommended. A crumb coat is a baker’s trick for sealing in the moisture of a cake, and for making frosting the cake easier. What Is a Crumb Coat It’s simply a thin layer of icing applied to seal the cake layers, trapping errant crumbs. Depending on the size of your cake and the amount of patching up you need to do, a crumb coat should take about 1/2 cup of frosting. A crumb coat seals in the moisture of a cake. The simplest choice for a crumb coat is a bit of the actual frosting. Now you’re ready to spread a smooth, crumb-free frosting onto the cake. Before finishing the cake, clean the spatula, the rim of the mixing bowl, and the entire work area of any crumbs, which have an almost magnetic way of getting into the frosting. Fill in any cracks or divots in the cake.Īfter smoothing the surface of the crumb coat (don’t worry if it’s speckled with crumbs), refrigerate the cake for 5 to 10 minutes to let the frosting set. Don’t worry: its role is simply to seal the surface. With lighter frostings, this layer may be transparent. (If you’re making a layer cake, the layers should already be filled and stacked.) Then spread a very thin layer of frosting over the entire surface of the cake. If you use a little bit of frosting to seal the cake’s surface and secure loose crumbs, your final layer of frosting will go on much more smoothly.īegin by brushing off any loose crumbs on the cake with a dry pastry brush or your fingers. If you’ve ever marveled at the flawless frosting on a professionally made cake and wondered why your frosted cakes often end up specked with crumbs, here’s a tip: Apply a “crumb coat” to your cake before you spread on the actual frosting.