Cake Ring Hack for smooth frosting!  

After *6 years* on the smooth-frosting-struggle-bus - I finally found a method that I don't hate! I initially figured I was probably one of just a few, and posted a YouTube video demo thinking maybe 5-10 people would care. But after several thousand views more than I’d ever anticipated - here's more on frosting with the ‘Cake Ring hack’! 

Late 2024 I (finally) posted on frosting smooth cakes - mostly the classic method + tips involving the freezer for stubborn sides. (I use mostly cream cheese frosting, which is difficult to smooth.) 

Since writing that post though - I've learned a GAME CHANGER cake frosting hack. Credit to 'CravingAlishasCupcakes' on Instagram - I’m still amazed how much an acetate sheet and a metal cake ring speed up frosting for me! 

Use the purple buttons below to jump to any specific section. I hope this helps you like it did me!

And please email me with any questions/comments/concerns/complaints; emails through my contact page go straight to my inbox and I can view them on my phone! 

Disclaimers!! 

1) If you’re a professional baker and frosting cakes is easy for you - this probably isn’t the method for you!

I have an awful time getting frosting smooth and it takes me forever, so this method has been super helpful for me. If you don’t have my problem - I envy the heck out of you - but this won’t help you. 

2) If you’re opposed to using the freezer, this is also not the method for you! While you won’t need to freeze the cake solid - just the frosting - the fridge is NOT sufficient. I’ve tried. If the frosting is not set hard enough it will stick to the acetate. Huge-o mess. I’ve never found freezing properly wrapped / frosted layers to alter my cake layer quality - but some people object to it like Italians reacting to broken spaghetti noodles. If that’s you…love ya, but do yourself a favor and just close this page. 😉 Cool? 

IF however, you’re like me -

chronically on the smooth-cake-frosting-struggle bus and looking for an easier way - please read on! 🙂 

(Disclosure: As an Amazon associate I may earn from qualifying purchases, and my posts sometimes contain affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you!) 

Cake ring method + video links

I made a quick tutorial video here - it's a YouTube short for now; I'm working on a more in-depth tutorial and will link it here when it’s done and posted. 

Step 1: Stack.
Stack / fill your cake layers (just like you normally would.) Hopefully we're on familiar ground so far. 😉 

Step 2: Pipe. 
Pipe on a layer of frosting (as evenly as you can, but if it’s fairly uneven it’s not a big deal. You can see what I piped in the video wasn't super even - meant I had some more smoothing to do after the acetate came off, but that's not the end of the world.) I also spread a layer of frosting over the top. (Reserve some frosting in case you need to fill gaps in the sides later.) 

Step 3: Wrap.
Wrap the cake in a layer of acetate, keeping the bottom edge even with the cake board. (The acetate sheet should be long enough to wrap around the cake with a bit of overhang.) The entire perimeter of the cake should be touching the acetate, but you don’t need to pull it tight. Now… 

Step 4: Squeeze! 
Place the cake ring around the outside of the cake+acetate - and then SQUEEZE! The harder you squeeze, the better. (I’ve had the ring handles leave dents in my hands). It takes some compression to press the frosting hard enough to force it against the acetate to smooth it. If you notice a big ‘lip’ of excess frosting at the top cake edge, even it out as much as you can with the top of the cake. 

Step 5: Freeze! 
Now the whole thing goes in the freezer, and I generally leave mine for at least an hour if the cake layers were at room temperature. The frosting HAS to feel very firm to the touch before you try taking the acetate off or the frosting will stick.  

Step 6: Release 
Remove the cake ring and the acetate, and smooth any holes out with remaining frosting. If the top edge was even-ish going into the freezer, it shouldn’t take much to get the top edge sharp and smooth, but a hot knife can make quick work of any uneven spots. 

Here are two quick links to the acetate sheet and the metal cake ring I used in the above 'cake ring frosting hack' video! 

Supplies:

Cake ring - https://amzn.to/4e0hHZA

Acetate - (the sheet I used was cut from an 8-inch roll) - https://amzn.to/3ABqnHI

Videos: 

(YouTube short - quick overview of the process) 

Videos: 

(Longer video detailing this method versus the classic frosting method)

Addendum #2 - How to use a cake ring as a DIY FrostForm®

To be PERFECTLY clear here - I'm 0% knocking FrostForm® in any way. But I got some sticker shock from their website and wondered if there's another way to do what they do! 

I looked at one of my acrylic cake discs one day and wondered if I'd be able to place it at the bottom of my cake ring + acetate to leak-proof it - and then pour frosting or ganache over the top.

Testing commenced!

Round 1 - with mostly-melted buttercream - was a bit of a wash time-wise. About 2/3 of the cake was covered by the frosting pour, but the remaining 1/3 had to be done by hand after the cake came out of the freezer.  I mean it kinda worked...but it didn't work THAT well.

(Round 3- When I re-tried with fully melted buttercream, the frosting split. Once the acetate came off I had to scrape and re-smooth the cake to get rid of the melted butter pockets. Nuisance.) 

Fast forward to round 2 - same method with butter ganache. (I merged the 'milk chocolate' and 'dark chocolate' recipes from FrostForm's site since I was working with semisweet chocolate chips. 1.7:1 ratio of semisweet chocolate to butter in grams.)

This recipe covered the cake flawlessly, though I learned a couple lessons about preventing and stopping leaks at the base. (Hint: check your acetate before pouring if you bump it!!)

I'm including a video link below showing exactly how I did this and how it went - in case you want to try it! 

FAQs: 

"Doesn't this method waste a lot of acetate?" 

• Not if you re-use the acetate sheet! I've yet to throw one away. I've washed the same sheet at least 15 times with no apparent ill effects. (Probably 10 by hand and 5 in the dishwasher; it doesn't seem to make a difference.) 

"Does the cake sweat?" 

• Depends. If you frost this way and then decorate at room temp - especially on a warm/humid day - it might. (More on that in section 5 of this post.)
  I've avoided this by leaving cakes I frosted this way in the fridge for a couple hours to let the frosting warm up before decorating, and haven't had a problem. I've yet to try it in the middle of a Tennessee summer though, so if I run into trouble I'll update here. 

"Does this *actually* speed up the process?" 

• First - see the first disclaimer. If you're quick at frosting and it's not a difficult process for you - then it might not save you time.
  But I used to spent literal hours of hands-on time trying to get my cake sides / top / top edge smooth and even and it was awful. Because of the time for the frosting to freeze and then come to fridge temp, the total time is still a few hours - but my HANDS-ON time to frost a cake is a fraction of what it used to be. And with 2 little kids at home that is a LIFESAVER.