Assembling a Layer Cake on a Cake Stand

Devil’s Food Cake

Appears in

Published 2009

Use a serrated knife to cut 2 devil’s food layer cakes into 2 layers each so you have 4 layers.
Place a round of cardboard on the cake stand and set the first cake layer on top. Brush with flavored syrup (optional).
Dollop whipped ganache on each layer and spread in an even layer. Use a metal spatula to keep smoothing over the extra ganache that oozes out between each layer.
Smooth off the sides of the cake with a metal spatula and remove excess frosting to expose the cardboard that surrounds the base of the cake. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
Dollop the top of the cake with the buttercream and spread it over the top of the cake. Allow the excess buttercream to form around the edges of the cake, providing you with frosting for the sides.
Continue smoothing the buttercream around the top and sides of the cake.
Use a spatula to scrape up buttercream that accumulates around the edges of the cake. Use this buttercream to ice the sides of the cake.
Hold a bench scraper straight up and down on the side of the cake and rotate the cake to smooth off the sides.
Spread the buttercream that accumulates along the top rim of the cake to smooth off the top. Continue doing this, alternating between top and sides, until the cake is perfectly smooth.
To make small chocolate curls, slice the back side of a pastry tip along the chunk of chocolate while pressing firmly.
To make large chocolate curls, peel them off the chunk of chocolate with a vegetable peeler.