The Faux Fondant Buttercream Smoother

From Jeff on the message board: I’ve decided not to pursue a patent and am willing to pass the instructions on to anyone who wants them.
Posted by Dolores at http://www.sugarcraft.com

The Faux Fondant Smoother begins with a metal round cookie cutter.  I bought mine at the arts and crafts store.  It is about 3 inches in diameter and 1 inch wide, stainless steel.

You will also need something for the handle.  I used a 2 ½ inch wide sheet rock knife, but since it was so hard to drill through, I would recommend using a plastic one.  It is plenty strong enough.

Using a pair of metal shears, I cut the cookie cutter in half.
 
Next  bend it into the shape as shown above.  I bent mine over the rolled edge of my countertop.  You could also use a small rolling pin, can, pipe…anything round!

Don’t worry about how long the piece is right now, you will adjust that in the end.

Next you will have to attach the metal strip to the handle.  This is the tricky part.  At first I tried soldering it together, but it would not hold.  I then tried attaching it with two pop rivets.

IF YOU ARE NOT HANDY, you could take the pieces to a local machine shop or hardware store and have them drill the holes and attach the pieces with pop rivets….Lowes, Home Depot, etc. could do this.

First you drill two holes for the handle near the very edge of the blade….this will be MUCH easier if you use a plastic knife instead of stainless like I did!

Using the two holes in the handle, mark where the two holes should go on the smoother blade…get them as far back from the edge as possible….also note…my cookie cutter had a  turned edge on one side…make sure when you put the pieces together that you turn this edge TOWARD the blade so that the side that touches the icing is as smooth as possible.

Attach the pieces with two pop rivets and you are ready to go!!

You may need to cut the long edge of the blade to a shorter length depending on the height of your cakes.
If you do a 4 inch cake, the straight length should be about 3 ½ before the curve starts…again…this is something you can play around with.  Metal shears will be needed to cut the blade to length.  Again, if you don’t have such tools, a local hardware store can cut it for you.

I use the contour edge pans for my top cake layer…you can also trim the edge of a regular layer slightly.  I crumb the layers then chill.  Apply the final coat of icing as smoothly as possible, then dip the smoother in hot water, wipe off, and hold it at about a 45 degree angle to the side.  With the cake on a turntable, make a complete turn without stopping before lifting the blade.  Repeat is necessary until you get the result you want!

This is what your cake should look like!  Happy Baking!