Cotton Swabs Are The Skinny Heroes That Prevent Smushed Icing On Leftover Cake

I love making cakes and cupcakes from scratch. It's really fun. What I do dread (besides the cleanup) is transporting and storing them. I don't want the treats I painstakingly decorated to slide, and I don't want the frosting to get messed up. When you're bringing cookies somewhere, it's easy to just throw plastic wrap around them on a plate. But with cake? You need something to prop up the plastic so it doesn't smear the frosting. Enter cotton swabs. Yes, you can use chopsticks or skewers, but those poke holes in the plastic, making it a fallible system.

Q-tips will make sure your decorated cakes don't get smushed and your wrapping stays in tact. To use them, cut off one bulbous end and insert the now-flat side into the cake, making sure the rounded tip sticks up at least half an inch above the cake. Place the cotton swabs where the candles or other cake toppers were or are going to be. This way, you won't poke excessive holes in the cake. Next, gently lay the plastic wrap over the cake and secure it under the plate. It should drape over the Q-tips and not stick to the frosting. You'll never have to fight messy plastic wrap again. (If you feel weird about using a hygiene tool in the kitchen, remember that unflavored dental floss is excellent for cutting cinnamon rolls.)

Before decorating, make sure the cake is completely cool; otherwise, the frosting will melt and the cake may tear. As for how long you should really cool a cake before frosting, it depends. Here's my suggestion: Let the cake rest in the pan for 10–15 minutes (no longer), then run a plastic knife around the edges to loosen it. Place a cooling rack on top of the pan and flip the cake out. Using a second cooling rack, flip it again so it's upright, just as it was in the pan. Let it cool completely before frosting, usually around an hour or so. You want the cake to be room temperature. You can stick it in the fridge of freezer to speed up the process.

As for the decoration, there are so many types of cake frosting out there. The right one depends on what you're trying to achieve design- and taste-wise. You can also double your canned frosting by whipping it with a stand or hand mixer. When it comes to ideal cake-to-frosting ratios, everyone's different. Just do what makes you feel good. Once your cake is frosted with your preferred kind, it's ready for enjoying. Just don't forget the cotton swabs.