When I first saw the Wilton Cake Icer Decorating Tip in the Wilton Cake Decorating Course 1 Manual on my first night of class, I thought it was a complete waste of money. I thought "Why buy a cake icer tip and a decorating bag when I have an angled spatula?"

A few days later, I iced my first cake for class. Rather, I attempted to ice my first cake for class. I soon discovered that I had crumbs everywhere. My icing wasn't smooth and beautiful like the pictures. I needed help.

When I showed up for the second class with my bedraggled cake in hand, the teacher began the session by showing us how to properly base frost a cake using the Wilton Cake Icer Decorating Tip. I immediately became a convert and after class, I spent $10 to purchase my own tip and featherweight decorating bag.

The Wilton Cake Icer Decorating Tip is gigantic in comparison to the other tips I own. It doesn't fit on the top of my Wilton Cake Decorator Tool Caddy with my other tips and has to reside in the base of the caddy. You can't use a coupler with it (not that I see a reason to want to use one). I had to buy a special 16 inch Featherweight Decorating Bag to use exclusively with this tip.

If you look carefully at the Wilton Cake Icer Decorating Tip, you'll notice that you can make both smooth and ribbed stripes with it because one side is serrated. In essence, this tip is a gigantic basketweave tip and is a cousin to the other basketweave tip in my caddy, No. 47. I've never used this tip for basketweave decorations because I've never worked on a cake that has that large a scale but I can rest more easily at night knowing that I have the proper tool for it should the need arise.

I've noticed that my Cake Icer tends to become a bit deformed over time. The metal is soft enough that I can easily bend it back into the proper shape but it's too large to use a regular Wilton Tip Saver with this tip. Since all I use it for is to lay a base frosting onto my cakes, having the tip in a particular shape isn't absolutely essential.

To use the Wilton Cake Icer Decorating Tip to actually base frost a cake, you'll need a couple of other tools in addition to the tip and decorating bag. You'll want to have a lazy susan or turn table of some sort to turn the cake as you frost it and a spatula for smoothing after you've applied the frosting. I don't have a dedicated lazy susan so I just use the maple one we used to keep in the middle of the kitchen table before I replaced it with a Jamestown Tray from Southern Living at Home. My spatula of choice is the Wilton Comfort Grip Angled Spatula with the 15 inch blade. After all, tools are everything.

I normally place my cake on a serving board or plate before putting the whole thing on my lazy susan. I use wax paper strips underneath the cake that are removed after I have finished decorating the entire cake. This way, frosting doesn't actually get on the platter while I am decorating the cake. The icing that falls or is spread unevenly ends up on the wax strips instead.

Next, I fill the bag halfway with icing. I try to keep the bag at a 45 degree angle but I'm not the best at that. Starting in the center of the cake, I make a spiral of icing by turning the lazy susan with one hand as I squeeze out icing with the other, making sure there aren't blank areas between the curves as I work my way to the edge of the cake.

Because I don't worry about how much icing I apply, I normally have run out of icing before I have put any on the sides. I now use my spatula to smooth the top of the cake, removing a ton of excess icing in the process. Since I don't get all the way to the base of the frosting, there are no crumbs. This reclaimed icing goes back into the bag to apply to the sides of the cake.

To cover the sides, simply squeeze the bag and make wide stripes, covering the sides of the cake horizontally as you turn the lazy susan. Repeat smoothing with the spatula, removing excess frosting. While I may not care how much I initially put on the cake, I do care about how much remains on the cake after base frosting!

I also don't bother paying attention to whether the smooth or serrated side of the Wilton Cake Icer Decorating Tip is facing up. If I end up with ridges, they'll be smoothed away by the spatula anyway.

The final step in base frosting is to run your clean spatula under hot water. I wipe it down a little but leave a bit of water on the spatula before running it over the cake one last time. This helps to set up a thin crust or glaze on the cake and gives it a professional look before you decorate it. I normally let my base frosted cake sit for about a half hour before continuing to decorate.

While I now know how to properly base frost a cake using just the angled spatula, I like the geek factor of using the Cake Icer and I also feel as if I get a better base frost using the tip.

It took me a couple of tries to feel comfortable with using this tip (and the very large bag it requires), but now that I've become accustomed to it, I prefer this method of base frosting to any other.

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 2.39