Wow, it has been way to long since I've posted.  My friends and family have been keeping me busy with cake orders.  That means new cake guides will be coming soon!  For now, I want to share with you my newest, old cake decorating trick.  Yes you read that correctly :)  For years cake decorators have been icing their cakes with Spackle or putty knives.  It was only recently that I started doing this myself.  The results are amazing.
Just see for yourself...



The buttercream covered bottom tier here was iced used an angled spatula.  It is pretty smooth but you can tell it is definitely buttercream icing.

In this second version of the cake I used the Spackle knife...

As you can see, it is much smoother than the first picture.

To use the Spackle knife I first place the icing on the cake with a large piping bag and large flat tip (ie Wilton tip #182).  Once the cake is covered, I smooth it out with an angled spatula.  To get it "perfectly" smooth I then grab my Spackle knife and go over the cake one last time.  Use light pressure so you don't take too much icing off the cake.

____________________________________________________________________________________________