Mary Berry's Tip For Perfectly Frosting Cakes

When watching a baking show, it's hard not to feel inspired and want to bake a cake. However, without those wide spatulas and spinning stands (they're called cake turntables), it's hard to frost your cake as well as the professionals. Thankfully, there are hacks you can implement at home that make frosting easier and don't require any special equipment. Plus, a perfectly frosted cake doesn't need to be fully smoothed over and piped to perfection. Simply having even layers and a neat exterior is enough to impress.

Professional chef and baker, Mary Berry, whom you may recognize from her seven seasons as a host on the Great British Baking Show, has some simple advice for the bakers who want an easier time frosting their cakes. We've all heard of the crumb coat; a thin layer of frosting that goes on a cake to seal its crumbs before frosting it. The crumb coat is a crucial step in the frosting process. Without it, you risk dragging crumbs up into the frosting. Instead of using frosting for a crumb coat, Berry suggests that a thin layer of jam can get the job done, too. Not only will it seal the crumbs before frosting but it will also add a bit of extra moisture to the cake layers and impart a sweet flavor.

Although any type of jam works for the crumb coat, Mary Berry suggests using apricot jam. Apricot jam is a common crumb coat for traditional English wedding cakes. Not only does it have a mild flavor that won't distract from the cake's flavors but it also has a light and transparent color that seamlessly blends into both vanilla and chocolate cakes. For the best crumb coat possible, the jam should warm and put through a sieve to remove any chunks of fruit or unwanted seeds. Once it goes over the cake and onto each layer, it will cool and set the crumbs with it.

Apricot jam is Berry's pick for its mild qualities but bakers should feel free to use any type of jam they want, especially if it tastes good with the type of cake they're baking. For example, a blueberry jam crumb coat will complement the summery and citrusy qualities of a lemon cake. Chocolate and cherries are a richer combo that can be found in a black forest cake. Because of that, cherry jam is a spot-on crumb coat pick for this cake's traditional whipped cream frosting. A jam crumb coat is yet one more element to cake-making that gives bakers room for creativity or a practical excuse to add their favorite jam.