Watch What Happens When You Heat Up Frosting With a Hair Dryer

If you’re like me, you love baking, even if your yummy gastronomic masterpieces don’t necessarily look on point. In other words, some cakes may taste delicious, but they don’t always look like they belong in the case of a chic cakery! That’s why I’m going to share a baking tip for you that helps any cake look like it’s gotten a makeover. Here’s how to create some seriously displayable pastries!

Today’s tip comes from some of the craftiest chefs out there, our friends over at America’s Test Kitchen. These folks really know food, inside and out!

So, if you want your pastry to look super delectable, then just focus on the frosting. Once you’ve slapped that frosting on, just grab a hair dryer!

Yep, you heard me right—a hair dryer. The whole idea here is that, if the frosting is introduced to some heat, then it will start to “sweat,” giving the cake a pretty, glistening shine.

All you need to do is frost your pastry as usual – we recommend using this scrumptious vanilla buttercream frosting – and point that hair dryer right onto the frosted surface. This hack usually only takes a couple of minutes to complete, but since all pastry sizes vary, there are no hard and fast rules as far as time or heat settings go, so you may need to do a bit of experimenting.

It’s best to start by pointing the hair dryer at least 6 inches away from the frosting at a low heat. If the frosting doesn’t start “sweating” within 30 seconds or so, go ahead and click the dial to a hotter setting.

If you are more of an icing lover, then we suggest going for the cool setting on your hair dryer. Frosting can withstand the heat, but icing has the tendency to bleed or melt. You can even use a fan, but a hair dryer with a cold setting will be faster, and will give you a bit more control!

So, if you want to add some more oomph to a frosted and iced cake, we suggested that you put heat on the frosted cake first, then go in with the icing after the surface cools down. Afterwards, you can then ice the cake and blast some cool air on the icing so that it dries evenly.

I would show you this miraculous “before and after,” but I really think that you should see these results for yourself! This hair dryer trick makes a HUGE difference when it comes to overall presentation. Watch America’s Test Kitchen’s video below to see for yourself! You’ll want to bake a cake in honor of this quick tip!

What do you think of this blow dryer tip? Have you used heat to spruce up the look of your frosting before? If so, how did you like the outcome? Tell us all about your thoughts and experiences in the comments section below!