Ina Garten's Decorating Trick Keeps Cake Crumbs Out Of Your Frosting

If you have successfully completed the oven portion of a baking project — layers risen, toothpicks more or less bare — you are mostly out of the woods and well on your way to the brighter plains of dessertville. But you must still master one more task: the literal icing on said cake. This final (or, close enough) step can be a kind of swan song; a fairly literal crowning glory. Or, it can be a virtual minefield where every errant crumb threatens to mar the whole confectionary landscape. Unless you employ the culinary celebrity and food bible writer Ina Garten's best frosting practice.

In an "Ask Ina" clip posted to The Barefoot Contessa's Instagram, Garten demonstrates her honestly incredibly easy method for reducing the pesky specks that threaten the aesthetics of all your hard work. "The key about not getting crumbs in the icing, is you always go in one direction," she says, wielding an offset spatula. "You don't go back and forth; I think we're really tempted to do that. [When] you push the icing from the top, you'll never get crumbs in it." So, for those playing along at home: You want to drop a heaping helping of icing or frosting right on top of that (cooled) devil's food, red velvet, or what have you. Pick a direction (clockwise is always a classic turn!) and follow that curve as though you were pressing ever so gently down into the cake. Those crumbs won't ever stand a chance.

That cake cooling step is no joke. It can be super tempting to begin decorating when it's still even just a little bit warm, but it's crucial to let your layers drop to room temperature before you start slathering. For one, those still steaming cakes are more vulnerable to cracking, which will cause more of the crumbs that you are so studiously trying to avoid. Increased mercury will also cause your icing to melt, ruining its consistency and even seeming to shine a spotlight on those same, dastardly crumbs.

A whole iced cake is also a bear to try and transport. Even if it's only a few inches high, you're toying with the thing's integrity simply by trying to move it from one platter to another. So you should decorate your cake on the same vehicle from which you plan to serve it whenever possible. It's pretty simple to wipe away any drips and drops once you're through, but Ina Garten has an ounce of prevention for that potential mess, too. She places a few portions of parchment or wax paper on her cake stand so that they'll sit just under the cake's perimeter. They'll serve as a drop cloth that you can wick away once you've reached your desired result. Then all you have to navigate are some common cake cutting mistakes and you can enjoy the sweet fruits of your labor.