In this livestreamed video tutorial, Denise Steward, creator of the viralburn-away cake trend, walks you through the exact paper2eat edible sheets and techniques she used to pull it off. She also answers some frequently asked questions and offers some useful tips you can you use to perfect your own burn-away cake. You can find Denise and more of the cool stuff she creates on Instagram @denises_delights_ and on TikTok @denises_delights93.
So for Denise's iconic burn-away structure, it's a Frosting Sheetfor the bottom layer,a ring of buttercream to separate the layers and create some space between that sheet and the image that'll be burned on top of it. Then Wafer Paperfor the top image with another piped border around it.
Timestamps for tips and burn-away cake FAQs in the video:
00:38 - What is a burn-away cake is and how does it work?
00:51 - Does the burn-away cake take long to burn?
00:54 - Does the paper stop burning on its own?
01:27 - What paper2eat products do you need to make the burn-away cake?
01:55 - When structuring your burn-away cake, which sheet gets placed first?
02:03 - What size should the base image be for the burn-away cake?
02:25 - How to pipe the buttercream border for the burn-away cake?
02:49 - What edible paper do I put on top for the burning image on the burn-away cake?
02:59 - What to do if the icing is too soft?
03:10 - How to place the Wafer Paper on the border of a burn-away cake.
03:23 - The French tip you can use to make the shell border on top of the burn-away cake.
03:36 - How to pipe the shell border so it hits the side and the top of the burn-away cake.
04:07 - Hiding the seam on the underside of the shell border and the tip to use to do it.
04:39 - The key to hiding that inner buttercream ring in your burn-away cake.
05:00 - You need a bit of airspace between the sheets . It's best that you don't let the two sheets touch.
05:21 - If you are adding decorations on the shell border of your burn-away cake, be very careful where you place your decorative items so they do not catch on fire.
06:20 - What you should keep in mind when making burn-away cakes during warmer months.
06:42 - What kind of torch or lighter works best with burn-away cakes?
07:05 - Be sure to have your hair back when lighting the burn-away cake on fire.
👇 Some context and backstory on how big Denise's burn-away cake idea got:
This trend has amassed over 500 million+ views just across Instagram and TikTok as of the making of that video, gotten national coverage, trended in other countries, captured the imagination of millions and flipped the cake decorating industry on its head. Outlets like the Food Network, Today, New York Post, Bon Appétit, Eater, Mashed, and MORE have acknowledged Denise's work and the trend she set into motion. Her cake has led to thousands of viral burn-away cake videos in its wake.
Bakeries all over the country were absolutely flooded with requests from customers who saw burn-away cakes on their social media and wanted it for their own events. Birthdays, engagement parties, gender reveals and MORE have been revamped and won't ever be the same again. Burn-away cakes are now a household name and thousands of cake decorators everywhere have learned to make them in order to meet the demand for this kind of cake. Whether you spell it 'burnaway cake,' 'burn-away cake' or 'burn away cake,' love them or hate them, they are here to stay.
