Hi Mary! It’s the crumbs that flake off the sides of the cake when frosting it. Doing a thin coat first locks them in so then you can do a second coat of frosting and not have to worry about them.

Hi Lowri! The diameter is 6″. My pans are 2″ tall.

Hi Jason! For SMBC, I’m not sure if you’ve seen my detailed tutorial on it but have a read through as it has lots of tips and troubleshooting: https://livforcake.com/swiss-meringue-buttercream-recipe/ If you can get your hands on some freeze-dried strawberries/powder I’d recommend that over the fresh strawberries in the SMBC as the excess water in the fresh ones can sometimes cause the buttercream to split if added too quickly. Or use strawberry jam instead for ease. I’d add sprinkles to the buttercream but make sure to use the jimmies not the round nonpareils as the latter will bleed.

For altitude, how high up are you? High altitude can be particularly tough on chocolate cake recipes like this. You may need to make some adjustments and it might take some experimentation on your part. I’ve never baked in high altitude, but here are some tips: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html

Here are some general guidelines if you’re at 3000ft:

• Increase the oven temperature by 15-25F
• Decrease baking time by 5-10mins.
• Decrease sugar by 1 Tbsp per cup
• Decrease baking powder by 1/8 tsp per cup
• Increase liquid by 1-2 Tbsp per cup
• Add 1 Tbsp of flour

If you’re higher up than 3000ft, you will need to increase/decrease the ingredients incrementally. Again, it may require some experimentation. Let me know how it all turns out!

I am hoping the SMBC works out, I’ve tried it a couple times on other recipes with mixed results, but practice is showing results.

Wondering about alterations for high altitude. I am in Calgary and I find that not all recipes (especially cake) rise properly. Would you change anything like amount of flour?

Hi Anne! Thank you so much for your kind words. I am so happy you love this recipe! FD strawberries are the way to go. I haven’t gone back to fresh since as they are so easy to use and don’t mess with the consistency of the buttercream. xo

Second. Your cake, the recipe, the photos are wonderful. I have been successful each attempt (setting to make it tonight for the 4th time) and have shared with a friend who also has been successful. I’m trying freeze dried strawberries today and a gluten free cake mix (figured easier than risking disaster attempting to switch things up. But the butter cream. Mmmmm. Can’t go without.

Anyways. Keep on shining. From your neighbor in Alaska

Hi Ely! Yes, you need the buttermilk, but really it’s the acid that you need from it so if you’re using an alternate milk, just add about 1 tsp of lemon juice or vinegar to that. The texture of the cake may be slightly different but it should still be delicious 🙂