Cake Decorating Community - Cakes We Bake

Ok, so I just sat down after spending about 4 - 5 hrs., on a cake that should have been a whiz.

First,one of my cakes was moist, when I went to place it  on top of 1st layer cake, it fell apart.

No prob I say, just shore it up with my buttercream I am using for my crumbcoat.  Well icing went well, but turned around to see the cake begin to slide off.  Everything went haywire from there. I have NEVER had as much trouble with icing a cake as I had today.  I was piping swirls, and within minutes, it slid off.  GRRRRRrrrrrrr. This is the same icing  I have always used, with the exception of addition of 2 tblsp milk + cornstarch. That tip given to me from from this site from Frieda Doberly.  Sorry Frieda,......still don't know what went wrong.  Our AC was on , it was pleasant while I decoarated.  Now my cake was dense, a carrot cake.  Would that have anything to do with the icing not adhering/sticking?  Pretty sure I had a decent amt of crumb coat on.  In sheer desperation, I cleared out the bottom half of my fridge, and after each row piped, placed cake in fridge for icing to  firm up.  What a royal pain!!!! I don't have a spare fridge at my disposal, but usually it doesn't matter.

Any advice would be appreciated.  I am baffled.

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I would like an answer myself. Recently had the same issue....I added more confectionary sugar to try to stiffen it up-was awful. It was terribly warm thoufh but even when I put in freezer it wouldn't stiffen up!!
I used to use the "American" buttercream - confectioner's sugar & butter - but it never got stiff enough - always seemed to sag after a while and bulge between the layers. I started making Swiss meringue butter cream - it's kind of a pain in the neck, but it tastes awesome, is smoothe as silk and sets just perfectly. I haven't had any of the issues I had while using the other buttercream. If you want recipe will be happy to provide.

It sounds to me like you have more than b'cream issues.  What size cakes are we talking about?  You mention carrot cake, dense and moist - scratch recipe or box mix?  Are you *sure!* it was baked through?  Was the cake cool - totally?  Did you think to put it in the fzr or frig to help it cool?  Were the layers level??

 If icing does not stick to the cake usually that is an indication (sp?) it is too thick and needs a bit of moisture to thin it down.

Same icing you always use but........ any new ingredients (new can of shortening or sugar) ?  Same brands as always?  Were you interrupted when making the batch?  Could you have forgotten something?  Search, search for something that might be different.

First, my cakes were scratch.  Yes they were baked through, had x-tra ,so self tasted.  Yes, totally cooled, were in fridge prior to icing.  Layers were perfectly even.  In retrospect, I did use a "new" recipe courtesy of caker here on CWB., and I think it was way too heavy.  But she swore she uses as her  go to icing for humid weather.  I should have made my swiss meringue buttercream as previously posted by Kim.  It is light, and can be piped.  I used this on my daughter's b-day cake in May, and everyone loved it.  And, unbeknownst to me, my friend whom I was making the  cake for is type 2 diabetic. So SMBC would have been lighter, not quite so sweet.

Well,  we learn from our mistakes.  Next time I decide to use a new recipe, will try it out first like I usually d. I am pretty experienced, so I was dumb.

I would love the recipe.  I don't care for "American" buttercream and looking for other tasty options.

Kim Hamilton said:
I used to use the "American" buttercream - confectioner's sugar & butter - but it never got stiff enough - always seemed to sag after a while and bulge between the layers. I started making Swiss meringue butter cream - it's kind of a pain in the neck, but it tastes awesome, is smoothe as silk and sets just perfectly. I haven't had any of the issues I had while using the other buttercream. If you want recipe will be happy to provide.

Actually Goreti, I don't like standard buttercream either.  Too sweet.  I always use Wilton's buttercream flavoring to cut down the sweetness when this icing is requested.  The Swiss M buttecream is good, but tricky.  You can google SMBC from The Cake Bible.  She has a website....Rose Levy Bernambaum.  I have found what has been working for me lately, especially in our humid climate.  I make the standard buttercream, add 1/4 recipe of royal icing.  Then I make my buttercream icing made with flour. ( google flour icing, it will pop up ).  I mix the buttercream flour icing with 1/2 of buttercream/royal icing mixture, and it works.  The flour icing is a good cheat for SMBC because the flour icing is light, not sweet, and you have the stiffness and reliability from the royal icing.

It is a bit of fussing around, making 3 separate batches of icing, but the SMBC, if not done correctly, ruins easily, and with all the butter you use.....expensive mistake.

Hope this gives you some ideas

Thank you for your reply.  I will definitely be trying it.

June Kowalczyk said:

Actually Goreti, I don't like standard buttercream either.  Too sweet.  I always use Wilton's buttercream flavoring to cut down the sweetness when this icing is requested.  The Swiss M buttecream is good, but tricky.  You can google SMBC from The Cake Bible.  She has a website....Rose Levy Bernambaum.  I have found what has been working for me lately, especially in our humid climate.  I make the standard buttercream, add 1/4 recipe of royal icing.  Then I make my buttercream icing made with flour. ( google flour icing, it will pop up ).  I mix the buttercream flour icing with 1/2 of buttercream/royal icing mixture, and it works.  The flour icing is a good cheat for SMBC because the flour icing is light, not sweet, and you have the stiffness and reliability from the royal icing.

It is a bit of fussing around, making 3 separate batches of icing, but the SMBC, if not done correctly, ruins easily, and with all the butter you use.....expensive mistake.

Hope this gives you some ideas

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