hi, i live in a very hot country. the other day i made a birthday cake for my son and i used BC (abt 1 cup butter and 21/2 cups confectionary sugar, vanilla and a few drops of milk). the cake was refrigerated.

Took it out a few hours before the party and the cake sweated and the colour runned. the black got mixed with the yellow and made it really untidy looking.

where did i go wrong?

Do you also live in a high humidity area?

I can think of a couple of things that might have gone wrong.

First, if you live in a very hot country, you already know that heat is definitely the enemy of butter. It is very possible that the heat made the fat and liquid in the icing separate.

Next, did you keep the cake covered until it came to room temperature? Condensation of humidity on the cold cake can also cause the color to "bleed" as the term is known.

What size was the cake? If it was a basic round or rectangular cake, and you have access to plastic cake savers, you may want to invest in them, and refrigerate your cake in that. When you take the cake out of the refrigerator, leave it in the cake saver until serving time, to prevent condensation.

Also, wait until closer to serving time before taking the cake out of the refrigerator. I know we all want our cakes out on display for everyone to see, but in this instance it may not be an option.

I have an aquaintance who lives in Belize, and she has the same problems. Heat and humidity are her cake decorating bane.

Theresa

not enough sugar. i would have used about 4 cups for that ratio of butter/liquids.

also if you refrigerate a cake, there will be condensation if the temperature is extreme in comparison to the fridge. you could either take it out right before serving, or bring it to room temp slowly before taking it outdoors, or place it infront of a fan or using a blowdryer on a cool setting to help speed the evaporation of any condensation. without that it is typical to have beads of moisture pool up especially with high temperatures.

try adding more sugar, it may help a bit.

you may also want to substitute half the butter for vegetable shortening and add meringue powder to stabalize it more (if you have access to those ingredients)

Ok, but greenapple lives in a different country. What if they do not have vegetable shortening there? I know they do not sell it in most parts of Australia, so it is very possible they do not have it where greenapple lives, either.

Greenapple? Do you have vegetable shortening there?

Theresa

2 lbs of confectioners sugar (regular store bought, not 10x or anything) equals 7 and a half cups unsifted.

I have the same problem with my BC. I live in Phoenix, AZ and just the heat of my hand will turn it from stiff to thin.

I use half shortening half butter, but end up using quite a bit less liquid than the recipe calls for and try to make sure it's to full room temperature before I decide if I need to add more powdered sugar than the two pounds called for in the recipe. (which I almost always do).

Sometime, I will also put my pastry bag in the freezer for a minute or two while I'm working with it.