I have made different buttercream receipes that never seem to crust. I made the one this past week called "crusting" so I could use paper towel or roller to smooth. I did add a little meringue powder, because it has been raining here. I also added part cream for water, because people says helps with lack of trans fat in crisco. But nothing seems to work, I thought maybe I am not waiting long enough, but waited 30 min, still sticky. put in freezer for 10 min, helped some, but hard to get smooth and to apply any pressure still sticky. I have read some other treads and just don't seem to be getting it. Please help!!

Cream contains fat, so that will affect your crusting:



HTH

Here is the recipe I used and it worked perfectly. I let it sit for more like 30 min. though instead of 15, but that's b/c I wanted to finish a tv show I was watching Good luck!

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-2075-Crusting-Buttercream-Icing-VIVA-Method.html

This recipe says

2 tbsp. clear vanilla extract

Tablespoons? That seems like alot. Is that what you use?

stampin iron....are you still using crisco? that blew all sorts of things for me....i had a recipe i had used for YEARS....perfectly crusted, smoothed, etc......
i blame it on the crisco and ultimately, had to switch to a hi ratio....
and eventually, had to switch recipes all together.....

Sally

http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopic-491583-0.html

my recipe is in the link above.

- I use crisco only and am one of the few who have had ZERO problems with the trans fat issue. I actually never noticed any difference in the change and was VERY surprised to hear of all the problems everyone was having. My icing crusts very well, but stays soft on the inside when you cut it. I can actually pick up a basketweaved 6" cake by the sides of the cake and set it on the wedding cake with no damage, it crusts that well. Yet it's still nice and soft when cut.

- I use about 3 TBSP of clear vanilla in my icing. Vanilla is my favorite flavor. no such thing as too much vanilla! One tsp??? Heck, that's barely enough to see, let alone taste!!

P.S. Many CC'ers have said using milk instead of water is also a key to crusting. (I, personally, can't stand the idea of making icing with sugar and water.) Also, what is the ratio of fat to sugar that you are using? I've seen some recipes being used that had so much crisco/butter that my reaction was "Holy Cow! No WONDER it's sliding off of the cake!"

stampin iron....are you still using crisco?

Sally, Yes, I've moved on to trying Brickflor's recipe w/ crisco and butter. It seemed to crust nicely for me, but only used it once, will be making another batch this week. Wouldn't mind trying debi's either.