OMG! I woke up this morning and my crusting buttercream is cracked all over on my purse cake! Normally I wouldn't care except this color green that I did apparently decided to be a darker green where it is cracking! AND ITS ALL OVER THE CAKE!!! I don't think my customer is going to be too happy with this! She had me replicate the same purse that I did in November and that one was soo fresh because I had NO time to get to it before the event and it looked perfect.(in my photos) Well, this one I had to finish yesterday so that I could finish baking today for a large event that I am doing on Sunday!

I already tried taking a hot knife to it and it is just soo crusted over that it's not doing anything! Is there ANYTHING that I can do to fix it?? I really don't want to have to do it over! I have already gotten behind on my cake for tomorrow! What should i do!??

Thanks in advance!

Could you take a round tip and pip some more frosting into the cracks and blend with a paintbrush?

I don't use crusting BC's so I really don't know, but I thought I give you a bump and a possibility. ((hugs)) Good luck!

ok....I think I somewhat know what happened! my cake settled over night...I have included pictures to show what happened. I don't know what else to do! The frosting is all cracked and even the center dowel is poking up in the middle where I included a flap.

I am thinking about just calling her and telling her. I am doing my best to try to cover it up...I am trying to put some more scrolls on the cake. I don't know...what do you think???

Thanks jkalman! The thing about crusting buttercream is that when you put some more fresh frosting on top of it it makes it a different color, like lighter. I don't know...I think I should just call her!

It won't turn darker after it has time to crust though? Most BC's will deepen in color after sitting, so maybe after sitting it will blend okay? So sorry that this happened to you. I will say though that it doesn't look nearly as bad as I was picturing. I am sure it looks like a complete disaster to you, but it really isn't a total mess. ((hugs))

and not that this will help with this particular cake, but next time it would be a good idea to let your filled cake sit for at least a few hours (over night if you can) before covering it with frosting. ((hugs)) again. I think I would see what she says when you bring it over. If she is obviously annoyed then you can figure out what to do. I'd offer a 25% discount on a future cake.

well, I called her to let her know. I told her to tell me if she REALLY doesn't like it. She is a good customer and if she is dissatisfied then I will give her 20-25% off her next order...I feel bad and have covered it up some...I think it will be okay but I am prepared to give a discount!

Thanks jkalman!

I agree with jkalman, it does look as bad as you said. We are our own worst critic (I'm beginning to see this myself). Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Well, unless the photos don't show the worst part, I think it looks great. Amazing work on the clasp! Just tell her this one is "vintage"!

I agree that it really does not look that bad, but it is your work so I understand that it is a disaster to you. My understanding is that crusting buttercream will 'crack' if you have prepared it too thin (icing underneath has some movement under the crust and causes it to crack) or if you smooth it much more than after 10 min of crusting time ( the crust gets too thick and cracks under the pressure of smoothing process). I hope your customer likes the cake.

HA HA!! I agree with luddroth...tell her it's 'vintage'!!
Honestly though, it didn't look bad at all!!
As for a fix to cracked buttercream, depending on how big the crack is, I use a knife or spatula dipped in warm water and I use a tapping motion to smooth out the crack. If the crack is big, then I'll use additional buttercream to fill it in, but then the warm water method to smooth it out quick to match the rest. Of course you have to be really careful, cause too much water will affect the consistency & appearance of the buttercream in that spot.

Don't know if that's a good or bad method to use, but it's worked for me in a pinch!

Thanks everyone! You guys made me feel better!

Actually, I called her and told her. Told her it made it look "vintage/antique" and she didn't freak out...I just wanted to let her know! I didn't want her to open it up and freak out...ya know what I mean!?

When I took it to the toy store that she owns the guys that were working there were looking forward to seeing the cake! They had heard so much about it when their wives had gone to the event in November! When they looked into the box they were both like "Cool!, Wow!" so that made me feel better too! Yes, I was trying to be peerrfect! Can't help it!

Thanks again everyone!

So, here is the finished product!

sooo, if I used too much water would that make the frosting crust more??? I never knew that!!