Hoping someone (or lots of someones) can help me:

I have baked a 3D bear - WASC - as a test cake. I cooled it, wrapped it in several layers of saran, froze it for a few days, thawed it in the fridge, and let it sit for a few minutes unwrapped on the counter before icing. I wanted to try decorating it with chocolate BC fur (versus the star method). So I made the icing (1/2 butter-1/2 hi-ratio shortening, cocoa powder, ps, a packet of Dream Whip, and vanilla-caramel coffee creamer). It's a crusting BC.

When I started to ice the cake using the grass/fur tip, the icing fell off! I thought the icing might be a bit thick, but I was hesistant to thin it because I thought the fur might not "stand up" if I did. I tried to spatula ice (smooth) a small portion and apply the fur on top of that, thinking the fur may stick if it had something to anchor itself to. Nope!

Have I done something wrong? What do you all do to get fur to stick to the bear, especially on the sides, where gravity is the enemy?

Thanks!

Was there condensation on the cake when you started frosting it? If there's moisture on it the frosting probably wont stick. Try letting it sit till it's a little dryer before appling the frosting.

. . . I agree with tiggy2 . . . so have you tried a test on something else . . . just a dry surface of the outside of the cake pan may even tell you what you need to know . . . if it sticks to the pan in the fashion you are trying to achieve . . . then you know your icing is a the right consistency . . . if it doesn't then (well, you know the rest) . . .

Thanks to you both. I didn't think about condensation on the cake.

The last time I made "grass" I put it on some Easter cupcakes I took to work. It stuck OK as I recall, but the top of a cupcake is a relatively flat, horizontal surface. The first cupcakes of the day were fine, but as they sat, the icing crusted more, and people who ate them later in the day found that the icing/grass fell off very easily while trying to eat them. I presumed it was the icing crusting that caused the problem. I also wondered if the top surface of a cupcake, like the outside of a cake, which has been baked up against the pan, is a bit "harder" than a cake's inside. I thought maybe the grass/fur would be less apt to stick to that kind of surface. Plus, fur and grass don't have a large surface area as far as firmly attaching itself to something - not like smoothing on icing with a spatula.

I'll make another sample cake and let it sit for longer before icing. Thanks for your help.

I'd be interested if anyone else has had this happen to them?

Please - has anyone else had this happen? What did you do? I would love to make this cake for my daughter's second birthday party but not if it's going to look terrible. I'd appreciate any more advice.

The only have issues with the grass falling off is my crusting butter cream is too thick. Remember a little liquid goes a long way. Add a small amount of liquid, re-whip and test. Repeat until it's fixed but not too thin. If you thin it too much it's not WWIII - just add powder sugar.

Thanks Cake Princess. I thought that may be part of the problem. I was wondering if I should switch to a whipped icing or something "softer." I'm not even averse to using something that has to be refrigerated if it will stick better.

I don't have any problem with fur sticking if I use a medium consistancy on a room temperature cake. I have found that if I try it on a cold cake, it make stick for awhile but will fall off when the cake comes to temp. I think your icing might be too thick to grab the cake. Try again after thinning your icing slightly with more water, milk, or corn syrup.

I always crumb coat the entire bear before I start with the fur work - gives the fur something to stick to!

I agree with bonjovibabe. The farm cake in my photos was done in all buttercream with the grass tip, even the sides. I did a thing crumb coat let set then had no problem putting on the grass. My icing was even on the thick-side as I recall. Hope this helps and good luck!

Alicia

Thanks so much everyone! I plan to make at least one more practice bear, so I will try these suggestions.