my chocolate buttercream does this? If you look at the pic you can see that when it dries it's light and dark. I have tried making it with cocoa, melted chocolate squares, adding chocolate last, adding chocolate first and it always does this. I even tried smoothing it out with the paper towel as soon as I put it on the cake and this is the result. This is a grooms cake for Saturday--this is actually just the crumb coat but I would like to know if it can be avoided.

TIA for your help.

I'm not sure why, I add the melted chocolate to my creamed butter... Anyway, what about adding a touch of brown coloring to it?

Mine does this, too. I'm looking forward to the responses. I've added brown coloring to mine and it does not help.

The only solution I've found to this problem is making a darker chocolate icing (I use Hershey's special dark for this purpose).

i have had the same problem so many times.... started using toba garetts recipe and it doesn,t happen... and so delicious.. hth

I have that problem when I use a dark color icing (like navy blue). It looks fine when I first put it on and then after it dries awhile I get the light and dark areas.

I guess I'll have to try a different icing. I was going to try the brown coloring but I guess I won't if it didn't work for Alana.

Leahs I smooth it with my spatula and a viva paper towel.

How exactly are you smoothing your icing?

its like the 'nap' of velvet, but as your cake sits it will even out. it will happen with dark buttercream colours too.

oops messed up my previous post.

Leahs I just use my spatula and then a viva towel to smooth it.

Sweetcakes--how long before it evens out?

indydebi--cold, dry spatula.

mine doesn't do that. Maybe it's just that it's not all drying and crusting.

I think Indy and I were going with a similar thought. It looked to me like a prob with water. I use a hot, wet spatula for smoothing and I get that sometimes if the knife is too wet.

So does anyone have any ideas??? I don't want the bride and groom to be disappointed in the way it looks. I may be able to cover up most of it since I am putting strawberries on the top but I would really like to know how to prevent it from happening.

Thanks everyone for taking the time to look. I appreciate it so much.

I used to get that a lot, and found making certain I smooth the entire thing the same direction helps. Going back and forth seemed to be like vacuuming a carpet. You know how part of it can look a different color depending on which way you last move the vacuum cleaner?

7yyrt--I will try smoothing it in one direction. Thanks for the hint. I have to decorate the cake tonight and I was dreading it. I really want this to look good.

Ok this may sound weird but....could it be like carpet? You know when you vacuum in one direction it's a lighter color then when you pull in the opposite direction it's a darker color. Have you tried smoothing the icing only going in one direction? I've never had this problem so I'm just throwing this out there.

I had this happen with my horseshoe cake it wasn't chocolate though just regular buttercream dyed brown (at the customers insitence she did not want chocolate, SO much brown food coloring!) I put it in the fridge overnight and when she picked it up it was all one color again....I don't know if it stayed that way by the time it was room temp...