Every once in a blue moon after I have frosted a cake & it sits for a while, the buttercream will form an airbubble & then I either have to smooth it out (sometimes the bubble still comes back) , or just take the icing off & start over. It happens anywhere on the cake....up high, down low, doesn't matter. It's not due to the filling because I've let my cakes sit overnight & also had it happen on cakes that don't have a filling. For a while I thought maybe it was from frosting the cakes right after pulling them out of the fridge (you know, the whole condensation thing), so I started waiting until they get closer to room temperature before frosting. However, I had it happen to me again yesterday - but only on 2 of the 13 cakes I frosted, not all of them. I have no idea why it only happened on 2 of them, I didn't do anything different. Now, the the only thing I'm guessing that could cause it is the heat? My shop is not that hot, but it was a little warm in there yesterday. However, I didn't think it was that warm to have an effect on the buttercream - could be though I guess. Anybody have any idea on why this happens? I have plenty of time to fix these two, but would like to avoid it in the future if I can figure out what causes it. Below is a picture of each cake from yesterday. One bubbled on the top & one bubbled on the bottom. I never smoothed out either bubble since I was waiting for my camera & you can see where after they sat there for a while without being touched, the bubbles finally pulled the rest of the frosting down with it. I would hate for this to happen after a client picked up a cake! The bubbles themselves are about an inch long. Thanks for any help!

I have no clue but maybe someone else will... sorry that happened

Wow I have never seen that before. Here is a bump hoping that someone else knows

Its there fondant or just buttercream? I've only had bubbles like this when I've used fondant and I'm pretty sure mine were caused because I did not get all of the air out when applying the fondant. Like it got trapped. But I can use a tiny push pin, inserted on an angle and gently push the air out. But if this is buttercream (without fondant) I have no idea. Maybe this is just a long bump lol.

i think this happens when your cake is still cold when you ice it, you should let your cake come to room temp.

I've had this same thing happen to me, too, and even with fondant over the BC. Sometimes the fondant bubbled like that was from an air pocket but other times it was from the BC forming a bubble. I wanna know why this happens too! Bump!

I have had it happen a couple of time also, but mostly when I have a fbct on the sides of the cake. I am not sure what exactly is causing them, but i just take a toothpick and poke and lift the icing just a little to get it to escape. Then I smooth the area back down. They are definitly a bother.

An idea that just hit... Is is humid where you are? I recall my last cake that this happened to, I was icing on a semi-humid night. Not that it should effect the icing, but maybe the cake has a little more moisture than usual. Just a thought. HTH.

The is no fondant, just buttercream. The cakes were already at room temperature. I don't think humidity is the problem either since I live in the desert.

"I have had it happen a couple of time also, but mostly when I have a fbct on the sides of the cake. I am not sure what exactly is causing them, but i just take a toothpick and poke and lift the icing just a little to get it to escape. Then I smooth the area back down."

Yep, that's been my only solution so far & I'm not that great at it since you can still tell it was there.

It could just be a pocket of air in between your layers and when you ice the cake the pressure from icing forces the air out the side of the layer and its trapped under the buttercream. Or maybe your cake just has gas..lol!

Hey AZCakeGirl, where are you at in AZ?

had this happen a couple of times last year, i wasnt leveling the cakes correctly and didnt push down the layers hard enough to get all the airpockets filled withicing. just make sure you level the cakes, push down on the layers and then when doing your crumb coat make sure there are no spaces between the top layer and bottom layers that it is completely even with icing. hope this helps.

as an earlier poster said, maybe it is an air pocket getting forced out. maybe letting the cake settle before icing would help. here is a thread that might help:

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-633571-trick.html

the thread is about preventing bulging cakes, but the technique may also help force air out.

Thanks for the link! That makes sense - I'm going to try it out. Leahs is always a good one for help/tips.