I use Crisco which is not high ratio anymore. Is that the problem? I have tried using water, regular milk, soy milk, dry milk, very little liquid, store-brand shortening, different brands of powdered sugar, etc. I know I'm measuring correctly, the sugar to fat ratio. As a matter of fact, I usually follow the Wilton class buttercream recipe. I don't use butter because I need it more stable than that.
I can't afford to have the high-ratio shortening shipped to me and then that not help either. I have gotten pretty good with my spatula to smooth my cakes, but would love to be able to smooth even more with my Viva paper towels if the darn cakes would crust! Any suggestions would be great!

www.tarascupcakes.blogspot.com

Did the recipe crust before? Some buttercream won't crust. The buttercream needs high ratio of sugar to butter / crisco. What recipe did you use?

North Carolina? Super high humidity?

Crisco was never a hi-ratio shortening.

And I use - on purpose - a non-crusting bc. I think its so much easier to work with.

Ditch that recipe and use Indydebi's...never fails and It has rained for a week here....Check out my pics, every cake I have used her recipe for.

My suggestion would be to reduce the fat in the recipe and see if that helps.

Ok, so if I want to try to get a crusting buttercream to see if that fixes some of the issues I'm having, I will look for another shortening. I did not know Crisco was never a high-ratio shortening. I had seen a tutorial by tonedna and she said they removed the trans fat, so I assumes they once had it in there. Any hoo...
If I do cut out some of the fat, then it will be thicker if I leave the amount of sugar the same...so to thin it out, I should add water or milk? Meringue powder doesn't seem to matter whether I have it in there or not. I've tried both.
You know, now that I think of it, my icing did crust before. It was when I used a cheaper store brand. I forgot about it cause it's been a while. I will try that and see if that helps. I kept hearing my Wilton instructor in my ear saying Crisco is the best to use, so I started buying it.
Thanks to all!
I'll update ya after my next order!

It's not the humidity, I'm in SC and Indy's crusts every time, keep at it! :]

I am in NC too so humidity isn't the problem at all. Mine crusts all the time. I use Ednas and Indydebis recipes. I have also used the my own recipe but they are basically similar. I can't help to feel you are adding too much liquid.

If you add enough PS to it, it will crust. I usually use this crusting recipe:

1 Cup Water
2 tsp. other flavor (optionalâI donât use one)
2 tsp. Clear Vanilla
2 tsp. Clear Butter
3 Cups Crisco Shortening
¼ tsp. Popcorn Salt
2 Tbsp. Meringue Powder
4 Tbsp. Corn Starch
4 Lbs. Powdered Sugar


I have used it with Crisco as well as hi-ratio. But then, last week, I ran out of shortening and needed some quick icing for a family picnic, so I just whipped up some plain old all-butter buttercream, just butter and powdered sugar and a teeny little dab of milk, like my grandma used to make, and just out of habit I suppose I put in enough PS that it sure did crust over when I iced the cake. The merengue and corn starch and all does help it to crust faster and firmer I think, but it will still crust without. It's truly just a matter of adding enough PS. Just keep on adding PS even when the icing looks 'dry'. With the recipe above, I usually add every bit of 4 lbs of powdered sugar.

I also use Indydebi's and it has NEVER failed!

So I followed Indydebis recipe to the "T". I even tried to add a little less milk just in case. It was very thick, but before I added anymore milk, I wanted to see if it would crust. And of course, it did not. I really and truly give up. This is so frustrating. I simply can not have a crusting buttercream. It won't crust in the bowl, on a spoon, on my cake, nothing. It tastes good, but that's it. I know in my heart I'm doing nothing wrong. I have been cooking and baking all my life (33 years old) and I've never messed a recipe up, never. So there is a variable somewhere that is making this not work for me.
Anyway, I just wanted to share. Thanks for all your suggestions. I'm going back to my old recipe cause it does the same thing and it's cheaper without that Dream Whip.

Awwww! Somebody from Greensboro! What part? When I was there, shortening/butter/margarine based icings always eventually crusted, although in the summer, I couldn't add any milk or other liquid because of the humidity...then I moved to Belize and found out what humidity really was! The only time a shortening/butter/margarine based icing crusts here is if you have one of those very rare days when the moisture level is low...and you never know when that will be
Ya might need to try a store brand shortening...and maybe I should try Debi's recipe too

Is that why it doesn't crust? The condensation coming from the frozen cake? I don't know if this is correct at all. Just a theory.

Since you are in North Carolina, you should have a Harris Teeter grocery store. I use their store brand vegetable shortening which has the transfat and it crusts nicely - and I have high humidity and heat near the ocean.

Maybe it would help if you wrote what you do and use step by step. Greensboro isn't any more humid that most of the Southeast, so that shouldn't be the issue.

If you over mix the buttercream it won't crust. You will think it is ready to VIVA smooth but then the buttercream just pulls off of the cake.

It could be the condensation from the freezing. If you use (sorry I forget who gave me this) the pan "greaser" of equal parts shortening, vegetable oil and flour it makes a huge difference in the amount of crumbs.

I just moved to a new house this month and the same problem exists as in the old house. Believe me, I thought of that too.
Also, I don't use a butter BS recipe because of cost and I like the stability of shortening. So I'd prefer to not change that.
When adding the liquid to my recipe, I used to use Soy Milk cause that's what we drink in our house. I am not sure if you all know this, but when you try to make instant pudding with soy, it won't set up. I remembered that (after I tried making pudding a few times with no success) and then switched to just water as the Wilton class BC recipe says you can use either milk or water. I would think, if you're not refrigerating the BS for a while water would be better to not go bad as milk in it. That still didn't work. Today, I made my own milk from powdered milk (nonfat) and it didn't work. Maybe, there just isn't enough fat. I mean, there's no trans fat in the shortening, no fat in the milk....hhhmmmm. But I know at one point a few years ago when I was taking my Wilton courses and making the class BC recipe, it was crusting then.
Maybe I will try my next batch with regular store bought milk (I just never have this) and a store brand shortening with transfat in it. I DID use a store brand once (Lowe's Foods) and I don't believe it crust with that either.
IDK!!!!

Oh and I don't freeze my cakes to ice them because of the crumbs (I do a crumb coat) I do it because they are so moist and will tear sometimes if they are not frozen or at least chilled really cold.

I live in the Bahamas and we lived on the ocean with no A/C for 5 years. I baked and decorated cakes the entire time and never had Indydebi's buttercream not crust. I think the freezing and thawing is adding condensation to your cakes. I wrap my cakes warm and let them sit overnight. They are firm and easy to work with the next morning.

Also, as far as the cost of the Dream whip...you are also using less Crisco so there's some balance there. I think Indydebi's is still a little more expensive, but the taste and ease of use makes it worth it.

I know how frustrating it can be when something isn't coming out right. Good luck to you, I hope your problem is resolved soon