No matter how I alter my recipe for my BC the icing just doesn't want to stick to my cakes or cupcakes...
Is there a trick to it... Keep in mind I dont have a blender/cake mixer so everything is done by hand (so no nice fluffy Icing) Then when I thin the icing down it just runs off... lol I thought maybe it was too hot and melting. But still I liked it when it was thick, of course problem above happened!

I watched a woman do it on Utube and she put soooooo much pressure on the poor cake (if it had been real) I think it would have broke (I believe it must have been a dummy) where as another one had runnier BC and it went on without running off...

Ahhh.... It was frustrating making all those cupcakes and having soooo much trouble icing them, only to discover they melted (it wasnt even hot, but my partner turned up the heatpump Grrr!!) I eventually tried Piping, but the mixture was soooo stiff and it was hard coming out... only to melt flat... there goes the pretty swirl on top...

So advice please... Thank you...

It's too stiff if you can't pipe it. You really need to buy a mixer. You can't really make icing without one.

Ditto what prterrell said.

i make my icing by hand no problem, nice and fluffly. sure it takes time to do it properly, but its not that bad.

what recipe are you using? a crisco based one will hold up to heat much better.

what do you use to thin the icing? i find milk works better than water. sounds like you ar ehaving some weird problems!
xx

Sorry, for some reason it didnt send me a notification to say I got replies...

I'm from Australia... So I use Butter, Icing and Milk
It was to stiff to pipe but when I piped it within minuted it melted?? Thats why I kept making it really stiff... but it still melted
Now, I think the butter melted... it may have been to warm inside, but that is still weird. Anyway I finally got it to work a few days later... but that was cuz I added Oreo Cookies and Cocoa? lol The icing was smooth and the right consistancy!! it was great...

So I have NO IDEA what went wrong... I need to upload the picture of the disaster... I made a castle but becuase the icing melted the castle round cylinders slide off... only to be head on to the base cake with tooth picks... aaaahhhhh!!

By Icing you meant icing sugar, right? You are using real butter and not margarine or what ever you call margarine down under? It must be AWFUL hot for the frosting to be too stiff to pipe and then to melt. The cuppies were cooled completely first, right? I can't figure out what else might have been the problem.

everything was cold.... I know my partner turned up the heater (I love in Tasmania and its freezing this time of year)

Yes Icing Sugar... and I am completely confussed to why this happened.... It was like Cornflour... its thick but liquid??

anyway this Icing incident had two stories... 1. My icing melted 2. I cant seem to make my icing spreadable without having to make it runny... I wanted beautiful fluffy icing that spreads easily... but I have no idea how my sister managed to make it runny... but by adding more icing sugar it made it impossible to spread... it just wouldnt stick to the cake.... Grrrrrrr

But as I said above I am delighted to report I got the right consistency a few days ago... but i added oreo (crushed) and cocoa... so I'll be devistated if I try again only to find it wont work

Try using heavy cream instead of milk to see if that helps.

Sounds good, thanks...

Too thick icing doesn't want to stick to cakes either.

What are the amounts of ingredients in your icing? Exactly how are you making it?

I'm not a hopeless case... I just havent made icing in a very long time, and I have no idea why my icing isnt working....

I whisk the butter untill fluffy then add in icing sugar.... if it needs to be thinned down i add bits off milk.... of course when its the thickness i want it wont stick to the cake... which is REALLY frustrating when I have alot of cupcakes and muffins i was doing.... usually I would use icing sugar and milk the pour on top then wait till they set... But this time I wanted Buttercream, fluffy but firm icing? get me? lol

Have you tried using half butter and half shortening/or hi-ratio shortening? Your poor arms must feel like falling off after all that hand mixing!