this may have been covered, but with so many threads on indydebi's bc in general i can't find my answer...

i have made a birthday cake using indydebi bc -- put in the fridge over night -- took it out this afternoon to add some finishing borders and the base coat of the bc is hardened up (as expected with this wonderful crusting bc) but i'm wondering will it re-soften if left out at room temp?

also, this is my first batch of the bc and it turned out very light with some air pockets -- i assumed i may have mixed too long, but want to check with you users that love the recipe if this is the case or perhaps i'm doing something wrong?

i absolutely LOVE the taste of this bc and plan on using it with all my future cakes!

thanks for your help

(and sorry for the caps missing -- my shift button is on the fritz!! )

I make Indydebi's BC and put it in an air tight container for a day or two. It will settle and the air bubbles go away. When I need it, I just stir it up and it is perfect!

I have read that others use a large spatula and press out the air bubbles.

I always use Indydebi's buttercream. I beat/whip the daylights out of it so I don't think you "mixed too long" I beat my crisco for at least 15 minutes BEFORE adding any other ingredients. It looks like sour cream by the time I'm finished pulverizing it I let it mix as I add the rest of the ingredients and after all of the powdered sugar has been added I let it mix for at least 15-20 minutes.
I usually make my icing a day or two ahead of time. Like Karen said kept in an airtight container it will settle and the air bubbles will go away. If you have air bubbles and have to use it right away you can take a wide spatula and press the icing against the side of the mixing bowl and "press" out the air. I never have any trouble with air bubbles. I use the viva and roller and it always smooths out perfectly for me.

I don't really understand what you mean about "re-soften". I NEVER refrigerate my cakes so I don't know how "hard" your icing is but I would imagine that it will be just fine once it comes to room temp.

regarding the softening -- i've had the cake out of the fridge in a box for about 4-5 hours now and it's back to normal!! guess the chill just hardened it up a bit.

mamawrobin -- i'll try beating the crisco before hand with my next batch... i probably just rushed the ingredients together in my hurry to try this raved about bc recipe out!!

can't wait to make a few more batches for my other cakes for this weekend.. i'll update everyone on my second - third - and probably fourth attempts! thanks for the advice!!!!

oh and just for reference, i attached a picture of the cake i used the bc with... the air bubbles aren't too noticeable - but of course we critique ourselves the hardest

design is mary engelbreit themed -- found the design on another website when i googled "mary engelbreit cakes"

[quote="TXcakeGirl"]regarding the softening -- i've had the cake out of the fridge in a box for about 4-5 hours now and it's back to normal!! guess the chill just hardened it up a bit.

I figured that it would. Thanks for the update. Since I never refrigerate my cakes this was a "new one" for me.

grrr

my file is too large and im not sure how to resize!!

You can resize it in paint! :] I also don't refrigerate with Indy's BC, I tried one time and boy oh boy was it a sticky uncrusty mess! HTH!

TXcakeGirl you can go to shrinkpictures.com to resize your photo. HTH

I would love to see your cake!

I refrigerate it, and never had a problem. I wonder if my refrigerator is set weird - because I refrigerate everything without a problem - but I am not using my main fridge, It's a fridge in my den that I only use for cake?

resized it finally! i made a second batch of the buttercream and didn't have the problem of air bubbles after i let it sit in an airtight container for a while!!!

thanks so much for all your help!!!

I just made some of this buttercream for the first time last night but the trouble I am having is that the icing has a gritty texture. My sugar is 10X and I sifted it so I know that isn't the reason. Should I have disolved the dream whip into the milk before adding to the icing? Just wondering if anyone has any advice on this. It is a very dry climate where I live.

CAKEANGEL: Just let the mixer keep mixing the buttercream because the longer it mixes the more smooth it becomes. I usually let it mix for about 20 minutes and it is very smooth and I don't taste a grit. Use it all the time! HTH! Denise

Thank you for responding dadawley. I mixed it for 40 mins last night after the sugar was well incorporated. Had to stop because my mixer motor decided to protest. Left it overnight to see if the gritiness would lessen but still there so --- Hmmmm. I don't have any air bubbles at all though. Smooth in that regard - just a gritty mouth feel. I am thinking I might add a bit more shortening which I know can affect the crust but honestly it is so dry here that most icings crust pretty fast with much higher fat:sugar ratios. I have to admit I like the flavor - just trying to see if the grittiness is climate or if I missed something in the recipe.