Buttercream Finish For A Wedding Cake

Decorating By mgostin Updated 16 Oct 2012 , 12:01am by mgostin

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mgostin Posted 11 Oct 2012 , 8:58am
post #1 of 10

Hello! I'm new to cake central and this is my first post to the forum! My name is Madie and I'm a cake decorator from Melbourne, Australia.

In a few weeks I will be doing my first wedding cake with a 'Buttercream' finish to it and I have a few questions to ask to make sure I get it right icon_smile.gif.

1. Should I dirty ice/crumb coat the cake before I do the finishing decorated layer, if so how many times?
2. You know how sometimes white buttercream turns yellow when its placed in the fridge or left to sit out, how can this be prevented? Should it be covered?
3. In the image the bride sent me, the effect is almost like an unfinished look, like you can see the different ways the palette knife has moved across the cake.

Any advice would be much appreciated and really look forward to the answers! Thank you!

9 replies
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3D-Sweets Posted 11 Oct 2012 , 1:29pm
post #2 of 10

Hi, Madie, and welcome! (I'm new, too.) Answers to your questions:
1. Yes, crumb coat. Do it as many times as you need to get all the crumbs safely encased and the surface smooth.
2. I've not had this particular problem, but I use real butter in my recipe so it's always a bit yellow. You can add white coloring to help the color stay consistent. Anyone else have a better answer here??
3. Are you looking for how-to on the finish? Frost like usual, then go back with a small amount of frosting on your knife and lightly smear it on, smoothing a little but not too much.

Good luck!

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kakeladi Posted 11 Oct 2012 , 10:30pm
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......2. You know how sometimes white buttercream turns yellow when its placed in the fridge or left to sit out, how can this be prevented? Should it be covered? ...........

I do believe this is due to the type of cake you are covering. Is it a fruit cake? That's the problem icon_sad.gif I'm not familiar w/the different types fo cake you bake so that's my best guess.

....3. In the image the bride sent me, the effect is almost like an unfinished look, like you can see the different ways the palette knife has moved across the cake....

What the other poster said icon_smile.gif

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icer101 Posted 12 Oct 2012 , 2:05am
post #4 of 10

This is a great blog. She is a member here, i think. I hope it is ok that i send this. I love to watch her smooth her cakes. hth


http://cupadeecakes.blogspot.com/2010/11/how-do-i-get-my-cakes-smooth.html

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AnnieCahill Posted 12 Oct 2012 , 11:10am
post #5 of 10

The yellowing can definitely occur when you use a recipe with a high ratio of butter. I don't really notice this in my IMBC recipe but in my confectioner's sugar recipe it definitely happens. It's caused by oxidation. The best way to prevent it is to stick it in the fridge. You can see the discoloration in this picture:

http://cakecentral.com/gallery/2224906/jens-wedding

The top two tiers were iced early in the morning, but the larger bottom tier was iced later in the evening the day before the wedding, so they are different colors. You couldn't tell at the venue because it was so dark, thank goodness!

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cupadeecakes Posted 12 Oct 2012 , 3:18pm
post #6 of 10
Quote:
Originally Posted by icer101

This is a great blog. She is a member here, i think. I hope it is ok that i send this. I love to watch her smooth her cakes. hth

http://cupadeecakes.blogspot.com/2010/11/how-do-i-get-my-cakes-smooth.html




Well, aren't you a sweetie pie! icon_smile.gif That is my little 'ol blog!

My buttercream is an all-butter recipe and it does have a slight yellow cast to the it; it's certainly not bright white. Normally I will add just the tiniest drop of violet coloring to my icing batches. You would be surprised at how it neutralizes that yellow color. If I want my icing whiter, I will add something like Americolor bright white food coloring to the icing. HTH!

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mgostin Posted 15 Oct 2012 , 1:56am
post #7 of 10

thank you all for your help and tips and advice! really appreciate it!

I think I will make my buttercream as fresh as possible - and also add some white food colouring to it to reduce the risk of yellowing.

Also spraying it with a pearl shimmer finish might do the trick as well?

thank you all again for the help! icon_smile.gificon_smile.gificon_smile.gif

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denetteb Posted 15 Oct 2012 , 3:31pm
post #8 of 10

Since the bride wants a "rustic" look with smears with a spatula, there is no point in going to the effort to make a smooth cake and then add more to mess it up. Do a crumb coat to seal in the crumbs, let it crust (if using a crusting buttercream) then add more icing to create the rough effect you are looking for.

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cakeyouverymuch Posted 15 Oct 2012 , 3:52pm
post #9 of 10
Quote:
Originally Posted by denetteb

Since the bride wants a "rustic" look with smears with a spatula, there is no point in going to the effort to make a smooth cake and then add more to mess it up. Do a crumb coat to seal in the crumbs, let it crust (if using a crusting buttercream) then add more icing to create the rough effect you are looking for.




What she said.

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mgostin Posted 16 Oct 2012 , 12:01am
post #10 of 10

[quote="cakeyouverymuch"]

Quote:
Originally Posted by denetteb

Since the bride wants a "rustic" look with smears with a spatula, there is no point in going to the effort to make a smooth cake and then add more to mess it up. Do a crumb coat to seal in the crumbs, let it crust (if using a crusting buttercream) then add more icing to create the rough effect you are looking for.




That is to true! I have to remember that if I catch myself going crazy over hap-hazard areas and trying to get things perfectly straight!

Thank you again for the tip!

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