okay....

struggling with icing.  bride needs NON butter icing.  my icing is all butter and powdered sugar (non crusting).  so, i'm frustrated.  typically, i crumb coat, chill and then final coat (or two).  the shortening icing won't firm up.  i've scraped off and added more powdered sugar and a bit of water.  still no dice.  added meringue powder.  not working.

so, i'm doing something wrong...obviously.  i just want to be able to crumb coat, chill and then be able to apply a smooth coat that has some body and doesn't pull crumbs.  i know a lot of bakers use a crusting buttercream.  

i need help from the icing experts out there!

Whether you use all butter, half butter/half high-ratio shortening or all high-ration shortening, your recipe should still crust enough to smooth.  I've used all three and it acts exactly the same.  Check out Edna de la Cruz's recipe and video.  It works well.

http://www.designmeacake.com/how-to-make-crusting-buttercream

Here's her recipe.

i'm in a pickle.  all i have is crisco.  cake is due tomorrow morning at 8:30...morning brunch wedding.  i hate the non butter icing i have made.  i keep picking up crumbs and i need a smooth finish.  ideas?

i'm in a pickle.  all i have is crisco.  cake is due tomorrow morning at 8:30...morning brunch wedding.  i hate the non butter icing i have made.  i keep picking up crumbs and i need a smooth finish.  ideas?

Crumb coat it. To ice without getting crumbs the trick is to put on a lot more icing than you need and then take some off, if you try skimping the icing you will get crumbs. To avoid needing extra icing do it a section at a time, icing on, scrape off excess, move on to next section.

Do the smoothing work after you have iced the whole cake with a warm spatula if need be (I keep a tall canister of hot water beside me if I am using a warm spatula, just dry on paper towel after heating.

@elizw ‍, Crisco works fine for crusting buttercream.  It is not as yummy as all butter frosting, but it is a lot more heat resistant and you can add butter flavoring with your other extract(s) to help boost the taste.

thanks to everyone for the tips!  i'm not a crusting buttercream girl.  those who ice with it have my respect and admiration.  :)  

Okay... I am a crusting buttercream decorator all the way and the recipe I use works wonderfully. Its two pounds of powdered sugar, 1 cup of crisco shortening, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, a pinch of salt, and milk to the desired consistency. It crusts wonderfully if you need and it has no butter!

You could even use whipped cream stabilized frosting. I use the Wilton one with piping gel added to it. It works wonderfully on a cake. This works great or you could use the other recipes above for buttercream without butter. 

http://www.wilton.com/stabilized-whipped-cream-icing/WLRECIP-218.html#start=6