Hi everyone,

I just did a baby shower cake as a gift for my husband's co-worker, and my buttercream shell borders just fell off of the cake and the icing slumped down on the sides to where it was unfixable! I used buttercream with 1/2 shortening and 1/2 real butter and it got soft and mushy so quickly. What is the secret when you're using real butter in your buttercream? Do you have to refrigerate the cake overnight once it's all decorated? Mine really fell apart in the car. It looked like it was slumping before we left for the party and then it just got worse on the drive there. I had baked the cakes the night before and the next morning I made the icing and torted, filled, iced, and decorated right up until we left for the party. I was really embarrassed and the only thing I could think to do differently is chill the finished cake for several hours after decorating, even overnight before transporting it. Is that what you have to do? I would hate to make this same mistake again!

It really depends on the weather I think....if it's warm where you are then butter icing will melt very fast.... the crisco or shortening in it will help slow that down but you're still fighting the heat. Butter-buttercream can also start to get mushy if you have "hot hands" when you're holding the pastry bag - if too much of the warmth from your hands transfers to the buttercream in the pastry bag, it starts to get mushy. I pop my bag in the fridge for a few minutes and then start piping again.

I have two thoughts on this - 1) if your house was warm, it definitely didn't help the cake. Chilling the cake in the fridge is ideal - especially w/ butter buttercream. it doesn't have to be overnight if you're decorating up till the minute you leave - but I would say at least 10 - 30 minutes to "set" the frosting. Then you can let it come to room temp. before serving if it's hard - I happen to like my cake warm, cold, room temp - any which way! But I let people know that they need to keep the cake in the fridge and if they hate eating cold cake they can let it sit out on a counter for a little bit to warm up to room temp before serving.

2) the other thought is that your icing was too thin. Add more powdered sugar to it to stiffen it up. My Wilton instructor taught me a trick.... put your icing in the bowl and stir it up with your "spatula" (not the plastic things but the metal ones you use for icing the cake). Stick the spatula in the icing straight up and down and shake the bowl a little. If the spatula falls right over and doesn't even stand up for a second, the icing is very thin - good for leaves, vines, writing, & icing the cake - although you may want it a bit stronger/thicker for icing the cake. If the spatula sticks straight up in the icing and when you wiggle the bowl it wiggles for a minute and then falls down, your icing is medium - good for borders, some flowers, etc. If you stick the spatula in the bowl of icing and it sticks straight up and you wiggle the bowl it hardly moves at all, then your icing is stiff - good for roses. I think that's been one of the best ways that helps me determine what consistency my icing is. If you're using the butter/crisco recipe you can always add more powdered sugar to stiffen the icing up and then try the spatula trick again to make sure you have the right consistency before you start working with it. Sometimes a little extra powdered sugar will do the trick and sometimes you have to add a LOT! Good luck!

Thanks so much for the tips! I think I did need more powdered sugar. I used the 2lbs that the recipe called for, but it really seemed like it needed much more. I will try the spatula in the bowl test next time to check my consistency. This is one time in Florida when I can't blame the weather! It's been nice and cool here in Orlando, even chilly at night, so I think it was just not enough PS and not chilling it before transport. At least I'll know next time what to do when I use real butter in my buttercream. Thanks a bunch.

Wow, I'm sorry to hear that this happened to you! I use this recipe regularly, and I've never had this problem with the borders or the sides of the cake.

I agree with what was said above -- perhaps you put in too much milk? Or, perhaps hot hands? I usually chill my iced cakes, but I don't have to to get them to stay.

Just keep practicing with that consistency.

Again, sorry to hear that this happened. Just don't give up!

Sarah

imartsey, that spatula trick is a great idea! Very easy to explain. Sometimes it's hard to explain consistency but this is a great method! You should see if you can get this tip permanently posted somewhere.

did you add meringue powder? i use 1-1/2 tb per 3 cup icing recipe...it really holds it together.