I've seen some cakes where the buttercream icing looks wet. My icing on most of my cakes crack when I try to move them. Does anyone know how they get their icing to look damp? It doesn't look runny or anything, just really shiny.

Mine sometimes looks shiney, but it's actually a little greasy looking in person. It's really hot here and I think it's due to the heat and it's actually breaking down the buttercream a little.

You can also spray buttercream with luster dusts or disco dusts to give it a shiney appearance.

Valerie

Not sure about the shiny part. But your cakes maybe cracking when you move them because they are not on a sturdy enough board. I too had this problem and now for cakes that are not being stacked I use two or three boards taped together for them. Once I started doing that they do not crack anymore. Tape two or three boards together and then put your foil or cover your boards and that will probably help a bit with the cracking issue.

What kind of frosting do you use? A crusting one? The shininess you see is probably on cakes iced with an Italian or Swiss meringue buttercream. Check out the Whimisical Bakehouse book for pictures.

My cakes crust over, and when a flash from a camera hits it, it looks shiney but it's really just the hard crusty part. Mine cracks too even though I use 3 boards each time.