Help!

Here is a pic of the cake that I am trying to smooth.


It is supposed to end up being a smooth bald head. I used the crusting buttercream icing recipe on the recipe page http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-3013-3-Reenies-Crusting-Buttercream.html

I have added color as you can see, and I am not having success with the colored icing crusting or smoothing it. It is getting late, and I am getting frustrated! I have tried to use the parchment paper, and I ended up with some of the icing coming off of onto the parchment paper. You can see that on right side of the cake. I also tried to smooth the icing with a spatula, which is why the cake frosting is now two different colors. Please help me with some advice! I will be waiting!!! The cake is being shown tomorrow, well, technically today! And I do not have a dense roller for the Melvira method. I did not have enough time to go and get one today! Gulp!

If you have the time and patience, I would re-chill it for a few minutes, smooth it lightly and then chill again. Then, I would do another round of icing on it. That saved one of my cakes last year that was looking like a sinking Titanic with all the bubbles and yuck that was happening.

Good Luck! Hang in there!

Sarah

I have not used the crusting frosting


maybe if you put it in the refrigerator for a while
you may be able to smooth it better
I do this with the non crusting buttercream

I decided to put it back in the freezer, and wait, then I hunkered down, and smoothed it using the warm knife method. Here is another pic. It is now back in the freezer waiting for another "round" of smoothing...


Thank you for your advice!

did it crust? If so try the viva paper towel. I find that much easier than the parchment. When I have used parchment I have had the icing come off of it too, like you said. Plus it is much more pliable than the parchment.

I really don't understand the viva papertowel method. I also don't have any right now to use. I have basic papertowels. Do you put the paper towel on, and then rub the papertowel?? I tried that once, and I ended up with some of the frosting coming off.

If frosting is sticking, it means it hasn't crusted yet. How long did you wait before trying to smooth?

You might want to try a hot cake spatula too... but really, a high density foam roller works GREAT, much better than the fondant smoother I used to use.

Melissa

To be honest with you, I have not made that recipe. But just looking at it, I would not have thought it would crust. (or as least not a lot) Usually you need around 1 cup of fat to 4 cups sugar for a good crust. the recipe you used has 2 cups fat to 4 cups of sugar.

I had this problem with a cake last week. I placed it in the fridge for half an hour. One of the problems I think I had was not having enough icing on in the first place. After really putting alot on it did smooth nicely with a spatula. The key seemed to be lots of icing and chilling it.

The recipe says, "The resulting frosting is creamy and as light as whipped icing. Great for frosting and piping." This was the problem!! Crusting buttercream ratio is 1 cup butter/shortening to 1 lb sugar. The recipe has 2 cups shortening/butter to 1 lb sugar. Yikes!!

Good catch you guys! Yep... too much fat, too little sugar will do it EVERY time!

Melissa

Everyone here is great!

I am still trying to smooth this cake and I started the thread almost 9 hours ago. And for the most part, the cake has been in the freezer, with me waiting for it to fully crust!

I did not know any better, so I thought that since the recipe said that is was crusting butter cream, then it was going to work. Now, I know thanks to you experts! Once, I am finished with the cake, I am going to post a pic so that you can see what all of this hard work has come to.

Once again, thanks so much everyone!!

Well I dont blame you. I havent tried the recipe, but my gut tells me it isnt going to crust really well. If it hasnt crusted in 9 hours, I think you are out of luck!! It usually will crust in about 15 minutes. You *COULD* scrape off what you have and make the recipe again but add in another pound of sugar and do it again. Might be faster than all of that smoothing!

Here is my finished pic. This was a lot of work. I will definitely use a different crusting buttercream frosting recipe the next time!! The history of the pic--A co-worker of mine shaved his head for St. Baldrick's. He was raising money for kids with cancer. We are going to eat this cake today in his honor!

that's cute. Looks like you got it pretty smooth!

Merissa-Thanks! I worked really hard at it! Probably too hard. Before I make another cake, I am going to buy a high density roller and make sure that the recipe I use has at least 4 parts sugar to one part fat! I now know that, thanks to everyone that commented on my post!

I wanted to thank the CakeCentral Bald Head Thread for the cake idea!

I know this post is several weeks old, but I seem to have issues with my icing crusting too. I am in a pretty humid area and I thin my icing to a medium consistancy with water to make it more spreadable. Does thinning with water cause the icing to not crust as well? Or maybe it takes longer to crust? I do use the 1cup of butter/crisco to 1lb of sugar ratio.

I think most people thin their icing to a thin consistency to spread so I dont think you would be adding too much water for it not to crust.

I make my crumb coat icing super thin with water and it crusts as well. Maybe you might want to try adding even a little more powdered sugar to your icing. I usually add about 4 1/2 cups to 1 cup 50/50 butter/crisco. It will crust at only 4 cups, but it just makes it a little stiffer.

I will try more sugar! Thanks!

You know, I tried this recipe again on another cake this weekend, and I did something a little different. I used the icer tip on the cake and before I did any smoothing, I placed the cake directly in the freezer for about 10 minutes. When I took the cake out, and used the hot dry spatula method of smoothing, it worked really well! I was actually very surprised considering my situation the last time that I used this recipe. I just wanted to update my post.