I am always tryng new BC icing recipes. It never comes out like the wilton pics. It always looks slightly grainy or shiny or has bubbles. I mean, you can't expect too much from icing, but what do they use for those pictures??! Does anyone have a recipe that comes out like those pics?!

I was having all the same problems until recently. I tried the Buttercream Dream recipe last week for my logo cake in my gallery and it worked out great! I used the viva method for the final smoothing. The recipe is posted on this site.

I use a crusting buttercream recipe. It always seems to come out smooth.

Here is the recipe if you want to try it.

1 1/4 cup crisco(use CRISCO)
1 lb powdered sugar
1/4 tsp butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp meringue powder
warm milk.


Cream crisco and flavoring until smooth. Add meringue powder and half of powdered sugar and about 4or5 T spoons warm milk. Mix until blended; add the rest of the powdered sugar and more milk. I use 11Tablespoons of milk total for icing the cake and borders and 7 or 8 Tablespoons of milk for roses.

I double the recipe and use 21T milk, 22 just seems like too much

You might try mixing your buttercream at a lower speed - this will help eliminate air bubbles.

As for the pictures in the Wilton catalogue, the reason they are all so smooth and perfect is because they use royal icing, and sand between coats! (This info from my Wilton instructor...) Royal icing almost always dries to a duller finish. My buttercream often has a shinier finish, because I use real butter in it. The addition of 1 tbsp meringue powder to a 3-cup recipe of buttercream will also help the icing "crust" which gives it a duller finished look.

Once the icing crusts, you can use a piece of parchment over it and use your angled spreader to gently smooth out all the lines on your cake.

I just tried out that upside-down icing method the other day that is posted on the articles page and it was amazing how well it worked to get the cake smooth! There were still a couple bubbles but if you look close enough at the Wilton cakes, there are a few bubbles here and there also. They probably airbrush the pics as well

I think I'll be doing that for now on

I cant prove it but I am convinced that Wilton uses computer enhanced photos. Cakes do not always come out perfect! I use the hotwater method and that works for me, I have not tried the viva method yet but, have heard great things about it! I think it is all about finding the method that works best for you. You will find your flow!!
Good luck!

I heard the same thing about them sanding the cakes to get a perfect finish. Their cakes, by the time they're done with them, are surely not edible. They're the "super-model" of cakes . . . no cake really looks like that if you see it first thing when it wakes up in the morning.

I've read that there's a type of icing plaster (not edible) used to frost dummy cakes for photos. It lasts forever and doesn't melt under the photo lights. This is often used for dummy cakes on display at bakeries, also. Royal icing works, too.

If you're getting air bubbles: make sure the cake is not cold or frozen. Also, after mixing your BC, mix it on low for a minute, then let it rest overnight.

If you look at enough of the books by Wilton you will be able to pick out the mistakes that are there. And sometimes they will put the pic in backwards. The lead decorator is a leftie and several others there are also. And yes they sand those dummies alot.

Look at the magic they can do with airbrushing and computer enhancing of photos:

http://homepage.mac.com/gapodaca/digital/bikini/bikini2.html

(Just wave the mouse over the picture for the before pic)

If they can do that to a model, think of what they can do to a cake

Wow that is crazy! I thought she looked flawless all but the light in her face, lol.

Any professional cake person/company has a professional photograph and retouch their cakes with software. I remember one cake by a CCer that was put into a magazine and it looked a lot better in the magazine and actually little like it had originally because of the "magic" they work.

Interesting responses!! Dummy cakes and royal icing makes a lot of sense. My royal flowers look great and smooth, they're my favorite, it's the buttercream ones that don't always look smooth.

As for cake smoothness, that I don't have a problem with... hot spatula, wet or dry is what I do... I've done the Viva & Melvira method but I think that although they're easy, the texture isn't the same afterwards, and it's not as smooth as when you use a spatula.

I will try those recipes!!