I am going to my second week of the Wilton 1 class and I made the class buttercream recipe (all Crisco is gross IMO) and I can't get it to crust so I can use the Viva papertowel trick. My instructor showed us that in class by the way and I was proud to have already read it here! I made up a second batch of icing and made it half Crisco/half butter with a touch of violet to whiten it. That one didn't crust either. I finally put it in the freezer and let it thaw a bit and an hour later I was able to smooth it out with the Viva but it was still tacky. What am I doing wrong? Thanks for you help and boy do I love this forum!

How much sugar/fat are you using? Is the weather humid? Humidity can play heck with crusting. The recipe I use is:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup crisco
1 lb. powdered sugar
1 tsp clear vanilla
2 Tbsp milk

As long as you have enough sugar to fat, it should crust, so I would guess it's the weather...

It was in the low 70s and upper 60s last night in North Carolina and it wasn't particularly humid. I used the class buttercream recipe which is very, very similar to the one you listed and I also did 1/2 Crisco and 1/2 butter. The only thing I can think of is that my butter wasn't room temp. It was only out of the fridge for about 20 minutes as I got home from work really late. I did sift my powdered sugar though. But my all Crisco class recipe didn't crust either. *sigh* I guess it's trial and error? Thanks for the response and for another other future suggestions.

Not sure what's going on then...one tip for softening your butter (because I never remember to take it out early enough!) is to put it in a bowl of lukewarm water for a few minutes. Be careful it's not too warm, or it will melt. But if you make it just slightly warm, it will soften in no time. One other tip I have recently discovered, if you hate sifting powdered sugar as much as I do...you can put it in the food processor, pulse a few times and it's sifted. MUCH easier.
I can't think why it's not crusting, I've never had it do that! Maybe try adding a little less liquid? I've noticed the thinner the consistency, the longer it takes to crust.
Good luck and let us know if you figure it out!

try adding 2 tablespoons of merangue powder and see if that helps

Meringue powder will do the trick!

bj

If it doesn't crust that means there's not enough sugar. Are you using 1 lb bags of sugar or are you measuring by cups? Buttercream will crust even without MP. Crusting is caused by the proportion of fat to sugar. HTH.

Hey bj,

I've noticed that too. It just seems to crust faster with MP. I've tried different buttercreams. My class buttercream, without a doubt, crusted faster. All other BC I've made did not have MP. They crusted as well but not as fast as the class BC. So I guess we're both right

OK, when you guys say butter do you really mean REAL butter or margarine? I have always used margarine and never had any problem with my BC crusting UNTIL last weekend when I used real butter for the first time in my choc.BC. It never crusted properly and stayed soft--squished out between the layers. (grooms cake in my photos). MY BC with margarine tastes great,too. Please advise. Thanks.

I find my BC has trouble crusting when it's hot or humid (or both). It will also crust faster if you put it in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes or so. HTH

Also, I've never used meringue powder either in my BC. Now I'm afraid to try that since the butter thing was such a bust.......send me to OZ for some courage!

Egg whites which are the base of MP are a drying agent. Ever notice how Royal icing dries rock hard?? If there is MP in your BC it will help it to crust because it will help dry out the surface a bit faster. HTH