Hi,
I am having trouble with my buttercream icing separating from the cake once it is iced. I use the Wilton recipe of half Crisco, half real butter. I don't believe it is the new Crisco formula because I was having this problem before. It is almost as if air is behind the icing and blows throw making a little pooch, if you will, on the sides of the cake. It doesn't slide down, thank goodness. I have some really special cakes to make for friends of mine coming up and I really would like to rememdy this before then! Any advice would be wonderful!! Thanks so much!

The pooch on the side isn't bulging from the icing between the layers, is it? If so, you should press on the top layer before applying the icing to the outside-top. Also, if the icing between the layers is something other than the same icing on the outside, then you need to create a dam for the in-between filling so it won't ooze out.

hth

I had the same problem back in May with a cake, and I determined that it was from the new Crisco........I have switched to a store brand shortening, and that seems to help..

That only seems to happen to me when my frosting is not at the right consitiency. when its a little to stiff, try softening it up a little bit.

Do you crumb coat? I always have this problem when I crumb coat for some reason, like the two layers of icing aren't sticking together.

Just an idea... is it too thin?? Are you remembering meringue powder?? Best of luck to you.. keep trying... you will figure it out.

Thanks to all of you who have help try to solve this issue. To answer a few of your questions so that we can continue to look for the cause - first of all, this doesn't happen on every cake so I really don't think it is the Crisco. I do not add meringue powder. My Wilton instructor said it wasn't necessary. It is not the icing between the layers oozing but that is great advice to make sure you don't have that bump in the side!! Also, I do not crumb coat. I make a bigger mess that way. I do better just to ice the cake. I guess it could be the consistancy but my icing doesn't seem any different. Should I thin it or make it more stiff? Thanks so much for your help!!
tbcakes

I have had the same problem and I really do attribute it to the new Crisco. I thought that maybe I wasn't pressing the frosting securely enough to the side of the cake, that I wasn't doing something right, but when I really thought about the problem, it started ocurring when Crisco changed it's formula. I have since changed to making my BC with 1/2 Crisco and 1/2 Wal-Mart GV shortening, and I have had zero, I mean ZERO problems with it since then, thank goodness! I was always so worried about transporting my cakes up until then, because I almost always had a bulge when I went to deliver my cakes--including wedding cakes--YIKES! There I'd be patting away at the cake, trying to make the bulge disappear before anyone noticed!!! Anyway, no problems since changing my formula to !/2 Crisco and 1/2 GV.

I recently had the same problem with 2 out of 6 identical cakes. They were crumb coated first, refrigerated then iced. Went to decorate the next day and 2 of the cakes had those pooches on the side near the bottom. Not filling bulge, but as if a giant air pocket needed to escape. Also some icing cracks on the sides of those 2 cakes. Same buttercream recipe that I always use, same cake boards, same process as always with no previous problems. Still a mystery, as 4 of the 6 cakes turned out perfectly

When I've had trouble with the frosting not wanting to stick to t he cake, it is usually too stiff.  Most of the time I use butter only, so it is not the fault of Crisco.  

1haleyj, perhaps the two cakes with the bulges really did  have air bubbles.  Did you try using a pin to release the air and gently smoothing?

My experience was when hot & humid this is more likely to happen.  I have *never* chilled a cake either before, during,nor after icing it.   Everything is done @ room temp   Including delivery.  Still had occas problems as described