Aack! I've Had It! What Am I Doing Wrong?
Decorating By icantcook Updated 30 Jul 2007 , 8:01pm by wgoat5
I can not smooth my BC icing! Different times I have tried smoothing with parchment paper, computer paper, fondant smoother, Melvira method. I have also tried Denise's High Humidity Icing, Buttercream Dream, Brill RTU, Tami's Perfect Buttercream. I have this problem every time, so I know it is ME. 
If I let it crust enough so that the frosting doesn't stick to my smoothing surface (paper) I get these tiny cracks in the crust layer. I even found some spots that are still too soft/wet. If I let it set longer to form a better crust layer, I get even more cracks.
This is my first time to attempt chocolate BC, but this is what happens to me even with the white versions. Even though I'm not happy it has happened again, at least with the brown this time it will hopefully show enough contrast so you can see and tell me what I am doing wrong. Oh, and the cakes are on 2 thicknesses of cardboard glued together, nice and sturdy. Wanted a simple (I know simple is more difficult) chocolate brown cake with a pink gumpaste bow. Looks like I'm going to do some extra piping for camouflage on this one.
Two advice requests: 1) how can I fix THIS icing surface? and 2) how do I do it right the first time on my next attempt at a cake?
THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!
Have you added just a couple of drops of vinegar to your BC? It helps with cracking, I have also heard that adding a touch of corn syrup helps, but I have not tried that one. There is a really good thread written by sugarshack on how she gets her BC to look so perfect, the tip that really helped me was this:
when icing the top of the cake, fill a bag with icing and an open coupler, ice the top of the cake with that, so that the entire surface is totally even with the same amount of icing everywhere, then take a HOT spatula and smooth from the outside in.
Does that make sense? I will try to find the link to the thread, it is very helpful. As for this particular cake, I'm sorry I don't know!!
Sometimes it helps to put the icing on in layers. First crumb coat and then I smooth that layer with my clean hands. Then I'll give another light coat of icing and smooth that really well with a hot spatula. Then for the final coat I do anther thin layer and then smooth that again with a hot spatula. That seems to work for me. I don't know if this helps you or not.
Chrissy
Have you tried smoothing with a hot spatuala? I didn't have much luck with the other methods but this one really seems to work for me. Don't be so hard on yourself I think it has more to do with the icing than you. When you find the right icing it does make the job so much easier. I switched from buttercream dream to Julie's less sweet buttercream and I found that it crusts much nicer. Keep trying it also takes alot of practice.
I've found that when folks have a really hard time smoothing icing, its generally a problem with the consistency of the icing, not the "pilot." Ready to use (RTU) icing straight from the bucket is just not RTU. If you've ever used this product you should be able to visualize it. We used it in school for practice and later in the bakery I worked in. (I make icing from scratch now.)
At a very minimum RTU icing must be creamed before use. Fill up a mixer bowl until the icing just covers the shoulders of the beater. Put on the lowest setting and let the mixer run for about 8 minutes. Sometimes we'd add maybe a fourth of a cup of water also.
What results should be just a tad thicker than whipped cream. That's the consistency you want for icing.
I make my icing in my Hobart 20 quart bowl. Then I transfer to my smaller Kenwood 7 quart bowl for creaming. Use a spatula to put it on the cake, then finish with a hot damp bench scraper.
Icantcook - you posted to my post regarding this same problem. What I ended up doing was scraping all my icing off and starting over. This gave it a nice crumb coat (which I skipped this time). Then I just iced again as normal. I think my problem was that the icing didn't have time to set - I iced it right away after beating it... it didn't feel right when I was icing it, but didn't think anything of it as the time. After scraping it off, it had time to set for a couple of hours and then it went on as normal. So you may want to give your icing a break before icing your cake.
I don't really have an answer for you though. My suggestions thought are to crumb coat first and also let your icing set a while before icing your cake.
Biya or JavaJunkieChrissy -- Regarding the hot knife - I tried it quickly to fix my surface - I didn't really get much result though. How do you get it hot??? I dipped it in hot water and then dried it off quick with a paper towel - but I'm not sure it stays hot enough.
Biya or JavaJunkieChrissy -- Regarding the hot knife - I tried it quickly to fix my surface - I didn't really get much result though. How do you get it hot??? I dipped it in hot water and then dried it off quick with a paper towel - but I'm not sure it stays hot enough.[/quote]
I keep a pot of boiling water on. I let the spatula sit in that for a minute and then dry it off with a towel before smoothing my icing. It works wonderfully!
It almosts looks as if you can see your cake through your icing as if your icing is too thin. Try putting it on thicker with an icing tip and then smoothing with a straight spatula and then hot-knifing it with boiling water. You dip the spatula into the boiling water and then shake off the excess and smooth. Hope that helps. Good luck.
Biya or JavaJunkieChrissy -- Regarding the hot knife - I tried it quickly to fix my surface - I didn't really get much result though. How do you get it hot??? I dipped it in hot water and then dried it off quick with a paper towel - but I'm not sure it stays hot enough.
I fill my electric rice cooker (which I never use for cooking rice, I hate it) plug it in and fill with hot water. The rice cooker keeps the water hot and I put several spatulas in it, so I can use one while the other heats up again. It really keeps the spatulas hot so they don't cool off so quick and works like a charm to smooth cake.
it also looks to me like the icing is very thin...could it be that you aren't trying to use as much icing as it really needs? When I ice my cakes and the icing has been put on really thin then mine crack also so maybe you need to put a thicker layer on.
HTH
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%