Quick Question If Noone Minds :)

Decorating By chellescountrycakes Updated 2 Feb 2009 , 1:13am by chellescountrycakes

chellescountrycakes Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
chellescountrycakes Posted 30 Jan 2009 , 11:51pm
post #1 of 26

hello,

I have been reading your forum, and have been really impressed. Thank you for all the great info. icon_smile.gif

Now, to preface this, I am NOT a pro, I am not even an amature. LOL

I had a "OMG WE FORGOT MIL's BIRTHDAY" problem. So I threw together a few cakes, and took my wilton (?) paste stuff and threw it in some betty crocker buttercream frosting.

some of my cake has dried good, and I am able to do the paper towell method (THANK YOU!!! ) on it.

BUT the red, and the brown on one of the cakes WILL NOT dry. PERIOD. I cant smooth it, I cant paper towell method it, I cant do anything with it.

Its been hours.

I CAN NOT put this in the freezer. It wont fit. She has a large amount of kids and inlaws, so I put 3 13X9 cakes together. I tried to put it in the freezer but it wouldnt fit. LOL

For the record, the last cake I did I didnt have to put it in the freezer. It set up just fine. Then I was able to put the bases and lines and writing on it. (it was a baseball feild). and with that one I used the same frosting and food coloring. LOTS AND LOTS of food coloring.

This time, for the brown and red I used the wilton paste. for the red it took 2 1oz jars of it for a tub of frosting. I had to have a DEEP red. (its a coke bottle). for the brown it was 2 tubs, and 1oz of brown and 1/2 oz of black.

One TWO of the cakes the brown set up just fine as did the green. On the other, niether will set up. PERIOD.

I even scraped off the crumb coat, AND the colored coat and started again.

I have a fan blowing on it right now. is there ANYTHIN else I can do?

I do have enough of both colors that I can scrape this off and do it again. BUT just barely.

Or am I screwed?

Since I have to write Coca Cola on the red, I am using a stencil. ( I tried writing it on wax paper and freezing it, to transfer it, but it really wont come off there. plus, I cant lay anything ON the red. it just pulls up.

So, I have came out of lurker mode to ask y'all to please share anything you can to help me.

I have the rest of tonight, and then a few hours in the morning before I have to have this done.

25 replies
-K8memphis Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
-K8memphis Posted 31 Jan 2009 , 12:08am
post #2 of 26

Hmm.

Why won't your buttercream transfer not work?

Three ideas.

1.) Test this on some icing you spread out on the counter or on a cutting board--use a little water on your spatula. You can try hot or room temperature water. You can take a paper towel and blot any excess. But with the amounts of food color you've used this might get your stuff weepy.

2.) Another idea is to leave the red 'textured'.

3.) Take a bit of the red icing -- again ice a little section of the counter or a cutting board. Take some granulated sugar and sprinkle and pat it into the icing and see if you can get it smooth this way.

If it works then you can color some granulated sugar red and your label will be sparkley but it might get smoothed out this way.

( almost think the plain white sugar might pull up the color.)

But this is just a big maybe.

I mean this could cause the stuff to weep too. Let your tests stand for as long as you can.

That way you can use the stencil--


Hope it works!! Would love to see a picture!!

-K8memphis Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
-K8memphis Posted 31 Jan 2009 , 12:09am
post #3 of 26

Hey hey--#4 --is it cold where you're at? Can you get it outside in your car for a while to chill it???

sillywabbitz Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
sillywabbitz Posted 31 Jan 2009 , 12:27am
post #4 of 26

If you can't get it to smooth with the paper towel method, try the hot spatula method. Put a pot of water on to almost boil..did your spatual into the water, dry it off with a paper towel and smooth the icing. The heat of the spatula melts the fat in the buttercream.

Personally I like the idea of putting the colored sugar on the red but that won't help you much with the brown.

Also if you put corn starch on your finger you can smooth small patches..wondering if you could do this little by little. Then tomorrow you could dust off the cornstarch with a clean paint brush...

Good luck. I had this problem with a small patch of black once ..somehow it was wetter than the rest and never crusted. I had to work around it.

Deb_ Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
Deb_ Posted 31 Jan 2009 , 12:28am
post #5 of 26

Hi and welcome,

Are you trying to get them to "set up" so you can write on them or just smooth them?

I think I'd just let them be for the night and see how they are in the morning. Like k8 suggested, maybe just leave the red and brown more textured.

I'm not familiar w/ this kind of frosting, does it usually set pretty easily for you?

The dark colors are tough........when I need brown I usually just use chocolate frosting unless the client really opposes that.

Good luck, I'm sure your mil will love them.

chellescountrycakes Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
chellescountrycakes Posted 31 Jan 2009 , 1:33am
post #6 of 26

Thank y'all so much icon_smile.gif

unfortunatly, I am in Texas. not cold enough. LOL

oh and I did confuse myself when rereading it. THIS time I used wilton paste color. Last time it was food coloring. I went with the paste color cause it isnt supposed to (again, I am baking dumb... LOL or at least decorating dumb) alter the icing as much, making it runny and undryable. BUT the food coloring dried icing dried on the last cake, better than this stuff is! LOL

Thank you k8memphis. I will see what I can do.

sillywabbitz, I am trying to make this cake smooth. The baseball cake I never could get smooth and I spent HOURS doing it. LOL I just wanted it to look nice. Plus, I have a few spots that need to be 'fixed' and that means running the blade over it again and again. LOL

I did try dipping in warm water, but NOT drying it... DUH.. Thank you!!

dkelly, Yeah, they dont like chocolate that much. icon_smile.gif plus, I was doing buttercream on all the rest and hate to 'mix' flavors... I am just OCD that way.

Betty Crockers butter cream is actually a pretty good frosting. and honestly, I am lazy. I really thought that making buttercream would be too hard.

My baking usually consists of tunnel of fudge cakes, peanut butter cakes, bourbon balls, and that kind of stuff. Even homemade breads and everything is always from scratch. But, I am JUST delving into making a cake instead of buying it (for birthdays and such) cause I cant afford what I want done.

Here is my first.
LL

MnSnow Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
MnSnow Posted 31 Jan 2009 , 1:51am
post #7 of 26

Just a quick thought that may possibly work...do you have any meringue powder? You could add some to your icing to help it crust

-K8memphis Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
-K8memphis Posted 31 Jan 2009 , 2:14am
post #8 of 26

The baseball cake is awesome.

hummingbird59 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
hummingbird59 Posted 31 Jan 2009 , 2:16am
post #9 of 26

If you don't have merigue powder, I know the Walmart and Treasure Chest in Jasper both have it. Walmart is opened late I think. I am close to you.

chellescountrycakes Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
chellescountrycakes Posted 31 Jan 2009 , 2:38am
post #10 of 26

Gosh, no. I didnt know they made one. LOL does it make it easier to make it? if so I might have to get some icon_smile.gif

it is humid here, and I should have known better. I cant make divinity, jellys, taffy or no bake oatmeal cookies on days that are rainy or real humid. its not rainy, but humid. (and its ALWAYS humid here, so ..... LOL )

and my husband just stole my fan so he could go to sleep. GGGGGGGRRRRRRR. all I can hope is it dries out some.

I tried the corn starch. now I just have some white globs.. LOL Patience is not a virtue I posses...

This is starting to remind me of when I paint my fingernails. I always end up putting on too much. LOL

For some reason even the plain buttercream that I used for the crumb layer wont even set up on this ONE cake. I dont know what I did differnt with it.

cake one: cooked last night, put in freezer taken out today, cut and decorated, has dried pretty decent and could do the paper towell method.
cake two: Cooked last night, had no room in freezer, and left it out on the counter. with saran wrap over it. cut and laid down today with the other cake, crumbed at the same time and frosted at the same time. have taken that frosting OFF (while leaving it on cake one) and redone it.
cake three: cooked this morning, cooled on the counter mostly. then cut, crumb layer done after the other two were, and frosted. Took it a little while to get done, but the fan helped. can work on it now. and it has brown and red, (though not as much) same as the second cake, and the first is all brown.

I wonder if cake two didnt dry out enough and is leaching 'moisture' into the icing? since it was set out all night, with saran wrap on it?

does that make sense?

-K8memphis Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
-K8memphis Posted 31 Jan 2009 , 2:48am
post #11 of 26

Yes on the moisture leaching thing.

Ain't baking fun?

The devil is in the details huh.

Deb_ Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
Deb_ Posted 31 Jan 2009 , 3:23am
post #12 of 26

Love your baseball diamond cake, great job.

I'd agree maybe the cake wasn't completely cooled through before it was wrapped in saran which caused it to sweat a bit. One thing I try to do if I have time is.......when I take my cakes out of the plastic I let them sit out and "dry" a bit before I torte, fill and crumbcoat them. Here in the Northeast we get some pretty humid days in the summer and I have to adjust my icing for that.

I had to chuckle at your line about "hubby had to take the fan, because he's going to bed"........it's been in the teens here at night and we have over a foot of snow on the ground and about 3 inches of ice on our driveway! Those cakes would definitely crust in about 2 minutes flat out on my front porch if you wanna send them up! icon_lol.gif

Welcome to the wonderful world of cake baking, you've found the perfect site. Never be afraid to ask a question, there are so many great talented bakers here always willing to help you out. I have learned so much here, it's great. thumbs_up.gif

chellescountrycakes Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
chellescountrycakes Posted 31 Jan 2009 , 3:45am
post #13 of 26

k8, Thank you, I did redo the lines before it was presented. I didnt like those. LOL I was just tired of the 'wal-mart cakes' actually I get them at Brookshire Brothers, they are great cakes, but the kits just get old quick. Specially when you do 4 birthdays a year for 10 years. LOL

Hummingbird, Cool! Nice to meet you icon_smile.gif Yep walmart is open all night. unfortunatly I am closer to the dam. icon_sad.gif so its a pretty good trip. LOL I will have to get some of that when I go back in.

I DID add some confectoners sugar to the icing, and even some corn starch. (noone will really eat that much of it anyway, they will eat the cake, but none are real big icing eaters...) and it doesnt taste bad at all.

BUT, I had a peice of copy paper sitting on the counter, and when I got mad and slammed down the cornstarch, it fluttered over ontop of the cake. Its grease that is screwing me up! I started doing the 'paper towell method' with the clean copy paper (brand new reem, opened just for this) and you wouldnt belive the grease that was coming up. It isnt really coming up on the paper towells like it is the copy paper??? BUT the really good news is, it has started to 'harden' a little, and wasnt coming up with the paper as badly, or at all in some places. I am going to let it dry the rest of the night. then do what I can in the morning.

I have to take MIL to Louisianna in the morning, the cake will be picked up and taken to her suprise party, while we are gone and I take her there when we come back into town. LOL so, I will have about 2 hours in the morning to work on it. I am just going to let it dry for about 8 hours. maybe that will help.

Thank y'all SOOO much, Next time I will make my own buttercream frosting. (maybe... LOL) and wont have this problem I hope.

-K8memphis Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
-K8memphis Posted 31 Jan 2009 , 3:45am
post #14 of 26

I mean you can add some cornstarch to your icing if you want. That will help it crust. I forgot about the part about you being willing to redo the icing. I hate to do things over. You have more patience than I do.

luv_to_decorate Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
luv_to_decorate Posted 31 Jan 2009 , 4:11am
post #15 of 26

Buttercream icing is not hard to make and you can make it up ahead of time so you are not doing everything the same day. I hope you bought the red no taste in the gel colors because that much regular red will probably taste bitter. I think most of us have learned that lesson the hard way. I hope you cake sets up by morning. Good luck and keep baking thumbs_up.gificon_wink.gif

hummingbird59 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
hummingbird59 Posted 31 Jan 2009 , 4:12am
post #16 of 26

Yeah, you are closer to me than either Walmarts. I am by Lake Tejas. Good luck with your cake and take a picture if you have time.

Narie Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
Narie Posted 31 Jan 2009 , 4:45am
post #17 of 26

Good Luck, I hope your frosting crusts by morning. I don't have any suggestions except as Luv-to-decorate said, make your own frosting in the future. You can make it ahead of time and have it on hand. Keep it sealed up and it stays nice. Now, it's the comment about needing the fan to sleep that threw me for a loop. It's 12 degrees outside, a foot of snow on the ground and a three foot snow wall lining each side of the drive. Oh well, it could be worse; the plows haven't buried my mailbox yet.

chellescountrycakes Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
chellescountrycakes Posted 31 Jan 2009 , 1:57pm
post #18 of 26

hummingbird, yep, closer to you then town! LOL I live in Ebenezer icon_smile.gif

narie, LOL it doesnt matter if its snowing here, (which it did this year! LOL 3 whole inches!) hubby has to have a fan in his face. or he cant sleep. it drives me crazy!! but everyone in his family does it. I have to have on the TV, he has to have on a fan. LOL

I will do my own icing from here on out. icon_smile.gif

and it did crust over during the night. (THANK GOD), but, the heated spatula had changed the color where I touched it. and it was kinda lumpy. SO, this morning I took my icing, added a little milk, and slathered it on. It is looking MUCH better. I am still ashamed of it. but I pray it will dry enough to write the coca cola on it before I leave at noon. Once I leave I wont see it again until she does.

Thank y'all SOOO much for your help! icon_smile.gif

And I will show you a picture of it. even if it is a disaster. let me rephrase that.
I will show you a picture of it, even though it IS a disaster... icon_smile.gif

-K8memphis Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
-K8memphis Posted 31 Jan 2009 , 2:06pm
post #19 of 26
Quote:
Originally Posted by chellebyerly



And I will show you a picture of it. even if it is a disaster. let me rephrase that.
I will show you a picture of it, even though it IS a disaster... icon_smile.gif




All you need to do is buy a few cake toys and there will be no turning back!!! hahaha

You'll be hooked like the rest of us!!! icon_lol.gif

-K8memphis Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
-K8memphis Posted 31 Jan 2009 , 2:07pm
post #20 of 26

Come to think of it milk is a perfect thing to do--it helps hold the color.

You're a natural.

ddaigle Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
ddaigle Posted 31 Jan 2009 , 2:18pm
post #21 of 26

chellebyerly.. I am not an icing fan, but I remember my first batch of homemade BC icing. I said OMG about a dozen times. It's not hard, and after your first batch, you'll never go back to the can. When you can ice a cake and in 10 minutes give it the viva massage....instead of fighting with it like you had to.....you'll see! Good luck.

chellescountrycakes Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
chellescountrycakes Posted 31 Jan 2009 , 3:28pm
post #22 of 26

ddaigle, I tell you what, I was so excited to learn about the viva method. I am amazed at what it does. I spent HOURS and HOURS on that baseball feild and it STILL had places where you could see my spatula marks.


K8, aww thankyou icon_smile.gif

and with 4 kids, plus hubby, and his family, and then mine, I see alot of cake if I wana or not. LOL They are just getting too high and too boring at the store. and I always have to make enough to feed at least 15 people. AND bring home half the cake for the next few days. icon_smile.gif

I think the 8 year old wants the baseball feild again. No problem. its just 3 cakes, green icing, the white/cream and then graham crackers for the basepath.

When its the girls turn I am gona be screwed. She will want some castle or something. LOL

I do think I need to invest in tips and icing bags. Cause right now I am just buying the off the shelf icing in a bag. LOL it breaks and such, but the other scares me. icon_smile.gif

-K8memphis Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
-K8memphis Posted 31 Jan 2009 , 3:30pm
post #23 of 26
Quote:
Originally Posted by chellebyerly

I do think I need to invest in tips and icing bags. Cause right now I am just buying the off the shelf icing in a bag. LOL it breaks and such, but the other scares me. icon_smile.gif




Bwuwahaha--you are toast, gf!! icon_lol.gif

chellescountrycakes Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
chellescountrycakes Posted 1 Feb 2009 , 6:12am
post #24 of 26

LOL, NOT what I needed to hear! I am easily addicted. and get drawn into crap REALLY easy. which is why I am on 2 PTA boards (my last year with only one school, both school kids are in the same school), next year we start at 3 differnt schools.. so that means 3 Boards! LOL
Plus I do other boards too. Then the stuff on the net, and everything else that intrests me. I dont just enjoy. I jump in with both feet. LOL

Now, here is the cake. and I am NOT proud of it. The concept I am. and the shape and such. Even the colors. But I could have done better at the icing. I was just rushed and not willing to take a chance with making my own.

Also, the writing could have been better.

anyway. Here is the first of many that I hope to show y'all. I am so amazed at y'alls creativity and artistic talents, Thank you for sharing them with me. I am grateful for the chance to learn icon_smile.gif
LL

-K8memphis Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
-K8memphis Posted 1 Feb 2009 , 1:14pm
post #25 of 26

A cake addict is born--

Love the coke bottle. Honestly that's pretty fricken good work for a newby with canned icing.

The only improvement I recommend is it shoulda been Diet Coke!!

chellescountrycakes Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
chellescountrycakes Posted 2 Feb 2009 , 1:13am
post #26 of 26

LOL K8, thats actually what my FIL drinks. and as much of it as he has eaten I should have made a sugar free one! I said for his birthday I was making an insulin shot. icon_wink.gif LOL

She asked me for a COke Bullet next year. I told her I was going to make that this year. but this was harder and more of a challenge. LOL

Quote by @%username% on %date%

%body%