i often have the problem of my buttercream 'pulling off' some of the cake when i am icing my cake, even crumbcoating, causing me aggravation and of course crumbs everywhere. this happens more so when the cake is very moist. so, today i simply dusted some icing sugar on all sides of the cake and this worked brilliantly. the buttercream stayed on the cake and i was able to smooth it directly without even doing a crumbcoat.
hope this will help someone
sulia
I have the same problem with my cakes! It's so frustrating...
I'll try that next time.
Sulia, you are awsome. Thank you so much for sharing this tip. 
It sounds to me like the icing is not thin enough if it is 'pulling cake off' while icing.
A great, easy crumb coat is to melt buttercream icing in the micro (about 1/3 cup takes only about 10 seconds). Pour this liquified icing over the cake and spread quickly. It cools fast and really seals the cake. It will be similar to the glaze finish on a glazed donut
i only crumb coat chocolate layers.. i use the same buttercream that i am icing with.. make it a lilttle thinner with water, milk, whipping cream or whatever.. crumb coat.. let set up for a little bit.. then ice with my buttercream.. have that at a smooth, between medium and thin consistency. keep spatula on top of icing always. icing is between cake and spatula.. keep spatula moving back and forth, etc. i was taught this with my wilton teacher 13 years ago. and then with another teacher when i took a refresher course with her.. she taught me how to ice my cakes without using the 789 tip and bag. hth. if your icing is too thick, it will pull your cake in peices.
kakeladi, that sounds brilliant. I can't wait to try it. Thanks for the awesome tip!
Thanks sulia. I find i have the same issue, i'll have to try that and see if it works. I want to get better at doing buttercream as it does look nice when it's clean.
I'll try that this weekend!
I've also found that chilling your cake in the fridge is a big help so it's not too soft and holds up better.
Kakeladi, What BC recipe do you use that you can melt? I tried melting mine once (probably because I read your tip somewhere!), but it didn't melt well. I use the Wilton recipe, half butter/ half crisco. I thought the poured method sounded so cool, but I just couldn't get it to work right. I didn't know if it was because I use crisco or not.
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