So I never crumb coated before and I decided to give it a try. I'm pretty sure I thinned down the icing WAY too much the first time, but then I scraped all that off and tried to crumb coat it with almost regular consistency icing, and that won't dry either. Normally my regularly iced cakes only take about 10 minutes to crust enough to smooth with a paper towel.

Am I just being impatient- does it take longer to dry because it is thinner?

How much do you dilute your icing to crumb coat?

Thanks for any help! Luckily this is just a cake I made to try out a new recipe and crumb coating and we are just taking it to a friend's house for a small cookout- all very close friends.

I don't usually thin my icing to crumb coat I always just use a "thin" layer of my normal buttercream icing, maybe that's why yours isn't crusting? Not too sure.

You could try putting it in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes.

I dont' thin it either. Add more sugar. Crusting is the ratio of fat to sugar ... more sugar = more crusting.

Also if you crumb'd a frozen cake, the cold and moisture in the frozen cake will inhibit the crusting process. Crusting is the process of the icing air-drying, and when there is extra moisture (from frozen/consdensation), that moisture prevents it from drying properly.

question...
why do you want a crumb coat to crust? I use non-crusting butter cream for my crumb coat, chill it to firm up. But it doesn't dry or crust. Then I put my final coat of frosting over that. The crumb coat is firm so it holds the crumbs in, so they don't get in my final coat. And I think the lack of a crust on the crumb coat helps my final coat stick to it a little better.

I do this because the one time I used a crusting BC as a crumb coat, whatever I tried to spread on it just didn't stick well and would peel off behind the spatula as I went along.

My final coat is either crusting BC or fondant.

Thanks for all the advice. I did let it thaw and come to room temperature. I don't know why I thought you were supposed to thin it! I guess I just thought the crumb coat was supposed to dry first.

It's kinda sad, I have been a grocery store decorator for 11 years, and I am one of the best in my area at that, but I really haven't tried to take it to a new level at home before now. I would probably be good enough to open my own shop by now if I had. Oh well, better late than never.