My husband has been having issues with getting the butter cream to be smooth. He does a crumb coat then adds the final layer and when he is trying to frost it smooth, it leaves streaks. This just started happening. He does make his own butter cream.
4-5 cups of powdered sugar
1 tea vanilla extract
4-5 tablespoons of milk
2 sticks of butter
Anyone have an idea what this could be?
is it the cake showing through or the buttercream wrinkling?
It's like its pulling the buttercream. The cake is not showing through. He uses a wide spatula. I thought maybe air bubbles but we do not over mix the butter cream. We do use a stand mixer but not for long, then use a spatula to finish.
i don't know -- if it's air bubbles -- you can run the spatula the opposite way to help rid yourself of them or i often take a tiny spatula and smooth from the base of the cake up to rid myself of bubbles --
it's hard to figure out what 'pulling' the buttercream means -- do you have a picture?
............we use a stand mixer but not for long..........
This could be at least part of your problem. Long, slow mixing can *improve* icing. It's also possible recipe is the problem.
Have you tried a different icing? Try "2 of everything icing" recipe on this site. It is very easy to make, work with and tastes super good :)
Just in case the search feature isn't working right yet there it is:
This recipe makes a non-crusting buttercream
2 cups shortening (Crisco or hi ratio)
2 cups butter, at room temp.
2 pounds of powdered sugar
2 generous dashes salt
2 Tablespoons flavoring (your choice, but a mix of 3 is best such as 1 part vanilla; 1/2 part butter; 1/4 part almond)
Mix the shortening and butter on low to med speed for 5 minutes. Add about 1/3 of the sugar and mix for 10 minutes on low speed; add another 1/3 of the sugar with the salt and continue mixing another 10 minutes; add the remaining sugar and flavoring and again mix for 10 minutes.
Yes it takes that long to make a smooth, wonderful icing - I'm sure if you try it you will find it the best icing you have ever worked with. If you want a crusting icing then use just 1 1/2 cup of shortening and 1 1/2 cup butter.
The flavoring used can be any you want. In the mixture I stated above, a 'part' is *any* measure you wan t be it a teaspoon, tablespoon, cup or quart! Just be sure to keep the 1, 1/2, 1/4 ratio the same. If you don't like/want to use almond, use orange, lemon OR any other that appeals to you and your customers.
Read more at http://www.cakecentral.com/forum/t/788575/buttercream-issues#VI7LTFscr2bLSBqr.99
Read more at http://www.cakecentral.com/forum/t/788575/buttercream-issues#post_7585574#8lcex2ZTYoQxa2zz.99
Quote by @kakeladi on 2 minutes ago
............we use a stand mixer but not for long..........
This could be at least part of your problem. Long, slow mixing can *improve* icing. It's also possible recipe is the problem.
This could be at least part of your problem. Long, slow mixin We do use a stand mixer but not for long, then use a spatula to finish.
Read more at http://www.cakecentral.com/forum/t/788575/buttercream-issues#VI7LTFscr2bLSBqr.99We do use a stand mixer but not for long, then use a spatula to finish.
Read more at http://www.cakecentral.com/forum/t/788575/buttercream-issues#post_7585574#8lcex2ZTYoQxa2zz.99
what she said ^^^
yes those are just air bubbles -- after mixing your icing for a long slow time on the mixer as kakeladi says -- you can just mix it with your spatula -- if need be you can also add some hot water and that will zap most of them -- you can then use the spatula swiping the cake the opposite direction to re-smooth out the rest of them --
it's just air bubbles
in a bakery you get 5 gallon tubs of icing delivered all day long to your station -- you just mix it up before using it --
Are you sifting your icing sugar? There are often "pellets" of hard icing sugar in the bag, if you don't sift it out, it will not dissolve. When you ice, those hard pellets with slide across the surface and cause streaks - the same as would happen if you ran a knife across the surface.
If this is what's happening, you need to sift your sugar.
For this time, pull out the lumps you find as you smooth it and it should be fine.
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