I had finally found a BC recipe I love the taste of but I am having trouble getting the icing to stick to the cake. As I’m smoothing it out and lifting the spatula, the icing lifts off and I have to push it back down with my finger. I tried running the spatula under hot water first and that seems to work but it left water streaks on the colored icing. And piping it was extremely frustrating. I had to pipe black lines for a Spider-Man cake and really wanted to use a #2 tip but the dang frosting wouldn’t stick to the cake and the line kept breaking no matter how slow I piped. 

i thought I could add more milk (or water?) to soften it or make it more smooth and creamy but I didn’t want to dilute my colors (red and black) so what can I do to make it smoother? I can literally pick this icing up and roll it into a ball in my hands. 

It sounds like it needs more liquid. Try a teaspoon of boiling water.

Ditto what louglou said.  It will not dilute your colors, neither will using cream or milk.

Yes as the others said it needs to be thinner   I suggest adding more fat be it shortening or butter not liquid   It should be creamy rather than thinned  

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