Crusting Buttercream Frosting

[s0uthstar]

I have tired many crusting buttercream recipes & i always end up with the same problem..


After frosting the cake somewhat close to my liking. ill wait for about 15 mins so that i can smooth the buttercream on the cake (here is where the problem comes in). Before smoothing the buttercream on the cake, the frosting is stiff & crusted just like i want it. However... after smoothing the buttercream to complete the finishing touches (via the viva paper towel method). The frosting doesn't crust again. I let the cake sit without a cover for an additional 15 mins or so & it will not crust as it did "before" smoothing the frosting. What am i doing wrong here? Or what can i do different to fix this problem?

My goal is to have a some what professional looking cake with buttercream frosting that crusts. Thanks in advance.

 

[Becky]

Welcome to the forum!

That's weird that it formed a crust initially but then didn't after you smoothed it. If you chill it does it still not crust?Which recipe are you using for your buttercream? It might be that you need to use part-shortening and part-butter to get the result you want. You could also try increasing the amount of sugar, but this would also make the buttercream more difficult to work with.

 

[s0uthstar]

Welcome to the forum!

That's weird that it formed a crust initially but then didn't after you smoothed it. If you chill it does it still not crust?Which recipe are you using for your buttercream? It might be that you need to use part-shortening and part-butter to get the result you want. You could also try increasing the amount of sugar, but this would also make the buttercream more difficult to work with.

Thank you!

I havent tried chilling it (ill give that a shot next time). As for the recipe:

http://www.cakecentral.com/recipe/2075/crusting-buttercream-icing-viva-method

^^^ That one is usually my go to ^^^

 

[Becky]

Thanks for sharing the recipe! It looks fine, so perhaps it's the temperature working against you. I hope chilling it helps!

 

[ChesterV]

Um...

Okay, you got my interest on this!

As long as I have been baking and doing cakes, I have NEVER EVER heard of "crusting buttercream"!!!!!!
Much less the "paper towel method"!!!!!

What is this "crusting"???
What is this paper towel "method"?????

I'm SO curious!!

 

[Becky]

What is this "crusting"???
What is this paper towel "method"?????

 

[ChesterV]

Huh!

I've NEVER heard that term before!

I've always known this kind of buttercream frosting to be called --
Old Fashioned Buttercream
White Buttercream
Plain Buttercream
Grandma's Buttercream
Country Buttercream
Original Buttercream


But this is the first time I've ever heard of "crusting" buttercream!


And as far as I know, this type of buttercream has ALWAYS "crusted".
Most people I have ever worked with call it "crunchy" buttercream when describing this.

 

[ChesterV]

Thank you!

I havent tried chilling it (ill give that a shot next time). As for the recipe:

http://www.cakecentral.com/recipe/2075/crusting-buttercream-icing-viva-method

^^^ That one is usually my go to ^^^

Now that I know what this is, I can put in my "two cents" now....

Once buttercream has "crusted" and the "crust" gets broken, the top layer of the buttercream has already undergone the drying out transformation. If you do this paper towel or wax paper method thing, as I saw in the video Becky posted, it will not recrust.

In order for it to recrust, you have to break up the top layer of the buttercream completely.


This to me seems very inadequate and frankly (if I can speak bluntly) the most ignorant thing I've ever seen.

Once I frost a cake with buttercream, I smooth it out with either a flat, metal scraper or a long, flat edged spatula.
(shown below)

I have a tall glass of hot water, or a spray bottle of hot water, and I either dip my spatula into the glass of hot water and use that to smooth the frosting completely all over the cake, or I use the spray bottle and the metal scraper to smooth out my entire cake.

Once the water evaporates from the top layer of the frosting/buttercream, it has "crusted" or gotten that crunchy layer a lot of people like. And on top of that, the cake is as smooth as a babies bottom.....as the saying goes.

Of course, I have done cakes for eons (ha ha), so I guess this is something that most people don't know about anymore. I will see if I can find a video on it though.

 

[ChesterV]

Ok, I found a video where she uses the spray bottle method......

She says that this method has been around a very long time.

I disagree, as I have NEVER EVER heard of anybody using a paper towel to smooth out cake frosting before!
And I was a professional baker for many years!

This woman is not a professional, as if she were, she would have gotten a PERFECT smooth cake when she used the spray bottle and then smoothed it out with the scraper!!!!

Everything else after smoothing the cake with the scraper or spatula is wasted effort and completely too time consuming.

I have used a paper towel on frosting before, but that was to make my frosting textured for the look I was going for.


I wish I could make a video for you guys to show you what I do, but sadly I cannot.