buttercream HELP!!

Hi Karen I always use buttercream…I think one of your issues is you don’t have any sugar in your buttercream. .was that a misprint???
You can keep your buttercream at room temp so you can crumbcoat your cake and then like ganache refrigerate it until very firm and then add your finishing layer of buttercream; refrigerate until firm; I use corn syrup or water with a brush to brush onto the cake and then add your fondant…my last cake was a book cake and I had to work with it to add the gold and silver paint, it was humid here at that time but nothing moved..it became soft but didn’t loose it’s shape.(you can look at my CD if you like)..hope this helps…if you like I can pm you my buttercream recipe..Enza x

Hey Karen,
When some requests buttercream I just put that as a filling and still use ganache as the crumbcoat before I put the fondant on. I find that it will keep the filling from bulging out and the fondant from sliding.

Hope this helps and good luck!!

haha Enza- forgot the icing sugar lol and yes please can you PM me the recipe? Ill try anything lol…. I just looked at your cake too and it is FLAWLESS! I don’t know what Im doing wrong. The icing just melts! (I see youre in Montreal btw- Im heading to Montreal in 2 weeks! Got relatives who live in Pierrefond)
Prima cakes- if Enzas recipe doesn’t work out for me, I think I may resort to the ganache. Im too much of a perfectionist to have lumpy cakes, it bugs me lol

I don’t ganache my cakes, always use buttercream. I crumb coat, then a good layer of bc icing. Let it crust, then cover with fondant. Never had a problem. Never came loose, lumpy or runny. You should have your bc as smooth as possible, then your fondant will be smooth, no imperfections showing through. If the weather is humid, I will make 1/2 butter, 1/2 shortening icing and add 1/2 recipe of royal icing. The icing dries very hard and smooth…it’s not going anywhere.
Hope this helps… :o)

I’ll send you my recipe Karen….Prima cakes mentioned bulges…has never happened to me…I’m live in east end Montreal :) Btw I have also used a swiss meringue buttercream to crumb coat my cakes and works fine everytime :)

This is the buttercream I use and get great results every time :)
2 lbs. powdered sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) butter softened (soften on countertop rather than microwave for best results)

1 cups solid vegetable shortening

2 Tbsp. clear vanilla extract

1/4 cup milk (any milk is fine but I like milk with higher fat content. You could substitute water, too. See **note below)

Instructions

Cream butter, shortening and extracts until creamy and smooth.

Add powdered sugar and milk. Mix thoroughly on medium speed for approximately 8 min. until creamy and smooth. (I stop at 4 minutes and scrape the sides of the bowl, then mix again for the remaining 4 minutes).

**You can use water in place of milk. The milk (because of the higher fat content) allows for a softer crust than water. It also crusts more slowly than water. Pool party in July is a good place for water.

**Makes about 6 cups of frosting– you can half it, or freeze the leftovers if you don’t need this much! (One cup of frosting frosts about 12 cupcakes.)

Thanks ladies for your replies…. and thanks Enza for the recipe. Water is a good tip, going to try that. One more silly question….. do you just do a crumb coat under the fondant or do you do a nice thick layer usually?

I crumb coat….and do a layer of buttercream. Not thick, but enough to cover nicely and set up. Maybe an inch??? Never thought about it.

Yes I also add one more layer after the crumbcoat is firm…:)

ok I lied. one more question… do you have to refrigerate it after the fondant is on it? Thanks so much for your help- I know im being a pain lol.