My buttercream fight with a cake last weekend

Honestly, I thought making a smooth buttercream finish was just about spreading it on. Ngl, I spent a full two hours trying to get it right on a birthday cake last Saturday. It kept tearing the crumb coat and looking lumpy. I finally watched a video that said to chill the cake for 30 minutes after the crumb coat, and that fixed it in like 10 minutes. Anyone else have a simple step they missed for way too long?

3 comments

3 Comments

benreed1mo ago

Classic cake cold war, lmao.

rileyfox1mo ago

Oh man, I feel that deep in my soul. I once spent a whole afternoon trying to pipe a simple border and it looked like a toddler did it with their fists. My big miss was not letting the buttercream get to room temp first (it was a total brick, so it just clogged the tip and exploded). I finally figured out you gotta really beat it until it's super soft. @benreed is right, it's a whole cold war with the temperature.

jessica_miller4d ago

Ugh, the struggle is SO real with that brick buttercream, I've been there too many times lol. @benreed nailed it, temperature is basically the final boss of cake decorating. I swear every time I get impatient it's a whole new disaster.