I make the following recipe....always doubling it to make a total of 6 cups (I am also going to start using half & half instead of milk). For those who use vinegar in their buttercream to elimate hairline cracks on the surface of the smoothed cake, how much would you recommend I use.....is an 1/8 of a teaspoon too much? What do you recommend.

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-4553-0-0-Trans-Fat-Crisco-Buttercream-using-Butter-and-Crisco.html

Thanks, in advance, for your help.

I've never heard of using vinegar in buttercream... I know it will never be added to mine. I use a hot spatula and non crusting buttercream and cracks are not a problem

If adding vingar wouldn't you still be able to taste it. I have never heard of this before.

I think my grandmama used to use vinegar in her frostings...I never knew why, now I think you answered it for me. I could never detect the taste of it in her frostings, so it must have been a teenee tiny amount.

I use vinegar in my buttercream, I use 4 drops and no you can not taste it and it does help with the hair line cracks. HTH

I've never used vinegar. The only time I have problems with cracks is when my cake board isn't sturdy enough to support the cake well. I never used water either...first time I ever heard of using water instead of milk was when I joined this forum.

I'm fascinated with just what it is vinegar could do to prevent cracking though.

I use salt in my bc but you can't taste it. I was told a long time ago that it cuts the sharp sweetness and it works as far as I'm concerned. I wonder if a few drops if vinegar doesn't serve the same purpose. I don't know about cracks. I never have them in my bc unless it's a sheet cake that gets moved without proper support underneath.

A lady in my town who was a cake decorator shared one time with me to help cut down on the sweetness add cake flour to my buttercream icing. I will have to try the drops of vingar to see if it helps ..Thanks for the info


edit*

I've never used vinegar in my BC before but I can see how it might cut the sweetness...I guess it stands to reason that, since sugar neutralizes some of the acidity of vinegar in things like vinaigrette salad dressings, vinegar would neutralize some of the sweetness in something like icing. Hmmm.

The cracks might be caused by adding meringue powder to your icing, it might be crusting TOO much. I quit adding it to mine and I have much less of a cracking problem than I used to. The sugar itself will make the icing crust some anyway.

I read on the CC site that vinegar will indeed help stop your buttercream from cracking. Since I read this a while ago, I have always added it when making the frosting and always have the smoothest icing.People often comment that they thought that it was fondant. The ratio is 1 teaspoon of white vinegar per 3 cups icing.Hope this helps.

wow, a whole teaspoon?

Yes,1 teaspoon. 1 teaspoon per 3 cups frosting.You cannot taste the vinegar as there is so much icing sugar in the recipe.

I'll be giving this a try soon. 1 teaspoon doesn't sound like so much in a whole batch of bc.

Hey guys, why do you put your cake in the fridge to crust? Not trying to sound sarcastic, just wondering. I've always left mine on the counter-top and it takes about 10-15 mins to crust over. I used to make some fairly ugly cakes when I started out and I always put mine in the fridge in between coats (crumb coat and then the regular). When I would try to smooth them out the spatula would stick to the frosting and some of the decorations would bleed-granted, that was back in the day when I used grocery store tubed icing . Anyway, a couple of months ago my daughter and I were talking about how condensation forms on the sides of a soda can when it comes out of the fridge and I had a slap-myself-on-the-forehead moment. If it does it to a soda can, or glass of water, etc, why not a cake? Anyway, this is why I let mine crust on the counter.
About the cracks, have you tried adding a tbs of corn syrup to your frosting? I have found this adds elasticity without adding sweetness-I use salted butter too so that helps to cut the sweet.

LOL well your terrific head-slapping moment aside I do put my cakes in the fridge after filling/crumbcoating so the filling firms up and the layers don't slide around when I'm icing. If I refrigerate the finished product, it's always in a box so there is minimal condensation from the humidity of room air.

Mind you...this works for me. Don't know about anyone else!

Gotcha, thanks! I want to try some different fillings soon, do you do that with just fruit fillings or anything (ie-cookies and cream, etc.)?

I use popcorn salt in my icings to cut the sweetness. It's finer than table salt and mixes in more readily. I always use salted butter when I use butter and that helps with the sweetness too. I always chill my crumb coated cakes to firm them up. Never put my finished cakes in the frig without being in a box or carrier.

My BC always seems to get alot of air bubbles.

After mixing bc and before you use it stir it down a bit with a spoon. That's what I always do to take out air bubbles. I whip the heck out of it and then use a spoon to stir down the bubbles. It works well for me.