Hey y'all.
I made buttercream the other day with only butter, no Crisco. The texture was great, but when I was icing, I noticed there seemed to be what can only be described as air holes on the cake.

Also the Viva method didn't work as well.

Any advice? I really prefer the taste of all butter, but I'd much rather the cake look nice...

Thanks in advance.

The viva method works on crusting buttercreams. And for a crusting buttercream you have to have some crisco in it (unless there is an awesome all butter crusting recipe I don't know about ). And you probably whipped the frosting too much and got air bubbles. If you used the whisk attachment that was probably why. Always use the paddle attachment if you can. That should help with the air bubbles. HTH, Kristen

Oh wow. Definitely didn't use a paddle attachment...it was more like my hand mixer from the seventies.
Gotta invest in some more stuff!
Thanks!

No problem. I used to always use my whisk attachment and someone on here told me to use the paddle and I noticed the biggest difference. When I'm at my grammas house I use a hand mixer (she will not get a stand mixer, they take up too much space ) and I just mix it slower, so I don't incorporate as much air. It's a pain in the butt and takes a little longer, but it seems to work.

Adding meringue powder to your butter icing will help it crust w/o Crisco.

You could also try the buttercream recipe on www.cakewalkchicago it has butter and crisco, just omit the hazelnut creamer for vanilla or any other flavor. You will have to mix it slow to keep from getting too many air bubbles.

AHow do you know how long to mix it so you don't get too much air in it?

After mixing, I use a rubber spatula and fold or slowly stir the BC. This pops any air bubbles that may have formed while mixing.