My children's birthday party is in 12 hours. I have made 3 cakes - an 11x15 and two 9" rounds. They were in the freezer up until a few hours ago when I moved them to the fridge to defrost. I made up BC frosting this afternoon and then put it in the fridge, covered until I was ready for them. At 6pm I took out the frosting in preparation to do a crumb coat. It was really thick from being in the fridge and so I added more milk to thin it out - as the frosting warmed up it got really runny (after I added more and more milk). It also separated a little, but I figured it would work as a crumb coat. I put the cakes into the fridge for 4 hours. They got a light crusting on them. I took out the big cake and my frosting, but learning from my previous mistake I let the frosting warm to room temperature before re-whipping it - I also left the cake out (which softened up the frosting of my crumb coat). So, when I put the frosting on, it pulled up the crumb coat and was sliding around and not sticking to the cake. I removed the thick frosting and saved what I could (a lot of it got discolored from the frosting next to the cake). I then wiped off the rest of the crumb coat and blotted the cake dry.

My round cakes which were still in the fridge were a little crusted so I frosted those - the first one went on okay, but the second one, was harder to get the frosting to stick because the crumb coat was starting to slide off. I finished those (and gave up on smooth perfection) and got them back into the fridge.

So, now I don't know what to do. First of all, will the frosting actually stay on those round cakes or as my cakes are out at the party is the frosting going to slide off. I will leave them over night in the fridge, then I need to decorate and transport to the party.

Second, what do I do with my big cake? Do I try to frost it now without a crumb coat? Do I put it in the fridge to just sort of let it dry out some (I did wipe off the wet frosting)?

I am a total newbie - please help. The last time I made a cake I didn't crumb coat, just piped on frosting and spread carefully. My DH doesn't understand why I did things differently, and I am now wondering, too.

Thanks for your suggestions!

take a spatula and scrape off the icing- without scraping the cake. You don't need a crumb coat as long as it isn't falling apart or crumbly- but you do need a new batch of icing. Don't thin it so much this time. Most likely it was the moisture from the thawing AND the extra milk in the icing that just made it too wet so it slid off... If you are using crisco- then let it be a little thicker than normal. Pipe it on with a bag and no tip, then take the spatula and lightly smooth it. The new Crisco breaks down in humidity and sometimes seperates. Good luck with your cakes!

Do you have more powder sugar? If so I'd probably try adding that into a small bowl of the icing to see if you can thicken it up any. If you are out of powder sugar you could always try some cornstrach. That will help absorb some of the extra moisture.

By adding the milk you got the icing way to thin and chances are it isn't going to set up or hold it's shape. Sticking it in the fridge is just a very short time fix.

Next time you put icing in the fridge, let it come to room temp before trying to soften it up with extra liquids.

Okay, that is what I did with my big cake. scraped off the soggy stuff and blotted dry, then globed on fresh frosting and it seems to be pretty good (with barely a crumb in it). Sounds like this cake should be fine.

But, with my small cakes I frosted over the wet crumb coat while it was slightly crusted. Will those cakes slide off as the cake comes to room temperature? I guess I should potentially take those out first thing in the morning to let them come to temperature to see if they need to be started over. Or maybe I just decorate and pray for the best? Any advise.

Thankfully I only watered down a very small amount of frosting, so I didnt' ruin all of my 2.5 batches of Buttercream Dream. However after it was watered down I did mix in extra ps (it almost looked like royal icing) and then mixed it with a small ammount of "good" frosting and it was looking very creamy, but still "good". That was not the batch that I used when my frosting slid off - I used a good stiff BC that was whipped at room temperature for good spreadability. I have a feeling that I will need to make more BC in the morning so that I have enough to decorate the cake.

Any other advise/suggestions appreciated.

This happened to me once when I defrosted my layers in the fridge. The condensation from the cake thawing made the BC wet and slippery.

Some people on here have had good luck with frosting even FROZEN cake layers while they are still frozen.

I recommend letting your layers thaw at room temperature, than taking them out of the wrapping and let airdry for approx 30 min depending on the size, before crumb coating. In my experience, frosting a room temp. cake that is dry to the touch serves as a better surface for the BC to adhere to.

Again, some have frosted cold cakes without a problem, but sometimes you have to find what works for you based on recipe, climate etc.

Good luck, I hope the frosting stays put............let us know.

I'm not so sure it's the frozen or cold cake thats the issue as much as it was the cold icing.

The only time I EVER had a sliding-icing issue was when I refrigerated the iced cake. I never refrigerate my icing .... never (!) refrigerate my cakes.

Here's another short thread on icing in the 'frig. http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopicp-6158317.html#6158317

Remember .... anything that is put in a colder temp ('frig/freezer) will start to melt when removed to a warmer temp. Basic law of physics and science. It's why I recommend air-drying for all icing and icing flowers. It just works better for me, and no melting of icing or flowers.

Thanks for all your support! My big cake turned out just great after wiping off the melted crumb coat and waiting for it to dry a bit before re-frosting (sans-crumb coat). And, although I was afraid that the frosting would slide off my 9" rounds at room temperature, they held just fine! I did end up making up an extra batch of frosting just in case, but now I have lots left over. I will see what I can do with it, although I don't see any baking projects in the next two weeks that will use white, red, black and yellow frosting...