To begin with, there is powdered sugar-all over my kitchen-even though I poured it in in a stream and let it incorporate between pours. Then I dammed my cake and put the filling in (nutella buttercream). Not only is the icing itself cloyingly sweet, it is grainy. I used the HOT liquid, I beat it for the prescribed amount of time, used Domino-but I didn't have the wedding bouquet so I'm sure that's what keeps Sugarshack from making a too-sweet icing like mine.

Then I went to ice the outside of the cake and it was the strangest thing. In the bowl the icing was smooth-no bubbles-no bubbles until I PUT IT ON THE CAKE! After that, it looked like the cake was coral-all porous and gross. What's even worse is that I couldn't bench scrape it because the scraper took the icing off the cake!! It was like it started crusting WAY before it's time. I finally got it somewhat smooth, but I was going to cover it with MMF.

Plan B-which I have to implement now-is MMF ribbon strips for a ruffled cake-it's for a friend's baby shower and she's having a girl-whew! I'm sorry I failed you Sharon, but not only did I kill your recipe-I was unable to Perfect the Art of Buttercream!

Ok. breathe. I will help you.

I need to know EXACTly what ingredinets you used, name brand, exact quanitity of each, the process you used to make the icing and how big is your mixer bowl?

tell me all those details and we can go from there....


trust me, if there was a buttercream disaster, i have had it at some point...

OMG!!!! This is the second time this week-I'm the one who e-mailed you about the icing and Topsy Turvy heights-I'm giddy all over again!!! I'm a HUGE fan!!!!

OK-Here's what I did:

I have the KA 5 qt. mixer. I used 1 c. butter and 4 1/2 c. hi-ratio (from Country Sweet Art). To that I added 2 TBSP. of vanilla extract, and 14 TBSP. of the coffee mate/HOT water mixture (it was still very hot when I used it) to make the 16 TBSP. of liquid. I creamed it together on stir, then speed 2 until creamy. I then streamed in the PS, mixing well after each incorporation. I used Domino powdered sugar- 5lbs. Mixed it on 6 for 7 minutes.

It really looked great in the bowl-no bubbles. In the DVD, yours looks luxuriously creamy. Mine kind of looked like spackle -not bad-but not perfect like yours. OK, I thought maybe it was the butter, and so I moved on. I piped my dam the way the DVD said to. I then started to apply the icing from the bottom, around and then up. It was then that it started to happen. The icing was going on, but it looked porous. I didn't panic, I thought I still had hot bench scraper, viva and printer paper. I boiled my water, then brought it down to a simmer, and tried to smooth the bench scraper across the icing, but it was making it more porous, and picking it up off the cake-almost like the icing had crusted before its time. I tried to channel my inner Zambito and worked methodically and painstakingly with a small spatula (dipped in the hot water and dried off) working in small sections. I did a decent job in repairing it, I Viva'd it and it was passable. I really don't know what I did wrong, except maybe the wedding bouquet just evens everything out to the way it's supposed to be. I'm stumped.

You put all that in a 5qt mixer?!? I'm not sure what size my mixer is (its approximately 5 qts I think, is 4.5 an option?) but it blows powdered sugar all over the place with my buttercream recipe which includes 1 c. butter and 1 cup crisco and 2 lbs powdered sugar. I can't imagine adding 5 lbs of powdered sugar. I'm very interested in Sharon's reply as I just ordered her buttercream DVD over the weekend and am excited for it to arrive. Sorry you're having issues I have been having buttercream issues too which is what prompted me to order the sugarshack dvd. Hope things get better!

confectionsof: (love that name!) Yes it was a mess! To counteract that, take a few paper towels and hold them around the top of the KA bowl to cover it while it's mixing. That should work, although not for 5 lbs, but it did help! Her DVDs are great. She is truly an artist and her work is perfect!

lil: I have watched her youtube on b'cream-yeah-mine did not work out like that!

I'm so not Sharon - but I know the recipe doesn't call for butter- maybe there's a variation out there that will work...that's the only thing I can think of.

I have a KA classic and I use 4 1/2c shortening, 4lbs PS, 4T flavoring, and I start with 10T HOT creamer (I always add more at the end- a good squirt)

-NOT an expert

yes i too love her and all her dvds!!!! she is awesome... I make her icing recipe all the time, and it does not call for butter unless its a different recipe I have not seen... I use the one on the inside cover of her dvd.

It doesn't call for butter, but all the butter is going to do is make it softer, I've emailed her and asked her that question before because I make my buttercream with butter as well Its just gonna be softer--may not peak up the side like its suppose to.

No answer yet-I'm sure she'll do it via the forum. As for the double batch/mixing, I have done it too, and it didn't look like it mixed well, but with this it did because I streamed it in the way Sharon does-you'll see on the DVD.

Too keep it from going every where you stream it in and let it incorporate a little at a time. Really check out her Youtube video. I'm not sure how big my mixer bowl is (I inherited it, My Grandma bought it and then went into assisted living, it was a brand new, never used Kitchenaid) Also, a trick I use is take saran wrap and wrap it around the top of the mixer.

Sorry it took so long to reply. Stupid thing called work had me busy. hate that!

Ok, AKS, according to what you wrote, you did it all correctly. Are you positive that there were no small gaps along the outer edge of the bowl where air may have been getting sucked down into the bowl? It sounds like you did not have the true vacuum going there for your paddle.

One other thing I will make note of: I have tried many brands of hi ratio shortening and they are not all created equally IMO. I have used brands other than sweetex, and gotten the "delayed" air bubble thing happen. I do not get that with sweetex and that is one of the reasons I promote it and will use only that brand.

That being said, even with sweetex, or any other good brand, if air is getting down into that bowl, it will be airy.

One other thing to try is using just a tad more liquid. Sometimes that is all it takes to eliminate the airiness.

and PS. ... if u guys have "bad" practice batches, do not throw them out. You can rebeat them in a deep bowl with a hand mixer. (maybe add a tad of hot liquid) in smaller batches. Hand mixer must have a powerful motor ir it will burn out. Ask me how I know.

You can also mix it by hand with a little liquid added to doctor it up.

You can also combine partial batches back into your big bowl bowl, filling it wayyyyy up and let her rip, and that should smooth it back out. ( as long as you create the vaccum).

And you can freeze this stuff forever, and save your airy batches for filling and coloring and piping purposes.

HTH some! keep me posted!

So the idea of filling the mixer bowl really full is to create a vacuum? I thought that filling it too full would result in poor mixing. Who knew?

Thanks, Sharon. I thought I had a vacuum because the icing was bubble-less in the bowl and the paddle was fully submerged. Perhaps it was the shortening. I remember thinking to myself, "Sharon says that hi ratio gives a little more time to play with the icing than regular shortening and this is just not happening." I have a little more of this CK brand left then I'll switch to Sweetex. Thanks for everything. Can't wait to see you on Ultimate Cake!

in the mean time, whiloe you are using this stuff up, add a tad more liquid when mixing. might help.

I made this bc for the first time yesterday and had this exact same problem. Looked great in the bowl but was airy when i actually put it on the cake. I used Crisco because that all I can get in town. So where can I find Sweetex? Are there any stores that carry it or does everyone order online?

I'm so glad I'm reading this because I had the exact same problem. I think it might be the shortening I used. I used Crisco and I'm going to use Sweetex next time. Crisco just doesn't work well at all with this recipe.

Since I bought Sharon's bc DVD, this is the only icing I make. I mix 1/2 c dry creamer and 1/2 c hot water, and I just pour it in. I don't count the tablespoonfuls anymore and it always comes out perfectly. Thank you so much Sharon!!

ok have a question?? I have made this recipe 3 ways, one with crisco, hi ratio and off brand crisco!!! why does it seems that all but the name brand crisco does not work... either way i love this recipe and have wonderful results with it as long as I use hi ratio shortening or off brand crisco!!!

Thanks Sharon, I will.

Arriva: do you use Sweetex?

Jessielou: Neither HobbyLobby, Michael's or GFS here carries it. I have to get it online and it is pricey, but the taste is so much better-it's almost light.

I too, had the same problem - the only thing I could attribute it to was the Crisco. (small town - no "good" supplies). I followed Sharon's directions from the DVD EXACTLY. (I reviewed the video for weeks upon end!!!)

AND... not only did I end up with air bubbles, after I got the icing somewhat smooth (an hour later!), it literally started falling off the sides. (Cakes were baked the day before, filled and allowed to settle - the way Sharon describes in the dvd, and were not moist on the outside) "Panic" was an understatement, with my cake being due the following morning!

I scraped the icing off these cakes THREE TIMES and let the crumb coat re-crust. (Originally, I didn't crumb coat)

I added a little more liquid and a tad more Crisco to make it turn out "somewhat" smooth. (The dvd is great! The directions are detailed - and I love you, Sharon!) But after reading all the posts, I really do believe there are "Bad Buttercream Days". I've never had icing fall off the sides of a cake in my entire 20 years of baking!... no matter what recipe I used. Perhaps humidity or barometric pressure were the culprits.

Time to break down and buy Sweetex - and practice 'til the cows come home! I'm sorry some of you have had problems, but somehow it makes me feel better that I'm not alone. Thanks for all the info and support - you gals are great!

Cheley

Cheley, the rpoblem you had was the crisco. the zero trans fats has made that happen to a lot of folks... sliding down etc....

get a shortening with trans fats if you cant get hi ratio.

and thank you for the very nice words!

You cannot expect good results unless you are following the recipe to a tee. No subbing this for that, and adding this. This is why perfectly good recipes out there get bad reps because people don't follow the directions.

Hi Sharon (you wonderful blessing!)
I'm laughing at myself! I was trying to blame ANYTHING except the ingredients! During the process of elimination, I concluded it must have been the Crisco. I've done 3 more test batches since, with an array of ingredients that probably wouldn't make you proud! But I was determined to figure out what went wrong.

And Cammyblake1 - I agree, I agree, I agree! Please don't hear me making excuses. We only have something that resembles "real" grocery store here where I live. But I have no problem with being humble and admitting I messed up with substitutions. (I won't ever do THAT again!) And good Lord! I pray to God that no one heard me saying Sharon's recipe doesn't turn out the way it's supposed to. I promise that was not my intention! Thank you for your post... hopefully others will take note of your response. I, for one, have certainly learned a very valuable lesson.

I appreciate all of you more than you know!
Cheley

I need your help Sharon! I can get the smoothness and no bubbles I just can't get it to crust. I have tried a few variations of the 6 qt. I have the Pro. Can I just add more ps to save it? I'm a huge fan also I have three of your dvd's so far and plan on adding to them! You rocked on and you have won! I can't tell you how many batches I have thrown out if I only I known! One last thing I add popcorn salt which I know you don't cause it to be grainy? I've had this issue before.

TIA!

OK.... I'm sold!!! I'm going to order Sharon's BUttercream DVD ASAP!!! I see how everytime someone asks a questions about her or her products... she always always answers AND promptly.... I love that!

PS. That's a sale based on service! more people should see that good service is the key to improving sales....

Sharon.... you are amazing!

Thank you for always being available even though you are now famous, your integrity is admirable....

Love Ya!

Thank you Dakis, that is so sweet of you!

Gallies: if you keep your ration one cup of shortening to one pound of powdered sugar, as long as you do not add too much liquid it should crust. Uless you are using crisco, that can casue major problems with the no trans fats. Can you tell me the exaact recipe and method you used?

I tried her recipe for the first time a couple of days ago using Wesson hi ratio (that's what my local bakery sells) and it came out perfect! Everybody was raving about the texture being lighter and the flavor not as sweet as regular BC. I used creme bouquet as the flavoring. Thanks Sharon for the great DVD's! This is the only recipe I will be using now. Now if I can only find a way to contain the mess it makes while making! The rim attachment helped but I still slopped liquid and PS everywhere.