Can anyone tell me why butterceam would fall off a cake? I made my butterceam like I normally do and crumb coated it first and then add the final coat with some fondant design. When my girlfriend got home with the cake I made for her the frosting on the bottom tier only had fallen off the cake.

This has never happend to me before and I'm clueless at to why it did this time. My confidence level is shot and although I know that eventually everyone has a disaster problem, this makes me second guess myself.

Any ideas or ways to prevent such a situation would be greatl appreciated.

Not sure what it could have been. Was the consistency of your buttercream too soft? Was the cake thawing when you iced it? Trying to think of what it could have been.
Don't give up.

Was your cake still partially frozen? I had this happen once and I always thought it was because it was still frozen when I iced it. I have iced partially frozen cakes before without any problems though. Don't give up your cakes are beautiful. Maybe someone can help you figure out what went wrong.

It could have been an issue with the cake/icing or it could have been how she transported it.

That's happened to me before and I honestly think it's because I put the cake in the fridge for a while after crumb coating it. Now I never ice a cake that is cold. Never! I always ice and/or cover a cake with fondant at room temperature. I think maybe the condensation makes a bubble under the icing or fondant which then causes a blow out or the icing to fall off.

Was the bottom tier a chocolate/DF cake by any chance? More oil is used in DF, compared to white/yellow, therefore the extra oil/grease could cause the icing to not adhere properly especially on larger tiers.

This has happended to me sooo many times. My problem was my cakes were toooooooooo moist. Wet to the touch. I stopped using the bake even strips. They were the problem. I now use Magic Line cake pans with NO strips. Cakes come out moist, but not wet.

Icing will not stick to a wet cake. You will be able to get it on, however when it settles it will slide off.

Pain in the a**!!! Hope this helps you out some.

Michael

I had that happen when doing a basket weave cake just as I finished. My icing was too stiff. I was stilling learning consistancy and that was the last time I got it wrong.