Hi all!

I use Sugarshacks's (Sharon Zambito) BC icing recipe. I made a batch and it was BEAUTIFUL. Smooth as "butter". No air in it at all. I went ahead and iced my 6" cake....no problems. The cake came out soooo smooth and perfect looking.

Then.....I went to my 10" cake. I was very surprised to see that the icing in my KA mixer bowl was now full with air bubbles. What the he**?? I just used this icing and it was perfect. I went ahead and iced the 10" cake. It came out okay. However, it was not as smooth and clean as my 6", even with all the smoothing teq. Viva, Hot spatula, computer paper...etc.

Can someone please explain why the remainder of my icing in the mixing bowl all the sudden produced air in it and why it was no longer smooth?????

Thanks.

=)

Maybe it sat too long ? Maybe try just stirring the icing a couple of times just with a spatula?

I'm not sure if "sitting too long" will cause that problem with sugarshack's recipe but I use Indydebi's recipe and allowing the icing to rest awhile actually reduces air in the bc.

If my bc does have "bubbles" I take a wide spatula and press the icing up against the bowl until I've worked them out. Doesn't take that long and it works.

Thank you for the input. I am going to try the wide spatual thing next time.

I am just worried incorporating more air into the icing by stirring it...


Thanks

=)

mamaworbin....

Thank you for the clarfication! I will give it a try..

=)

I actually never have that problem. I can make it, cover it, and use it a week later right out the bowl and never have to re-stir. Did you scrape the excess you took off the 6 back into the original bowl? That i never do, because the "used" icing will be airy....

Hi Sharon!

Thanks for the reply. I sraped the excess icing in a seperate bowl. I did leave the unused icing in the KA mixer bowl uncovered. Would that be a issue?

Thanks

So weird because I just posted a similar thread...I made buttercream (crusting) and its okay when I first make it but after it sits in the bowl for a few hours, it turns FULL of air bubbles and is almost unusable unless its remixed.

I can NOT figure out why I cannot make a decent batch of crusting buttercream. Any wedding cakes I make I try to use my whipped (noncrusting) kind because I don't trust myself to make a decent batch of crusting, although to me the crusting tastes nicer and I use it under alot of fondant cakes.

didn u use sweetex? I have found some other brands of hi ratio to be more prone to bubbling after icing sits a while....

I was talking to OP, but it applies to all....LOL

have you seen my yoputube video about getting the bowl filled above the paddle? that is my trick to noo air, that and sweetex

looky here:

try adding just a tad more liquid than what you were using, sometimes a stiff icing will develop air more....

sugarshack i can't get sweetex w/o ordering online but an off topic i have used your ribbon rose tutorial and used it on roses that went on my most recent pic submission (the piano cake with red and white roses) they didn't turn out as well as i wanted them to but it still kept the whimsy feel to them

Sharon...

I use TBK brand of Hi-Ratio found at thebakerskitchen.com

I buy it from them because they sell it in small 4 pound tubs. I only can find Sweetex in the huge 40 pound box. Is there somewhere I have not looked at that sells Sweetex in a smaller package??


Thanks

I think the TBK shortening is sweetex repackaged and relabeled.

I'd love to know the answer to this question, too...my BC starts out smooth as silk but after it sits for a few hours it gets all bubbly. Oh, and I'm using Sweetex, too.

well guys I am stuck then.... if you use the recipe as I wrote it and follow the youtube video for the process.... I just do not know why that is happening!

Hey Sugarshack - While you're here.........Will your recipe work with shortening WITH trans fats instead of hi ratio?

it should! won't be as nice as hi ratio but it should work!

Johnnycakes1966- I'm not sugarshack but I use crisco in her recipe, and it works great. One day I'll try hi ratio (a bit high $$$ for me right now).

Sharon!!! I think I got it!!! I made my buttercream and I did whip the butter and shortening and milk together, this time I just let it run until it was nice and whipped together. Then added sugar....then since I have a 6 qt I had to add leftover icing up until it covered the beater. It ended up to be alot more icing than I thought it would need!!!! BUT it did turn out smooth! Its not as glossy as my noncrusting but it did NOT have hardly any air bubbles in it. Woo Hoo! Have to make another batch tomorrow so I'll know for sure but I think I need to double what I'm doing now, in my mixer, to make it right (which would be like 4 bags of powdered sugar, I think!!! Well maybe I'll start with three....)

Funny that I always made sure my noncrusting recipe covers my beater, but not the crusting...but on the other hand, my noncrusting recipe fits my 6 qt and my crusting one does not, yet....

Thanks...

SUCCESS! I love it!

Hmmm. Okay, so I iced the cake, everything is nice. Left the icing sitting for about an hour. I'm like "Oh yeah I gotta put the rest of this away" and as I'm putting it away, its totally riddled with tiny air pockets now!!!!!! It was perfectly smooth before!!!! Its like something inside (the butter? Do you use only shortening???) is creating air pockets that were not there before.

I mean I guess its okay, as long as I rebeat a full bowl before using it again...its just kinda weird. My noncrusting does not do that.

Kitagrl, I'll throw out a few things and maybe something will help.

-Any chance you're overbeating the frosting?
-What speed are you beating on?
-Is the butter at room temperature?
-Maybe the old frosting you added had bubbles?
-Do you use the paddle or whisk?
-You said for this last batch, you beat the butter/shortening/milk at the same time. Try beating the butter and shortening first, then add the liquid (on low/stir) just until it's incorporated. I've found that beating the butter and shortening together = creamy, but butter/shortening/liquid = frothy, which might account for the bubbles. (Sorry if that goes against Sharon's directions!!)