I bought the SugarShack video, practiced, got my cake fairly smooth for the first go-round. Looked pretty good on the table. Then I moved it. The crusting buttercream cracked all the way around the cake, so when I got it to my location, I had to try and resmooth the whole thing, which was tough since it was decorated. Any ideas?

any other ideas besides a non crusting soft......

Mine are fine when I decorate the nxt day by the time I deliver they have cracks and wrinkles....And my boards are sturdy.

This looks very interesting KiddieKakes...So, this doesn't crust, but you can still smooth it say with the Viva method? I see the recipe calls for use of the whip attachment. Do you get a smooth buttercream (like the texture of SugarShack's) or a more whipped buttercream (with more air incorporated)?

No...you can't smooth it with viva but an actaul spatula...If you try and smooth it with a paper towel it will be a greasy mess..It is a whipped icing with 90% shortening..No forgiveness if you bump it but my customers love the taste and texture...Not at all like Sugarshacks recipe...It's hard to explain..You will have to try it to see what I mean...

I use the Sugar Shack recipe and do not have any trouble with cracking. You might just need to use a bit more liquid. It is very humid here in GA and I do use 1/4 butter and just store brand shortening instead of hi ratio. I even add 2 TBSP meringue powder to mine and it always works great. I also like the taste of the whipped frosting from the Whimsical Bakehouse but find that mine always had lots of air bubbles; I could smooth it pretty well with a spatula or bench scrap but NOT with VIVA towels. Hope that helps.

If i dont use a really sturdy board, I mean heavy duty, I always get cracks around the bottom of the cake. I swore it that the cake board was not the problem but once i use a granite surface to put the cake in it didnt have those cracks any more. could that be it?

Mine are not just cracks around the edges but more like wrinkles all over cake...If that makes sense

I have had the same problem! and dont know why... it doesnt appear till the next day though..and only on some cakes i do, even the tiny 6 inch ones if they sit for a day sometimes...like tiny wrinkles/??

shannycakers.....
You described it exactly.....They dont have to be touched to show these cracks. So, I know it is not because of the board not being sturdy enough

what type of icing do you use?

could it be settle bulges? if i tort and fill cakes and not let them settle sometimes i have bulges. I fill cakes. let them hang out over night, then cover them. could that be it?

no because i always let mine settle for overnight also... im stumped..

I get that sometimes too. I use Sam's Club buttercreme. I think it is just a settling of the icing. It probably slides just a tiny bit, just enough to make small cracks in the crust.

i started a thread about this same thing. i use indydebi receipe but have been using walmart brand shortening bc it has transfat- indydebi suggested going back to crisco. so i will try that.
my cakes smooth really nice but after awhile i get this little cracks on my cakes.
its definately not from moving them.
so it sounds like alot of us have this problem. i would love to get it solved because it ruins the whole look of the cake.
good luck and i hope i can get it resolved too.

YES please help us get this wrinkle icing problem solved, its looks so perfect then the next day is tiney wrinkleies...

I use sams club buttercream icing. BUT sometimes this never happens..

I guess I was supposed to use a crusting buttercream to get the nice smooth finish. I definitely used a firm board underneath - I used a wooden one that didn't give with moving. And I did frost and let them sit overnight also thinking that all the settling should be done. Not sure what I'm doing wrong. Just have to try again. Thanks for the suggestions.

mandy what icing do you use??

I add a little bit of vinegar to my buttercream and it seems to help with the cracking. You can't taste it in the frosting. Anyone else try this?

country caker, I will try anything...So, I will try the vinegar tomorrow. And hint as to how much vinegar????

The buttercream recipe I use calls for 1/3 cup of lukewarm water. I take a couple of teaspoons out of that and replace it with the vinegar so my liquid/dry ratios aren't messed up.

I have been having the same problem lately. I use the Wilton recipe & use Walmart shortening b/c it has some trans fats. Maybe it's the heat? Is it possible it could be drying (crusting) too much? I say that b/c I don't generally put my cakes in the fridge. And like some of the others, it isn't until the next day that I see the cracks. I figured I just had to pony up and buy hi ratio shortening. BUT, maybe there is a more simple & cheaper fix to this? Hopefully.....

I had this happen even with high ratio shortnening this summer. Sometimes it happens and sometimes not.

I cut back on the meringue powder but it still happened. It's quite the mystery. The last time I made a cream cheese icing and in between the cracks it looked oily.

Ugh ...I had to call the customer and covered in fondant at no charge after re-icing. I re iced it and added icing stabalizer to the mix. It seemed to look fine, but I had already committed to the free fondant so I just went with that. They said the cake was delicious. I never told the customer about the cracking, I just said that with the recent humidity, I did not think it would hold up in transportation. We had had a lot of rain that week. And the icing was taking too long to crust. I have made this recipe countless times and I just don't know why this happened.

I was going to post this same question. I did a 3 tier cake for my dads 75th birthday this weekend and i was actually embarrassed. The cake just had tiny cracks all over it. I did the paint roller method, I viva paper towled it and nothing worked. I use Indebis recipe. I think I'll try substituting a few teaspoons vinegar and maybe trying to use a little less Dreamwhip and see if it cuts it down any.

This is so odd! so not only has it happened with sams club buttercream, indebis recipe, and a cream cheese recipe! O MY!! so its not just me, i hope a professional can help us, it ruins the entire look of my cakes!! especially wedding cakes????

HELP

The Walmart shortening up here has 3g of trans fats.

That's really weird that it has trans fat up there and not here! Well, looks like I have a reason to move back to Connecticut now.

i have my walmart shortening the ingredients for total fat:
saturated fat - 4.5g
trans fat 0.5g
polyunsaturated fat 1g
monounsaturated fat 4g
for a total fat 11g

i would love to know what crisco says. and im soooo happy im not the only one this happens to! not that i want anyone's cakes to be cracking but its been driving me crazy. because i get them so nice and smooth and then bam!! those damn little cracks appear. it really is embarassing to present cakes to people with old looking cracks on their cakes.

i am going to try cricso and see what happens.

but i just bought 3 tubs of walmart brand. i always thought you needed trans fat for buttercream. which is why i thought so many people use high ratio shortening.

I have had this problem recently as well! After reading all of your posts, I'm wondering if it is a weather issue--as someone pointed out. I have been using Indydebi's buttercream recipe (with crisco) and I started using it in early spring when it was nice and cool. I loved the way it went on, no problems the next day. I've been religiously using her recipe and then over the summer I started seeing the cracking issue. Even though I'm working in an air conditioned kitchen, I wonder if the outside weather is the factor. I have not deviated from her recipe but have noticed the difference--oh and just another side note--I still have the original humogous container of Crisco that I started with. If anyone thinks of anything else, please let me know! I'm tired of my cakes looking bad!