Hi all! I"m doing my first kids' cupcake decorating party tomorrow, and I'm second guessing my icing. When I made some last week for an order, I couldn't get the sprinkles to stick to the icing. I frosted 2-3 cupcakes then tried sprinkling them on, and they just bounced off. I ended up having to roll the cupcakes in the sprinkles, and they stuck. But I think that most kids will just sprinkle them on. My recipe is 1 c butter, 1 c hi ratio shortening, vanilla, 1/4 c water, and powdered sugar. I couldn't believe how fast it crusted!
I'd like to use a frosting that doesn't crust so fast so that the kids' decorations stick. Any tips?
Also, does anyone know if the recipe that DC Cupcakes uses crusts or not? It has cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and powdered sugar in it. No liquid.

Thanks! Maria

I would try adding some water to the butter cream, it delays the crusting a bit & makes it less stiff & hard, unless you want to go with a non-crusting icing thats a different story
I use Ednas cream cheese icing & it has the same ingredients you mentioned & it crusts very nicely but not sure how fast
HTH & good luck with your party

Would you be up for doing the Italian or Swiss Meringue Buttercreams you can find in the recipe section here? They're cooked icings and a lot more trouble to make than regular buttercream, but they don't crust.

thanks for the tips!