Any new theories or methods on how to avoid blowouts for buttercream. I have been using the "upside down" method for frosting my two layer tiers, which has really helped with the appearence of my cakes, but all of the sudden on my last two cakes I have completely lost a section of frosting off the side. I'm assuming this is due to a blow out. Any ideas?

Wow I can imagine how frustrated you must be with this. When you say you lost frosting, do you mean it fell off the side of the cake? All blow outs are caused by not settling cakes for at least 3 hours at room temperature. I had my share of this until I got advice on CC. Did you let your cakes settle with something heavy on it like a book or a ceramic tile? I leave my cake to settle for 3 hours minimum before I crumb coat it.

Blowouts are caused from air trying to escape the cake (especially if you've iced a frozen or cold cake which can cause condensation that may prevent the icing from sticking). It helps if you can break the icing seal somewhere to provide a place for the air to escape rather than letting it blowout where it wants. If it's a tiered cake, you can poke a hole in the top and wait a while before stacking the next tier.

It's possible your frosting is too thick and isn't sticking to the cake completely.

Thanks for the replies. I will try poking a hole in it and see if that works. Cross your fingers for me. This is so nerve wracking.

Good luck! I feel your pain! I've had that same problem before, but I think it was due to me frosting it when it was too cold. Lesson learned