Smoothing Cold Swiss Meringue Buttercream-Problem
Decorating By springlakecake Updated 16 Dec 2016 , 1:51pm by therollingpinbakery
okay the only photo I can show you doesnt show it that well. I let this cake go, but I really wasnt happy with the finish. You can see from the photo that it almost looks like it has texture on it. Not a great photo though for you to see what I am talking about.
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/2058638
Thanks, Mariacakestoo! Yes, it was for MisoBakes. Those challenges are so much fun for me because I don't really pipe very much or think to play around with the tips.
For my cakes, I just put mine in the frig for awhile, then scrape with a hot bench scraper. The surface of this cake was very smooth, but the little bumps appeared a couple of hours after I was finished with the whole thing. It was still smooth the whole time I was doing the orange piping. But, like I said, it was warmer than usual in my kitchen that day.
FromScratch, I was using your buttercream ratios, which always work for me, so I know it's not the recipe!
I really think it must have to do with the temperature. I was starting to wonder if a different recipe for smbc might make a difference, but if you both use the same recipe, that can't be it. Fromscratch, do you keep your finished cakes in the refrigerator or at room temp?
Ah HAH! I think I've solved the mystery. Photos helped!
I did a wedding cake a few months ago that I underestimated the amont of SMBC I would need by just a little bit, so I had to quickly make a single batch. I rarely make just one batch of SMBC. Anyway, I did and when I went to put it on the cake it had a bumpy, strange texture. When I scraped, it left a gazillion tiny pockmarks. I think this is what you are talking about. They aren't bubbles. It was a complete mystery at the time but I have since figured it out...
You are overcooking your eggs. Those "bubbles" are tiny bits of coagulated egg. When you chill the cake then scrape it pulls the bits out leaving pockmarks that I can see would be mistaken for air bubbles.
So, make sure to not overcook your eggs and make sure you keep everything moving in the bowl while it's over the stove.
Ah HAH! I think I've solved the mystery. Photos helped!
I did a wedding cake a few months ago that I underestimated the amont of SMBC I would need by just a little bit, so I had to quickly make a single batch. I rarely make just one batch of SMBC. Anyway, I did and when I went to put it on the cake it had a bumpy, strange texture. When I scraped, it left a gazillion tiny pockmarks. I think this is what you are talking about. They aren't bubbles. It was a complete mystery at the time but I have since figured it out...
You are overcooking your eggs. Those "bubbles" are tiny bits of coagulated egg. When you chill the cake then scrape it pulls the bits out leaving pockmarks that I can see would be mistaken for air bubbles.
So, make sure to not overcook your eggs and make sure you keep everything moving in the bowl while it's over the stove.
I am pretty sure it's air because I took a tooth pick to it. And this doesnt happen until several hours after the cake has been smoothed and is back to room temp. it does not happen if you don't use the cold smoothing technique. I know what you mean about the coagulated egg though, I have had that a few times when I have over cooked it. Thanks for seeing me through this with suggestions! It's appreciated!
I think this is a case of the icing being too cold at the time it is done mixing. You can't see it, but there are tiny bits of butter that haven't melted into the egg whites all the way. Those tiny little bits are relaxing then once room temp hits. When I make SMBC, I rarely ever put the butter out for long to come to temp, I slice my 1 lb bricks into thin pats, and set it near my double boiler, but only while I'm cooking the egg whites. Most of the butter going in to the wgg whites is pretty cold. So when I'm done, and if it doesn't seem creamy enough for me, I put the mixingbowl over a full flame for a few seconds until I have a puddle of liquid in the bottom, and the bowl is very hot. Put it back on the mixing stand, and let it rip. It's then silky and smooth and everything is definitely mixed in thoroughly.
I'm pretty sure that's your prob...too cold at the end. I like it to be like a floppy whip cream if that makes sense.
good theory, but I don't think that it. I am really nearly 100% sure it is air bubbles that have formed after it warms up. I have taken a tooth pick to the bubble and it's like there is a tiny bubble/pock mark sealed up by a thin layer of buttercream. This does not happen to me if I just apply the bc and then leave it alone (ie don't chill and scrape)
I like my buttercream warm too. I think the warmer it is the less airbubbles there are. I heat mine up with a hairdryer when needed.
That does make sense, Maria, but I don't think that's it either. I keep my butter out overnight so it is really, really soft when I add it to the egg whites. I've never noticed any bits that aren't melted in.
As for the eggs, I have overcooked mine before. It's sometimes hard to not get distracted! But, like with Springlakecake, the bumps appear only after it has been sitting for awhile and weren't there when I was icing or smoothing the cake.
I'd do some experimenting to see if I could figure out what is causing the little bumps, but making batches of SMBC can get expensive! (I only buy the nicest butter I can find and organic everything.) Perhaps for the next family cake...
I have never noticed this on a finished cake of mine - but i HAVE seen it on extra buttercream that I let sit off to the side for a few days. My thermostat is set on cycles and the AC is off at night - resulting in temps in the 80s. So maybe sitting temp is the key and certainly your cakes aren't sitting for days and days like my scrap bowls.
koryak: do you do the technique that I described (chilling the cake and then scraping/smoothing the cold buttercream)?
If it's a buttercream finish cake then no, I don't like the marks it leaves and the broken down icing if you are scraping more than just a rogue edge here or there. For fondant cakes yes definitely - but then they are almost immediately covered so I don't see later....
thanks! This might be the route I will take also, just under fondant. Unless I can solve and find a solution!
I don't like the marks it leaves and the broken down icing
Exactly. Little jaggedy patches and stuff. You don't need to do the chill and hot knife if you take your time while you're doing the first smoothing (room temp icing). Make sure your icing is on the soft er side, and on the last few swipes, use a hot scraper, but you won't have to chill and smooth again with enough practice.
Well if you dont scrape it too much then the icing doesnt look broken down or streaky...it looks great! ............until the stupid bumps appear that is.....LOL 
Well if you dont scrape it too much then the icing doesnt look broken down or streaky...it looks great! ............until the stupid bumps appear that is.....LOL
True. And not to beat a dead horse, if you do it right, and immediately after you put the icing on while it's room temp, you never have to hot knife it once it's cold. 
I realize that, but it's easier to get a nice flat top and straight sides when the buttercream is firm. Plus you can get rid of all of the knife marks. BUT if I can't figure out the bubble problem, I'll just have to do it the regular way
okay, well my hypothesis has bit the dust. since I thought the cold buttercream smoothing was the problem, I did not do it on the 4 tier buttercream cake I made last weekend....the bad news is that the bubbles still appeared! I ended up covering 2 of the tiers with cornelli lace and scraped off the buttercream off the the other two layers and re iced them. What I noticed when I scraped off the buttercream was that it was full of air and bubbles! I do not understand why the air is forming after it has been sitting for awhile???? I swear the buttercream is quite smooth at the time I ice the cake. This was not a problem for me in the past. The only other things I have changed recently that I can think of are that I added one more stick of butter and the use of the pasteurized egg whites from the carton instead of cracking eggs. I think I started noticing the bubbles before the carton egg whites though.... arrg! any other ideas?
2 BIG flags you didn't mention before... carton eggs whites and possibly adding too much fat to your commercially-altered, ultra pasteurized, additive-added protein (egg whites).
I can honestly say I have never had the problems you are having - but I use egg whites from eggs, not a carton.
I know some people say they use carton egg whites with no problems but on most store bought brands it says right on the carton "not suitable for meringues".
If you really want to test your recipe, make a batch as you have been making it with the extra butter and carton stuff, then make a batch using real egg whites. My money is on the carton stuff causing you problems.
well I didnt mention it before simply because I didn't think it was the problem. I did check the egg whites though and it says 100% egg whites with no added ingredients. I have in the past tired egg whites that did not work and did see the disclaimer that it does not work for meringue...and it didn't.
I hope it's not the egg whites honestly because the carton eggs save me time and I hate throwing away the egg yolks. but if that were the problem, I would happily go back to separating the egg.
Yeah, it's a little time consuming, but the end result is worth it. You don't have to toss the yolks, you can freeze them to be used to make yellow cake or curds.
I have thought about freezing but I know I don't have the need for 60 egg yolks a week. thanks though, I will experiment and see if that is the problem. I really think though I might have noticed the bumps before I started using the cartons. I only started noticing this in June and I can't recall exactly when I tried the carton, but I feel like it was mid summer.
We use cartons of whites that are meant for whipping. Are you making the icing with the whip then using on the cake? Or making with the whip, then paddling a super full bowl with a paddle until it's glassy THEN using? This will make a HUGE difference even if the batch looks good right after making.
I had the little bumps and have never used the carton egg whites. They only appeared once (the picture I posted earlier in the thread) and haven't happened since. Now that I am reading these later posts, I think it might be the butter. I think that on that batch of SMBC, my butter was a little colder than I normally have it. I usually soften it overnight. Could that be it? Once the buttercream is mixed, I would think that the butter would be fully emulsified or else I would have known, but perhaps little bits of butter - tiny enough that I wouldn't notice them when first smoothing the icing - created the air bubbles later? Now that sounds crazy when I write it.... But I can't think of anything else. Incidentally, I've made batches since then with no problem and no bumps. I've used the same recipe, same ratios, same everything except that I left the butter out overnight to soften completely.
km, I suggested exactly that earlier...I don't think you're crazy at all. It sounds perfectly logical.
Sorry I missed that earlier, Maria! I think that must be it.
I whip the meringue with the the wisk and then use the paddle. It is quite smooth when I am done with it. I have been making SMBC for about 5 years and only in the last 3 or so months have I noticed these bubbles! They started appearing about the same time I tried teh cold smoothing technique. Naturally that is why I thought that was the problem, but it must be something else. As I said when I scrapped off the buttercream it was just full of air underneath the outside coat. That must be what is pushing out the bumps of air on the surface coat. I KNOW for me it is not bits of butter. This is so frustrating. thanks for sticking with me though.
2 BIG flags you didn't mention before... carton eggs whites and possibly adding too much fat to your commercially-altered, ultra pasteurized, additive-added protein (egg whites).
I can honestly say I have never had the problems you are having - but I use egg whites from eggs, not a carton.
I know some people say they use carton egg whites with no problems but on most store bought brands it says right on the carton "not suitable for meringues".
If you really want to test your recipe, make a batch as you have been making it with the extra butter and carton stuff, then make a batch using real egg whites. My money is on the carton stuff causing you problems.
I currently use carton or will crack eggs for my SMBC recipe and have never had this problem. My preference is the carton that is purchased from a restaurant supplier not the grocery store. I do not think it is the egg whites. I will say that I do not scape my cakes either. At the restaurant, we did not typically do fondant covered cakes. Once iced they go in the fridge and come out to come to room temp before serving. No bubbles or issues.
I am wondering if it is the butter brand itself. They may have adjusted the water and milk solids and you are seeing it on the back end. I use James River and Plugra pretty much exclusively.
This is very strange issue.
I have been using the sam's club butter and egg whites. Suppose I could try another butter and see what happens
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