Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A
Buttercream problems
Does any one know if there is something I can add to buttercream to stop it melting when piping. I did the teddy bear cake today and it took me ages as I had to keep putting the butter cream back in the fridge. Also is it ok to store it in the fridge, its just too warm to leave it out
Does any one know if there is something I can add to buttercream to stop it melting when piping. I did the teddy bear cake today and it took me ages as I had to keep putting the butter cream back in the fridge. Also is it ok to store it in the fridge, its just too warm to leave it out
Hi michelle
The weather has been quite humid, and the warmth of you hands too will make butter cream melt. The best way to get good results is to divide the BC into two separate piping bags. Use one and keep the other one cool. When one starts melting transfer over and keep swapping around just like that. Another thing to do is plunge your hands in a bowl of ice before you begin icing, cold I know, brrrr! but hands soon warm up. It’s absolutely fine to keep BC in the fridge in a sealed container, away from and strong smells, eg onions. Bring the BC back to room temperature and whip it back up before use. Another thing to do is use a coupler on your icing bag for quick transfer. Hope this cures your melting problem. xx
Hi
Yes it is fine to but buttercream in the fridge if its becoming too hard to work with. As far as I know there is nothing you can put it, it will be affected by the heat, especially when you are holding the piping bag for a while. You could try royal icing for that cake as it may not be as affected by the heat and may be easier to work with. Good luck 🙂
Thanks, will definitely have two icing bags on the go next time and I did have to keep putting my hands in the freezer lol  and it didn’t help that I had the back door shut so flies didn’t come in, so it was really warm in my kitchen. I was a bit concerned about storing the finished cake in the fridge as I thought the fondant icing bits on the cake might bleed but I’ve checked this morning and its fine (phew). The butter cream on the cake is really hard but I don’t think I had any choice in this hot weather, will just have to take it out the fridge a couple of hours before.
Great job, but remember never to put a cake with roll out icing in the fridge, butter cream is fine, but the other one will melt if moisture gets into it. x
