Buttercream icing

[_Louisa_]

I'm using buttercream icing on a load of cupcakes and I want them to be very neat, but the problem is, it keeps sticking to the knife and not the cake - has anyone got any tips to stop that? One thing that did work for a while was adding a splash for boiling water so that the butter melted, but you can only add too much before it gets too runny... I'm making a huge batch for a party on the 23rd and I really need some advice because I'm a complete perfectionist and can't stand them looking messy!

[ursula62]

When my mum used to make butterfly cakes and cupcakes for parties she used to use an icing syringe to put the buttercream on. If you add just a drop of buttermilk to the mix it becomes soft enough to pipe rosettes through a wide nozzle. Or you can ice spirals and snowflake patterns with a narrower nozzle.

[delilahcat]

Rather than adding water to the buttercream, keep a cup of hot water next to you and dip the knife in the water then wipe it dry. The heat will soften the buttercream enough to spread it, but not water it down. You should be able to do several at a time before needing to re-dunk the knife.

Hope this helps.

[_Louisa_]

Fantastic! Thanks guys, you have no idea how much of a help you've been!