Getting this “messy” rustic look takes some technique beyond just slapping on the frosting :). To get the cake to stay even I found I had to have a nice solid frosting base but when I tried using a room temperature cake it became too messy and uneven as I worked the frosting so I frosted my cake with the Smooth Frosting technique (didn’t have to be exactly perfect) then chilled the cake completely so that when I started “spackeling” on more frosting it held its shape. I used my small spatula and made C shaped swirls in two different directions.
a little faith and a lot of frosting