Ok, I've never understood this. If you make real buttercream it calls for unsalted butter but you add salt what is the point?

Can I just use salted butter?

I agree, that doesn't make sense. I use a stick of each, salted and unsalted, in my bc (Buttercream Dream recipe on here).

yes. if you are making a very sweet buttercream like american buttercream, salted is fine. If you are making swiss or italian meringue buttercream then salted butter is a disaster (tho no other added salt called for either.)

Thought most bakers/decorators liked unsalted butter because it was supposed to be "fresher" (more turn-over because it doesn't contain salt as a preservative), and that by using unsalted they controlled the amount of salt in their recipes.

ShirleyW's IMBC uses salted butter and has many good reviews:

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-2426-Italian-Meringue-Buttercream--Shirleys-Method.html

HTH

Okay, so that DOES make sense! Thanks JanH! (P.S. I can't believe you changed your avatar! I loved looking at Denzel! )

So you can control how much salt is going into your recipe.

The quantity of salt in salted butter can vary greatly between brands and even within different batches of the same brand of salted butter.

You counter this issue by using unsalted butter and adding the quantity of salt as needed for that particular recipe.