Let me start off by saying that I NEVER use Domino powdered sugar. I always use the store brand and I used to sift it... Well, after never having any issues with stones or lumps, the last few times I've made frosting, I've skipped the sifting.

So this time I am making a batch of Sugarshack's BC (yep, a whole mixerful), subbing out 2 c of the shortening for butter - YUM! And the Domino PS was on sale so I bought it an DIDN'T SIFT.

I now have 5 quarts of delicious buttercream that has stones of crystallized sugar running through it. Some are as big as my baby's fingernail. Bad, bad, bad.

I actually pushed half of it through a sieve, and I think I may be able to salvage it, but JEEZ!

Never again will I be lazy and skip my sifting. And never again will I buy Domino powdered sugar.

OH I feel for you!! I would be so upset !! I've had that happen too, but I have to say not with Domino. Trying to pipe that icing was a nightmare
Hope you can salvage it! Good Luck!

I'm debating it now... I have "strained" it and got a LOT of lumps. I can't find any in the remaining icing, but I'm still not sure that I want to serve this to people. I think I'll probably scrap it and re-do. Darnit!

But this is totally why I am such a freak about doing things early. The cake I need this icing for is being decorated Thursday (I baked it yesterday and it's in the freezer now) and picked up Friday. So I have plenty of time to remake without it throwing me off schedule at all. Truthfully, I made it today (instead of, say, Wednesday, LOL) because I wanted to taste it with the butter substitution which I've never done before.

If you have a Sam's club near you, I highly recommend the 7 lb. bags of the chef's/baker's powdered sugar they carry. I have never had any issues with it and I don't sift it. In my area it costs less than $4 per 7 lb. bag!!

That stinks.....I always use Domino's, I've never seen this kind of thing

Last week I was mixing the SCW Chocolate cake in my KA......I got cocky and started cracking the eggs right into the mixer bowl while it was slowly mixing. I never do this and I don't know what got into me, but one half of the shell got stuck on the beater and the entire egg fell in. Yup, I wasted all that sugar, chocolate, butter etc., there was no way to salvage it.....it had egg shells throughout. I called myself every name in the book, good thing I was alone

Usually I do buy the 7lb bags at Sam's, I paid 3.34 last time I bought one... But I only get there once a month or so, and I ran out - it's a 45 minute drive for me and I have 2 little ones. So as an alternative, I would typically get the WalMart brand 2 lb bags, but Domino was on sale - famous last words - GAH!

I remember HEARING strange noises when I was adding my PS, and thinking "It sounds like there are rocks in my mixer" - hello, DUH!

Your two little ones are adorable!!!

dkelly27 - That stinks! I ALWAYS cracked my eggs directly into the bowl until a month ago when I was trying out a new recipe and ended up with half a shell in there. It was just a half a recipe to see how it tasted, so I dug out the shell the best that I could and just went with it - I think I got it all because DH never said anything, LOL! But now I crack in a separate bowl because if it was for anything else, I would have had to scrap it and start over.

Christeena - Thank You! I love my handsome little boys. They amaze me every day!

Oh Pooh! This stuff makes me so mad when it happens....so sorry you have had some troubles! Keep your chin up!

-Michells

I always use store brand too, I think Domino's doesn't have proper quality control Whenever I'd pick up a bag of the sugar it was dusty, like a bag had broken somewhere. Broken bag=air in the sugar=lumpy sugar. My store brand never has dusty bags

I've never had that problem with the Domino brand just the store brand. I won't buy the store brand any more. I never sift the Domino sugar.

Debbie

I always use Domino sugar and rarely sift it. I think Ive only ever had 1 bag that had problems with lumps in it. I've started sifting more recently but I don't always. Sorry it happened to you, I know it was frustrating.

Well, no matter what kind I use, I will ALWAYS sift from now on.

Debbie - you might want to start sifting as well. I'm telling you, the crystals in there were like gravel, and they were clear, pure sugar crystals. BAD!

Hopefully you'll be able to salvage it with some patience. You mentioned that you substituted 2 cups of shortening for butter, how does it taste and did it change the texture? Did you add your creamer warm or cold?

I just got Sugarshacks video in the mail and want to try the recipe, but I do like the butter in my buttercream.

DFND -

I was a SugarShack convert the first time I made it a few months ago. But I can honestly tell you that with the substitutions I made this time, it is the best crusting BC I have ever had, and I have tried many.

I used 3.5 C Crisco and added my hot liquid + flavoring to that (I did 3 T PURE vanilla + 1t of almond). Once it was mixed, it had cooled back to about room temp. Then I added my room temperature butter - 2 Cups is just the whole pound...

In the past since I was using all shortening, I added butter flavor and since it was a pure white icing, I wanted to keep it that way so I used clear (imitation) vanilla. I can really taste a difference with real butter and pure vanilla - it's worth the off white color to me for this flavor. And I have heard that you can use white food coloring if you need pure white, so I may try that if I ever need to.

I also made a butter substitution to SugarShack's bc this week and LOVED IT!!! I did 1 cup unsalted butter and 3 cups Alpine, and 4 lbs of Domino sugar - I always sift, so no issues there.

I never thought if adding the butter *after* incorporating the shortening and sugar. I creamed the butter and Alpine together with my seasoning, then added the ps.

It really makes a difference, and I can look my customers in they eye and tell them that I don't use an "all crisco" bc .

I've never had any trouble with the Domino or Sam's bakers bag..and I never sift mine. Maybe some powdered sugar that hadn't been sifted 10 x, somehow got bagged? Anythings possible.