Ok..made a tool box with tools for my nephew's birthday this weekend. the tool box was a beautiful robin's egg blue. I left it to crust over and when I went back to brush it with glimmer, I had the most perfect blue and white speckled box. I could have not done that if I had tried. It was perfect!!! My mom and sis said to leave it, that it looked like I had done it on purpose. Also made a mother's day cake and used the same batch of frosting for my leaves and the same thing happened only it looked like my leaves had a disease. I read on here to use cheaper shortening for the trans fats. Is that what happened to my frosting? I know it was mixed very well. I have 2 cakes to do for this weekend and would rather this did not happen. Any advice??
This happened once to me using blue as well. Someone thought it was the salt in the recipe and suggested using popcorn salt. I stopped using salt all together and I haven't had that issue Some people thought it was the wilton coloring I used. I don't know for certain, but here's a bump anyway.
I wish i had some advice for you, but only sympathy since it happens to me to 
I end up with speckled buttercream sometimes and I dont do anything differently that causes it (not that I know of)
I certainly hope that someone can help...
I have had this happen before with blue, pink, and purple. I do use salt in my bc and also was using the Wilton colors. The pink one happened when I was taking my Wilton 1 course, so I took it to class that way hoping my WMI could tell me what caused it. She said she didn't know, but that it has happened to other students too. I tend to think it was salt that didn't get dissolved properly, but I really don't know for sure.
I dont use any salt, but I do use the wilton colors...
I really hope that is not what is causing it... I cant get any other colors without ordering something online 
I'm wondering if you used the paste colors. I have had the same thing happen to me with the paste colors - I think because they dry out and don't dissolve well in the buttercream. I have switched to liquid color - no problems since.
When the paste colors dry out, you can add a little glycerine to them to get them back to the right consistency.
When your WMI said not to use liquid colors, she most likely meant the liquid colors from the grocery store...but unless you were trying to make red you probably wouldn't add so much that it changed the texture of your frosting.
Maybe you could try dissolving the salt in the milk (or water, whatever liquid your recipe has) before you add it in, and see if that helps. I use Indydebi's buttercream recipe and it's not too sweet, even without salt. If you've never tried it, you should. I hesitated a long time because I'm naturally a cheap person 
and the dream whip powder is so expensive...but now it's the only buttercream I use.
I did use salt, probably more than I should. I can't find the popcorn salt locally and everyone always complains that the frosting is too sweet.
no popcorn salt? Try the salt packets you can get from McDonalds, they use a super fine grain salt 
I did use salt, probably more than I should. I can't find the popcorn salt locally and everyone always complains that the frosting is too sweet.
The salt is a very important component in buttercream recipes, so you do not want to omit it. Simply dissolve your regular table salt in whatever liquid you are adding to your icing.
Also, you don't need to feed nasty trans fats to your family. If you look at my recipes, I have a great buttercream icing recipe that is made with zero trans fat Crisco that I have used and given to my Wilton students for the past 11 years.
I use high ratio shortening in all of my clients' cakes but use zero trans fat Crisco in any icings that call for shortening in my family's cakes. I don't feed them trans fats, and I will be glad when they are banned across the US so the high ratio shortenings will likewise be TF free.
I too had this happen. I realized afterwards though that it was my wilton color and it was probably about 10,000 years old and getting goopy. Sorry this happened to you!
.........Wilton instructor advised against liquid colors, said liquid compromised the texture of the frosting..........
another WMI who doesn't know any better
The tiny amount of liqua-paste one would use to color icing will have NO bearing/ compromising of texture! Now, if you are using those (super tiny) bottles of grocery store liquid food coloring those could alter the icing a *very tiny* bit. Nothing wrong with using paste colors Us 'old-timers' had nothing else to choose from and we survived just fine 
The cause of spotting has never really been figured out. As has been said, many think it is caused by salt not dissolving but there have been people who had spotting who said they did not use any salt.
If you do use salt, dissolve it in any liquid used (well) before adding that to the frosting.
.........Wilton instructor advised against liquid colors, said liquid compromised the texture of the frosting..........
another WMI who doesn't know any better
The tiny amount of liqua-paste one would use to color icing will have NO bearing/ compromising of texture! Now, if you are using those (super tiny) bottles of grocery store liquid food coloring those could alter the icing a *very tiny* bit.
I do not know exactly what you are referring to when you say "liqua-paste" (something I have never seen referenced anywhere before), but as a WMI, I do advise against the use of grocery store liquid food colorings because they add a lot of liquid to the icing ~ relative to the AMOUNT of icing being colored. Perhaps when one is coloring an entire BATCH of icing, the consistency may not be negatively altered, but my students who do not listen to me and add half a teaspoon of liquid color to half a cup of icing, trying to get bright pink or deep green, definitely DO have too-thin icing.
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