Gritty Buttercream Experiment.....
Decorating By BuncoHappens Updated 13 May 2009 , 12:35pm by Loucinda
I have tried many b/c recipes over the years and have never been happy with either the flavor, texture or grittiness. I tried Sugarshack's once, but didn't have much success....possibly on my part, who knows. It just wasn't completely smooth enough and still gritty. The store brand of the powdered sugar doesn't make a difference.
Today I made the Whimsical Bakehouse recipe because of the hot water base. There is absolutely no grittiness! I wasn't real happy with the flavor and I added a few drops of cotton candy flavoring. The taste was wonderful, but the consistency was too soft. I added more butter and ended up adding more powdered sugar at the end to stiffen it up and still no grit. I haven't actually used it yet, so we'll see....I think it's still too soft for my liking.
I think the hot water has a part to play in the the grittiness. The W/B recipe starts off with water and p. sugar then adds the shortening, etc. Maybe if I experiment more and start off with less of a liquid base, it won't be quit as soft.
Any advice or thoughts??
No advice, sorry, but would you be prepared to share the recipe? I also don't like gritty BC, and I've only seen to beat and beat to make it smooth, but it never really does. I love SMBC as a filling, but I prefer a crusting BC for covering cakes, so this sounds great. If it's too soft, maybe just add a little less liquid next time?
I use half of the water that the WBH recipe calls for because using a full cup makes it way too soft. I love the way that stuff tastes!!!
As for the grittiness, I just don't see how you can be getting gritty buttercream if you are using 10x powdered sugar. The 10x refers to the size of the grains of powdered sugar, and 10x is standard icing sugar fineness (and no, 10x does not refer to the number of times it has been sifted).
I personally use 6x powdered sugar and have no grittiness issues.
Keep experimenting until you find the BC you like. It's all fun right?
I have found the only time I have grittiness problems is when I use the BOX powdered sugar or a cheap brand of powdered sugar. I don't have much choices here where I live, so I have to go with what is available.
That darn box powdered sugar , I just will not put up with anymore.
Hope you find one you like. And don't forget to experiment with technique as well as recipe. I have used the same BC recipe for many years and it's a fail-safe recipe and technique, so I know the only variable was the box PS.
Here is what I do. Cream the butter and crisco with extracts before adding powdered sugar from a bag. Once creamed well, then I add 1 cup of PS at a time and cream a little more each time. When I am halfway done (at 4 cups PS) I switch the beater from the wisk to the mixer blade on my KA. That way there is no extra air being added etc... Of course I add milk at certain times to get me to the desired consistency.
Hope this helps.
I never use the whisk on either one of my K-A mixers, I just cream the fats with the blade to begin with....works out fine!
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