I made a batch of this buttercream and absolutely loved the taste but it was gritty from the dream whip, I think. My friend and I were tasting it and she asked me if I put sand in it! Are you supposed to dissolve the dream whip in anything first? And is it the dream whip that makes the buttercream so sturdy? Thanks all!

forgot to mention one other thing.. and hopefully this will give me a "bump" on this thread! I iced a cooled cake with this and covered it in a cake container on the counter overnight. In the morning the icing was really soft and was sort of buckling at the base of the cake. However, when I left it uncovered all afternoon it crusted up. Are you supposed to keep cakes frosted like this either in the fridge or out in the open rather than covered?

Since Crisco now has no transfat, the Dream Whip adds back stability with its emulsifiers and binders.

As for your frosting... Did you sift your powdered sugar prior to mixing? Do you use pure cane sugar? (I find it makes a difference! A much bigger difference than using 6x p.s.)

How much milk did you use? (More milk makes a creamier frosting.)
How long did you beat the frosting?

To answer your 2nd set of questions.

Crusting occurs more quickly if the cake is not covered.
You can cover (box) a frosted cake, but airtight containers are not recommended for the reasons you've mentioned.

Refrigeration is not recommended or necessary, unless either the frosting or filling are perishable - then it's a necessity!

HTH

I actually made a batch using some high-ratio shortening (sweetex) and then another batch using crisco and they both were a bit gritty. I used sifted powdered sugar and did a bit more milk than the recipe called for. I beat it for about 5 minutes; should I beat it longer?

My local bakery has gritty buttercream and I personally do not mind it but I wasn't sure if the dream whip made it gritty since I didn't dissolve it in anything

i have made it about 6 times.. go right by the recipe.. it is always gritty.. try sharon zambito's icing. she shows how to make it on youtube. she uses hi-ratio shortening.. you don,t have to use the flavoring she uses.. try hers. you will love it.. hth

5 minutes of beating isn't sufficient to soften the shortening and inncorporate the rest of the ingredients.

Here are some threads on making her recipe:

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-622580-.html

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-628765-.html

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-609513-.html

Seems dissolving the Dream Whip in warmed milk, and adding with a bit of p.w. after "pulverizing" the shortening helps a lot.

HTH

The dream whip is most likely the factor in the texture you're tasting. I've only used this icing recipe for years (decades) so either I'm used to it or I have beer-n-bologna tastebuds, becasue I don't notice a gritty taste.

Agree with Jan that some CC'ers have shared dissolving the D.W. in warm milk seemed to have helped the texture when they made it.

I also don't think there's such as thing as overbeating this icing. I've left the mixer runnng for a long time (15 minutes or more) while I've done other things. Icing needs really blended to break up the fat particles and blend. Not "mixed" ...... "blended".

Sharon's video has some good techniques and if I recall correctly, the mixer was running for quite a while, also.

I haven't noticed this one to be gritty. I mix the liquid ingredients with the Dream Whip and then add the powdered sugar and it's worked really well.

The times I've had gritty icing is when I used a store name brand of powdered sugar.

Gimmesugar,
I use the Wilton recipe and have found from time to time that if I add the PS too quickly it will be a little gritty even after stiffing the PS. I experimented by adding the PS a tablespoon at a time instead of a cup at a time and it seemed to be much smoother and a lot less gritty.
Goodluck,
Mrcake01

Though I love the taste, I have also encountered gritty texture. I have dissolved the DW in the milk, I have used the correct PS and used the shorteneing with trans fat. I'm thinking it may be the Louisiana heat since others don't report grit. I'm assuming the dream whip is acting as the stabelizer?? Other recipes I've tried only ask for 1T of Merenge (sp?)Powder, so the next time I make IndyDeb's, I'm only going to use 1T of dream whip instead of 3 to see if my grit is gone.

I love Debi's buttercream, but have tweaked a few things in that I found it gritty from the Dream Whip as well. I actually cut the Dream Whip to 2.5 tablespoons instead of three full tablespoons. Another lady's buttercream recipe always called for "creaming" all ingredients for at least 5 min before ps is ever added, so it has been a habit of mine for years to do just that. I add all of the ingredients including warm creamer (I know the original recipe calls for milk) and beat until the shortening is completely smooth. Then I add the ps a lb at a time - not all at once. After all the ps is incorporated, I put the mixer on medium and let it beat for a good little bit. No grit.