Holey smokes...the price of butter! I am shell-shocked, which would make more sense if it were the price of eggs .

I just can't believe how much food costs have risen this year - especially the past few months. I've finally given in and raised my prices. I'm just wondering, now how many clients will give up on custom cakes for the big box/grocery store ones...*sigh*.

Huh. I haven't bought more than 5 pounds of butter in the last five years, I'll bet . . .

Yes! My local grocery store has 4 sticks, store brand, butter for $4. I went to Walmart and they had it for $2.89, 2 weeks ago... hope it hasn't gone up since.

Leah, no butter?! I can't imagine... I have butter in my cakes, butter in my buttercream...

But yeah, Sam's went from $6.67 to $10.77 for 4 pounds of butter in the last couple of months. It's insane.

I noticed that yesterday at sams club and costco it sucks. Let's hope the price goes down. I have too many fall and Christmas treats with butter!

I agree , it has gone up a lot. I was lucky to find some on sale a Smart and Final for $2.59 a lb but everywhere else I've looked it $3.50 - $4.00 a lb . . . yikes. So with the cost of eggs and butter going up soon it will be worth it's weight in gold

You don't use butter in anything Leahs?

I don't use butter either, unless I'm making cookies (which luckily isn't often). I wasn't even aware that the price had gone up! I do, however, blow through eggs like nobody's business. Hopefully those don't go up!

I feel everyone's pain. I am praying for lower prices. I make about 350 lbs of English Toffee each winter and the price of butter, sugar, nuts, and chocolate have all gone up significantly! I am really nervous about my costs this year... really nervous!

It's not just butter that's going up. C&H powdered sugar costs $.20 more this week than last week at my local grocery store.

I noticed this at my supermaket last week. The price has gone up by 50% in one week!!! Guess its a world wide increase.
a 250gram block was £1 now its £1.50!!

I just paid $2.69 for a pound of butter and was not particularly happy about it since two weeks ago I paid $2.19. If you aren't putting butter in your cakes, what are you using? Shortening? Does it change flavor, texture, crumb, etc?

Aldi's has it for $1.79 a pound. i stock up and freeze them... I also get their powdered sugar and other baking supplies for way under what others charge...

I buy Alpine for icing and regular veg shortening for cakes. ALL my recipes are formulated for shortening. And for the few cookie recipes I use, i sub in at least half of the called-for butter with shortening. Since veg shortening has a higher melting point, the cookies stay chewier and rise/don't go flat and crispy. I choose my ingredients based on what I want them to do in the recipe. Butter isn't good for baking IMO, but tastes lovely on toast.

We use real dairy butter (sometimes some oil) in all our cake recipes, and our Italian meringue frosting uses 6 sticks just in one batch! Around here people expect real butter and top quality/fresh ingredients in all their cakes and frostings. Especially for the price they pay for them. We especially dislike the taste of frosting made with shortning like you get from chain grocery store bakeries. Tastes like sweetened grease! Nothing can replace the taste of real ingredients in baking. Our opinion anyway!

I have stopped using butter in my buttercream and use half trex half cream cheese and IMO its much nicer and not so sickly.

I used to buy my butter from Sainsburys as its the cheapest place at 98 pence for 250g

Oops...that's shortening not shortning!

I don't use butter in my BC either, ( gasp!), but use it in lots of other things. I'm really complaining about the rise in food costs in general . I'm a caterer as well as baker...I could hardly believe how much I had to spend on chicken breasts - ridiculous!!

I use so much butter and veg. shortening and plastic wrap that I'm starting to get weird looks from the checkers at the grocery store. But I agree, the cost of butter is atrocious! I wish I didn't love it as much as I do!

Groceries in general have gone up alot recently. I know my grocery bill is starting to surpass my mortgage payment especially if they keep rising at the rate they have been.