Someone told me that I should sift my powder sugar before using it in a buttercream recipe. My question is, if the recipe calls for 4 cups do i sift and then poor the powdered sugar into a measuring cup or do I measure out the sugar first and then sift it and add it. Sorry if I am making it sound confusing. It just seems that if i scoop it first then its more compacted in the cup and I dont want to end up using more than I am supposed to. Or, does it not even matter how I do it. Should I just do it as i was, which was measure it out with a cup without sifting and just pour in a little at a time. How do you guys and gals do it? Any help would be great. Thanks.

It depends on what the recipe says. If it says 4 c. powdered sugar, sifted - You measure out 4 c. of powdered sugar and sift it. If it says 4 c. of sifted powdered sugar - You sift the sugar and then measure out 4 c. If it really doesn't say, I would measure out however much your recipe calls for and then sift it. If you don't like the consistency of you buttercream either add more liquid to thin or more powdered sugar if it is too runny. This is how I do it. Perhaps other do it differently.

all4show is exactly right. however, whether it says sifted or not, just sift it. for example, my recipe calls for 2lbs of p.sugar. I open a 2lb bag, sift the whole thing, and throw it in the mixing bowl. Sifting just seems to make it a smoother end-result!

I always sift and it does make for a much smoother butter cream... I normally sift mine onto a piece of parchment paper and add it in one cup at a time

HTH

Thank you very much everyone. I think I will measure it first and sift it.