Hello all!!
I'm new to cake central and hoping someone out there can help me. I'm having issues with my choc. buttercream, to me for some reason the choc tastes almost burnt idk whats up. I'm using a shortning based recipie and just am not having much luck. And also of note, I always cream the butter and crisco together add the vanilla and then add the cocoa and for some reason it's like it's chunking up on the bottom and leaving darker streaks on the side even though I'm beating it for several minutes. Just found this all to be a problem lately!

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!

Jenn

Try sifting the cocoa with some of your powdered sugar before adding it to your icing. You might also be happier with a dutch process cocoa, they may have less of a toasted taste.

Welcome to CC!!! I gave up on that method because mine never seemed to taste/look quite right either. Someone on here suggested adding chocolate ganache to regular buttercream and I love it! There are some pretty simple ganache recipes on this site if you don't have one & want to give this method a try. HTH - Kim

After it's all mixed, what speed are you beating it at?

Try the recipe on the back of the Hershey's cocoa can. It's all I ever use. Tastes wonderful and even crusts if you want to smooth it.