Can anyone tell me why when I color my buttercream, the color does not completely mix in? There are still white spots throughout it. What am I doing wrong? I don't know how to explain it anymore, so I hope someone knows what I am talking about. I tried finding other threads about this, but could not. Thanks for any help!!

Is this happening mostly with dark colors? And you don't really see it until after it is in the bag?

My thought is on dark colors you are adding alot of extra liquid to the icing and that throws off the balance of things. I fix this by adding in cornstarch, and it has worked for me to fix it.

I have this issue myself with both Wilton and Americolor, so I don't think it is a brand thing, but more about the amount of color added.

Make sure your shortning/butter is really creamed well. I have noticed that some students have an issue with white spots - but they are really little blobs of the shorting/butter that have not been completely creamed.

Another thing is the salt if you use it. Dissolve it in the liquid before adding it to the mix....and you can use unflavored popcorn salt too, which is a finer grain.

Ahh Loucinda I was thinking about the seperation that can happen with darker colors, not the spoting. Of course I have my own thoughts on what causes the spotting that happens in purple, pink and blue.

Sweet Cakes, does it happen in certain colors, dark colors or any/all colors? Are they little dots of white or more of a seperation of liquid (colored part) and solids (white part)?

Texassugar- I would say it's more of a separation. They are not blobs as I have had that problem in the past and was able to correct that by creaming my shortening/liquids longer, and I notice it more with dark colors because of the contrast from white to whatever color I make it. It doesn't look bad in the bowl, but then it looks really bad in the bag when I do pipe with it or when I completely cover a cake. I, too, thought that I was using too much liquid, even what the recipe calls for, so I added some more PS to it, but that still did not help.
Loucinda- I do cream the shortening really well.. I think I will try your suggestion on adding the salt with the wet ingredients to see what happens then. I have heard of others doing that, but I have not tried it yet.

There were a couple good suggestions of things to look at already.
Another possibility is that they are small chunks of icing sugar. Sometimes you'll find that they are a big lighter than the colour you are going for because they have taken on some of the moisture/colour already. Do you sift your sugar? This might help (though is very time consuming).
Good luck!

Okay that's what I thought it was then. For some reason the colors don't seperate until they are in the bag. Not sure if the warmth from the hands causes it or what.

Try adding in some cornstarch. It will absorb the extra liquid more than just powder sugar will. When I make dark deep colors now I just throw in some cornstarch as I'm mixing in the color.

CakeSliceGirl, I don't sift..lol.. but I think I will try that as well.
TexasSugar, how much cornstarch do you add in to your recipe? and it doesn't alter the taste any?

Thanks so much for all your help! I REALLY appreciate it!

Your powder already had cornstarch in it. I just add it into the colors I am making darker. Maybe about a teaspoon per cup. I don't really measure it, just dump some in.

Thanks TS - I will remember that tip too!

I never knew about adding cornstarch. Thats why I love this site,

Thank you TexaSugar for the tip.

Little white spots are from the salt that hasn't been dissolved. Does your recipe call for salt? If so,make sure the salt is completely dissolved in the liquid before adding to the recipe. Some people use popcorn salt because it dissolves better because it is so fine.
HTH