Swiss Meringue Buttercream Looks Like Cottage Cheese
Decorating By creativesweets1 Updated 12 Apr 2014 , 2:50am by Crystal72384
AI made Swiss Meringue buttercream and it was nice and fluffy. I put it in the fridge to use for the next day and put in the mixer to mix again and it looks like cottage cheese. I try putting 1/4 cup in the microwave for 15 min placed it into the mixer bowl to mix again and still looks like that. How long those it has to mix for to get back it's fluffy stage again? Or I'm I doing something wrong? Please help!
It sounds like it is too cold. If you keep mixing it might come together or it might completely separate to butter chunks and clear syrup (still retrievable though!). If the buttercream is not whipping up quickly, it needs to be warmed. I warm the side of the mixing bowl gently with a blow dryer (or I also have a small space heater) held a foot or so away while running the mixer. As soon as it starts to come together, turn of the warmer, but keep mixing until smooth. So far, I've been able to save everything. Hope it works.
Same thing happened to me after I took it out of the fridge….just keep mixing!
AYup it's too cold.. You need to warm it up a bit. I've tried microwaving it for about 10 sec intervals n rewhipping it :) comes back to it's fluffy goodness :)
You can't just put meringue buttercream on your mixer when it is very cold or you'll get the results you got. You have two choices: 1) let it sit out and warm to room temp, in which case it will whip up just fine, or 2) get it close to room temp by other means. The butter needs to be soft enough to remain emulsified, which means it can't be hard. Think spreadability. Really cold butter from the fridge would tear bread if you tried to spread it, right? But once it softens up a bit, it can spread okay if not ideally, and once it is near room temp, it spreads easily. You want your buttercream to reach a reasonably spreadable state -- that's when it beats up best.
If I've put the buttercream in a container in the fridge (or even freezer), I sometimes sit the closed container in warm water (below the level of the opening) and to warm up a portion of the buttercream. Sometimes I cut the buttercream into chunks and spread it out on wax paper to increase surface area exposed to the warmth of the room to speed up the softening process. I like the idea of a heater that someone mentioned. These methods take time, but are faster than just waiting for a bowl to warm up. If you are in a hurry, you can warm up some of the buttercream in the microwave and add it to the just-from-the-fridge buttercream, which is what you tried. However, you'll need up to about 1/4 of the batch (not 1/4 cup) warmed up to the point where it has just melted -- it will look like melted ice cream and will NOT be hot but will be warm to the touch -- and I'd use no more than 15 second intervals in the microwave, repeated as needed, to melt it. 15 minutes is waaaaay too long. Pour the melted buttercream in slowly over the cold stuff (which ideally you've cut into chunks) as it mixes on low speed. It should come together. Hope this helps. Good luck.
A
Original message sent by deuceofcakes
You can't just put meringue buttercream on your mixer when it is very cold or you'll get the results you got. You have two choices: 1) let it sit out and warm to room temp, in which case it will whip up just fine, or 2) get it close to room temp by other means. The butter needs to be soft enough to remain emulsified, which means it can't be hard. Think spreadability. Really cold butter from the fridge would tear bread if you tried to spread it, right? But once it softens up a bit, it can spread okay if not ideally, and once it is near room temp, it spreads easily. You want your buttercream to reach a reasonably spreadable state -- that's when it beats up best.
If I've put the buttercream in a container in the fridge (or even freezer), I sometimes sit the closed container in warm water (below the level of the opening) and to warm up a portion of the buttercream. Sometimes I cut the buttercream into chunks and spread it out on wax paper to increase surface area exposed to the warmth of the room to speed up the softening process. I like the idea of a heater that someone mentioned. These methods take time, but are faster than just waiting for a bowl to warm up. If you are in a hurry, you can warm up some of the buttercream in the microwave and add it to the just-from-the-fridge buttercream, which is what you tried. However, you'll need up to about 1/4 of the batch (not 1/4 cup) warmed up to the point where it has just melted -- it will look like melted ice cream and will NOT be hot but will be warm to the touch -- and I'd use no more than 15 second intervals in the microwave, repeated as needed, to melt it. 15 minutes is waaaaay too long. Pour the melted buttercream in slowly over the cold stuff (which ideally you've cut into chunks) as it mixes on low speed. It should come together. Hope this helps. Good luck.
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AThat is completely normal. Just turn your mixer on and beat it until it gets smooth. This can take 5-10 minutes. It's really weird...all the sudden it will just smooth out and be perfect!
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