Help-chocolate frosting is clumping

[HappyAnniversary]

Please help me rescue my buttercream frosting. It is butter, powdered sugar and skim milk. Instead of looking creamy, when I pipe it, the edges of the frosting look cracked. I am making for a present and want it to look good. Thanks.

Fixed it!!! it needed more butter. I would delete the thread but don't know how.

 

[Jas12]

If the edges look cracked your buttercream is too thick. You need to add more moisture to give it that creamy consistency. BUT i would not use skim milk. 2% should be fine, but skim is watery and will not combine well with the fat solids in the butter (think oil and water--don''t bind)

If you have regular milk i would add a bit more butter and sugar and then add in some milk until the consistency is smooth. Beat with mixer for a few minutes.

 

[somethingshiny]

Ditto on the consistency. I would add clear corn syrup if you have it though. The corn syrup is the Wilton''s recipe for Buttercream. Milk blands the frosting too much and can cause a funny taste. The syrup keep a smooth consistency and blends well without separating. 1-2 tbsp should be plenty to give you a medium firm consistency.

 

[HappyAnniversary]

Thanks Jas12 and Somethingshiny--I realized the skim milk was just making it worse, it make sense that the oil/water don''t mix idea.,But skim is all we keep in the house. We don''t keep corn syrup either ( as a kid this is what we always drizzled on biscuits, never honey), but I would love to try it next time. So shiny --you use no milk ever? just syrup? So anyway, happy ending!!! extra butter fixed it and they are all piped on and looking great!! Thanks!!!!!!!

 

[pennquaker09]

Coffee creamer works well also.

 

[HappyAnniversary]

Wow--coffee creamer is a great idea, and I could use it to add flavors, I had hazelnut creamer at home, that sound delicious. Thanks for the tip.

 

[somethingshiny]

I use 2 tbsp milk and then thin to the consistency I want with corn syrup. The first two tbsp you don''t taste, but with any more, I get an off flavor.

Wilton''s Buttercream Icing

1/2 C solid vegetable shortening
1/2 C butter or margarine
1 tsp Vanilla extract
2 Tbsp milk

Cream butter and shortening with electric mixer. Add vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Makes 3 cups.

Keep icing covered with a damp cloth until ready to use. For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use. Refrigerated in an airtight container, this icing can be stored for 2 weeks. Rewhip before using.

For CHOCOLATE buttercream icing: Add 3 oz melted unsweetened chocolate and 1 Tbsp more milk to Buttercream Icing Recipe.

**I usually just add about 1/3 cup of cocoa powder instead of Wilton''s chocolate method. Mine is just a bit on the "dark chocolate" flavored side which I like with chocolate cake because it isn''t overly sweet.

This recipe is ideal for thick consistency icing used for making many flowers. Most decorations are made using medium consistency icing--for medium consistency, add 1 1/2 - 2 Tbsp of light corn syrup. Ice cakes using thin consistency icing, add 3 - 4 Tbsp of light corn syrup.

 

[HappyAnniversary]

Thanks shiny--question, I am always using 100% butter, do you think the shortening changes the flavor much? What is its advantage over 100% butter, is it taste (I doubt it!) s it must add physical advantages like holding the shape better? If I added the shortening do you think people could tell the diff?

 

[FrekeChild]

Date: 6/27/2009 1:59:08 PM
Author: HappyAnniversary
Thanks shiny--question, I am always using 100% butter, do you think the shortening changes the flavor much? What is its advantage over 100% butter, is it taste (I doubt it!) s it must add physical advantages like holding the shape better? If I added the shortening do you think people could tell the diff?

I''m not somethingshiny, but more than qualified to answer the questions at hand.

Shortening is gross. It doesn''t have a "flavor". It doesn''t really have a physical advantage either, except that it doesn''t melt except in very high temperatures. So butter softens significantly in room temperature areas, and shortening doesn''t. In fact, shortening doesn''t really melt at body temperature either. Thats why you have a waxy feeling inside your mouth after you eat something with it in there. Butter melts at body temperature, so you don''t get that waxy feeling when you eat items made with butter.

I would be able to tell the difference, but I don''t know that anyone else would. I WOULDN''T add it though. It will change the flavor, and the texture. And IMHO, not in a good way.

 

[somethingshiny]

Freke is the professional!!

I posted the WILTON recipe, not my own. I use the corn syrup from the Wilton''s recipe but my grandma''s recipe for the rest of the buttercream. I ONLY use butter because I don''t like the flavor the shortening adds or the "waxy" feel that Freke mentioned (I also don''t like the flavor of margarine in the icing). I know a professional baker who ALWAYS uses the shortening, and when in contest, my cakes and cookies trump hers and I think it''s purely the icing.

 

[HappyAnniversary]

Thanks Shiny and Freke--I will stick with butter! Actually-I like the cake taste much more than the frosting, and end up scooping off a lot of it.

 

[icekid]

Date: 6/28/2009 9:42:58 AM
Author: HappyAnniversary
Thanks Shiny and Freke--I will stick with butter! Actually-I like the cake taste much more than the frosting, and end up scooping off a lot of it.

Haha, you sound like me! Who needs frosting??

 

[Mara]

ditto the shortening is gross comment. i have a bit of it in the pantry that i have used to try for pie crusts and other things because recipe called for it but honestly in the end you can make mods that taste so much better without it.

ditto the non skim milk comments. i only ever bake with full fat milk now even if we don''t drink it. it does make a huge difference in the consistency of any baked good. and if you have it, Clover milk is the best i have found.

re not so much milk in the frosting...i have to say in cream cheeses you don''t notice as much. in buttercream you definitely can...but i would never use ''no milk'' in my frosting.

coffee creamer? that sounds so not appealing!!! but then again i am not a fan of that anyway in general so i wouldn''t bake with it.