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lumpy buttercream - why??

post #1 of 10
12/17/10 at 1:12pm
Thread Starter 
Can anyone help? I keep ending up with lumps of shortening in my buttercream. I'm pretty sure I'm mixing long enough, but I can't figure out what else could be going wrong.
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post #2 of 10
12/17/10 at 1:28pm
Are you creaming the shortening before you add the powder sugar to it?
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post #3 of 10
12/17/10 at 1:37pm
I have a 'problem' with shortening in colder weather! If I don't give it a quick trip in the microwave to warm it up a bit, I tend to get the lumps that all the mixing in the world won't get rid of! My kitchen isn't the warmest this time of the year but in the heat of the summer I NEVER have that problem!

I weigh out the shortening on a microwave save plate, give it 10-20 seconds, check for 'softness' and repeat if necessary. Then it goes into the mixer for a a bit before adding the powdered sugar.
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post #4 of 10
12/17/10 at 2:14pm
Thread Starter 
oh! no I wasn't creaming it first. I will try that. And my kitchen is chilly this time of year too. Thanks for the help, both of you!
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post #5 of 10
12/17/10 at 2:44pm
I cream the shortening a little to break it up, then add the water and cream some more. Then in goes the powder sguar. If you get it smooth before the powder sugar you shouldn't have crisco lumps. And you can crank the mixer up how ever high you want when you are creaming just the shortening.
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post #6 of 10
12/17/10 at 3:10pm
Cream the shortening, cream the sugar and shortening for a looooong time until perfectly smooth, add warm water, not cold.
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post #7 of 10
12/17/10 at 3:24pm
Quote:
Quote:

Cream the shortening, cream the sugar and shortening for a looooong time until perfectly smooth, add warm water, not cold.


thumbs_up.gif What she said!
Muffins are just ugly cupcakes.
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Muffins are just ugly cupcakes.
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post #8 of 10
12/17/10 at 3:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ellyane

oh! no I wasn't creaming it first. I will try that. And my kitchen is chilly this time of year too. Thanks for the help, both of you!



I use butter and shortening in my buttercream and I beat it TO DEATH...at a pretty high speed. At this stage, you don't need to worry about air bubbles, so beat it! (Just beat it, ow!)
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post #9 of 10
1/10/11 at 12:57pm
i usually make by frostings with butter. but this tip works with shortening too.

if you have butter or shortening that is causing lumps in your icing it is in part because you didnt whip it enough. however, its also because the shortening or butter was too cold when you added it. so this is what i normally do.....

wet a small cloth or towel and heat it in the microwave until its quite warm (45 sec or so). then hold it up to the bottom of your mixing bowl while your whip or paddle is mixing the frosting for a few seconds. this will slightly melt the fat and help it mix in! you can use a kitchen torch too if you have one. just torch the outside of the bowl while its mixing for a few seconds!!
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post #10 of 10
1/10/11 at 6:49pm
Cream your shortening on medium/high for 15 minutes. Seriously. It should be very fluffy and look like sour cream after you beat it for that long. I also throw a palm full of popcorn salt (it's very fine) into the shortening at this point. It cuts the sweetness of the BC a bit after all that powdered sugar is added.

My house is cool all year round and I've never had a problem with lumpy shortening using this abusive method.

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