Working on a cake now. Just made, for the first time, Sharon Zambitos buttercream icing. Used half sweetex, half butter. Followed instructions. Icing is not smooth--looks kind of "curdly" and seems awfully soft. Have never used sweetex before. Tried adding a little more sugar-no real change. Anyone ever had this happen? Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

did you add too much liquid? I usually make her bc with crisco only so don't know if the butter had something to do with the curdle. try mixing it longer. sometimes it take a little while to mix all ingredients.

I've never used Sweetex before but I have read where some say if it curdles you just keep beating and it will come back together. Hope you get it worked out. Maybe someone else will reply that has used Sweetex.

Oh my, I use Sweetex ALL the time. I will NEVER go back to store shortening ever again. My BC is never anything but smooth & creamy and people are never disappointed. I also do not use any butter in mine. Maybe the two combined is giving you the lumps.

I use a mixture of both. I will tell you that the more butter you use, the better it taste, BUT butter is a lot harder to smooth as it crusts faster. For my wedding cakes I usually use 3 parts sweetex to 1 part butter.

Here's the solution to your problem...

When you make your icing, you need to put just the sweetex in the bowl and cream it for 7-10 min. It will get whiter and very creamy. Then mix in the "softened" butter (should be creamy and smooth). Mix in the other wet ingred. (water or milk, flavorings). Then slowly add the powdered sugar.

For the batch you already have, you should add more powdered sugar and let it mix well to beat out the lumps. The problem is it may have air bubbles.

Are all of your ingredients at room temp when you start? If you add cold milk to whipped butter you will get a curdled appearance. It's not actually curdled, it's just that the cold makes the butter firm up into tiny beads in the liquid.

Your butter should be softened first. If you get the curdled look, just keep creaming. It will all come together. Just be patient.

thanks, all. will try adding some sugar, and beating longer. thank you very much!