Fixing Grainy Buttercream Frosting

Sugar causes graininess in buttercream frosting, but there are a few simple steps you can take to make sure your buttercream frosting is smooth, creamy, and perfect every time you whip it up.

This post is about fixing grainy buttercream frosting. In fact, it’s about fixing all kinds of grainy frosting.

This is an easy fix to the most common buttercream problem and makes it much better to eat overall. fix your grainy buttercream.

What Is Buttercream? 

Many people love to use buttercream frosting because of the texture and the flavor, but there is so much that can go wrong with it including when you get lots of grainy bits in it.

This is not the texture you should be looking for and will not be a nice topping for your cakes.

But Can You Fix This?

Yes of course you can, but there are a few steps you will need to take to get the best texture. 

Why Does It Become Grainy? 

There are three different reasons why your buttercream frosting is too grainy.

These are the ones you need to look out for. you don’t want grainy buttercream.

fix grainy buttercream frosting here.

Too-Cold Butter

When you are mixing the ingredients for your buttercream, it is important that you make sure your butter is at room temperature and is not cold butter.

You should have softened butter because otherwise you will have a grainy texture.

It needs to be at room temperature butter because it will be softer and easier to mix into the other ingredients.

If it is too cold, it will only make the mixture quite clumpy and contain lots of grains.

Nobody wants lumpy frosting.

Melted Butter

However, you need to make sure that your butter is not completely melted, but also hasn’t come straight out of the fridge.

You can either leave it out like you’re defrosting something for about an hour, or you can use the microwave slightly for a short period of time to make it room temperature. 

You need to have softened butter not melted.

Using Margarine

Even Though lots of people love margarine, it is definitely not the best type of butter for baking.

It also means that it is not the best type of butter to use for your buttercream as well.

There is actually more water and less fat in this butter which means you won’t be able to get that really creamy texture which is what everyone wants for their buttercream with no grainy texture.

The butter is one of the most important ingredients in the buttercream which is why it needs to be perfect and not leave your buttercream grainy. 

Powdered Sugar

Purchase Powdered sugar is a type of sugar that contains a smaller amount of sucrose than regular sugar.

While it is made from powdered sugar, it is not the same sugar as cane sugar or sugar beets.

It can be used in recipes that call for regular sugar.

The sugar is very fine and soft, but that definitely does not mean that it won’t create clumps.

When you start using sifted powdered sugar, it will not give you the right consistency for your buttercream.

Unsifted Powdered Sugar

When the sugar is unsifted, it will have little lumps in it which will become part of your buttercream which you will want to avoid and the gritty buttercream. 

Therefore, use sifted powdered sugar. avoid grainy buttercream!

How Can You Fix It? 

There are four different types of solutions to your problem with grainy buttercream. Here they are right here! fix grainy buttercream here.

Mixing

You need to make sure you are mixing your ingredients properly which usually works better with an electric mixer.

When you are using hand tools, your arms and hands can get quite tired and weak, and you might not mix it as well as you need to.

It needs to be extremely smooth to get the best outcome for your buttercream.

you also don’t want curdled separated buttercream, so make sure you don’t over-mix.

What Mixers?

Stand mixers tend to be the best type of machinery to get a good outcome because it is easy to control, and you can just leave it to get on with it while you do other tasks. 

Don’t let too many air bubbles get into the mix. The air bubbles will cause other issues.

Liquid

Adding liquid can sometimes be the solution to getting rid of the grains in your buttercream mixture.

When more milk is added to the mix, it allows it to become smoother.

You should keep adding little bits to the mixture to get all of the grains out bit by bit

Some people also love to melt chocolate as well to get that lovely smooth texture. 

Other Technique

If you are finding that some of these techniques aren’t working too well or you don’t have time to do them, you can also just let it rest in the fridge for a couple of hours.

Let your buttercream rest.

This can sometimes just even out your mixture and let it do it on its own. 

Paddle Attachment

Paddle Attachment is an attachment that fits to help you mix your ingredients.

If you are not going to be able to use a stand mix, then you will need to use this because it will smooth all of the grains out and you can’t do this with a spoon or fork.

For the best quality, you might need to grab some more equipment to carry out your baking. 

Conclusion

Overall, when it comes to buttercream, there are several steps you are able to take to make sure your mixture is lovely and smooth and the texture you want to eat.

fix your grainy buttercream frosting and remember to let the buttercream frosting sit.

You don’t want to bite into the delicious frosting, and it is full of lumps and grains because that is just not nice. 

If you do find that your mixture has become grainy over the process of your mixing, you can use some of the solutions above to help you get the best buttercream smooth frosting.

Enjoy this sugary dessert buttercream recipe and you can start decorating cakes with your smooth frosting.

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Kathryn Sewell

Hi! I'm Kate and I have been baking and cooking for as long as I can remember. I like to share the most interesting tips and recipes I try here on What Kate Baked for you to enjoy. If you have a favorite recipe you'd like to share send it over on social.

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