mommy23ms

Eleni, you mentioned this in my post about DD's birthday. Here is the recipe I use. It's on the back of the powdered sugar box. I think Christy mentioned this before as well. It's always smooth - never grainy.

1 box confectioner's sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 stick salted butter (softened)

Throw it all in a mixer and mix for about 2 mins.

Hay lady

Yep. That is it. I tend to use almond extract instead of vanilla for white cakes. My family prefers it. I have also used a peppermint extract with chocolate cakes. That was yummy!

Eleni

Thanks! I never thought of salted butter. My only question is how do you prevent the sugar from feeling too gritty? How do you make the cream as smooth as possible? Also any tips on preventing the butter from curdling? I have sometimes observed a not so smooth texture, like the butter separates and looks watery...curdled is the word I guess.

Hay lady

You have to use powdered sugar like this.

Yahoo! Image Detail for www.sfgate.com/c/pictures/1999/03/31/sugar-powdered.jpg

You have to have the butter soft. Like really soft. Almost melting. Don't beat it too long or it will be curdled. You do it only for a few minutes, just until it is mixed well. Don't do it on high either. Medium speed is the highest it should go. Over beating it will curdle it.

If you are looking for the ultra smooth cake, you would want something like fondant. I also make Royal Icing for use on decorated cookies. That is smooth and it gets hard. It needs to be beaten much longer because it has meringue in it which needs to stiffen.

mommy23ms

Another tip - if the buttercream is hard to spread, dip your spatula in milk before you spread. It will make it go on much easier.