kim963•1mo ago

I finally figured out why my buttercream was always gritty

I was making a batch of Swiss meringue buttercream last weekend for a birthday cake. For years, I just dumped the sugar into the egg whites and started heating it, thinking it would dissolve. My friend in Seattle watched me and said, 'You know you're supposed to rub the sugar and egg whites together first until it feels smooth, right?' I tried it, and that gritty texture I always fought with was gone. The mix was perfectly smooth before it even hit the double boiler. Has anyone else had a simple tip like that fix a long-running baking problem?

3 comments

3 Comments

alice_palmer201mo ago

Seems like a lot of fuss for buttercream.

morgan_ramirez19d ago

Funny you mention that, @julia_miller24, because I used to be the person who thought rubbing the sugar in was just some old school myth. I was SO wrong. I tried it last weekend after seeing this post and my buttercream came out WAY better than any batch I've made in the last five years. The feel of the grit disappearing against my fingers was honestly a little magical. Now I can't believe I ever skipped that step. It's one of those things where you don't realize how bad your old frosting was until you actually get a smooth one.

julia_miller241mo ago

My grandma taught me that trick when I was a teenager. She called it "making a paste" and would spend a good two minutes just rubbing the egg whites and sugar between her palms. I got lazy and skipped it once, and sure enough, my frosting was full of tiny sugar grains. It feels weird at first, but you can literally feel the grit disappear. That step makes all the difference for a silky finish.