For anyone who has struggled with grainy or stiff buttercream, a baker has revealed a simple fix: a splash of milk. Ellen Jenne, who made her own 30th birthday cake, says she never skips this ingredient when making buttercream extra smooth.
The Birthday Cake That Sparked the Tip
Jenne describes baking as a form of therapy and a creative outlet. Although she usually forgoes a traditional cake for her birthday, she couldn't let her guests go without a slice for her 30th. With an 'RIP 20s' theme, the cake had to be all black and gloomy. To fit the melancholic theme, she chose red velvet, which she calls the most gothic flavour she could think of.
While a classic red velvet cake boasts cream cheese frosting, Jenne replaced it with a standard American buttercream. In the August heat, cream cheese icing would have melted straight off.
Why Milk Makes the Difference
Every buttercream recipe Jenne has come across uses just two ingredients: butter and icing sugar, in a 1:2 ratio. It's imperative that the butter be softened to room temperature and the icing sugar sieved. Hard butter makes it difficult to achieve a cohesive buttercream, while unsifted icing sugar renders the finished product lumpy.
However, Jenne found that just using these two ingredients isn't always enough to result in the smoothest frosting. There's always some tiny, unappealing lump that appears, no matter how much the stand mixer beats it. To help smooth the buttercream out, she never skips a splash of milk.
Once the buttercream is nearly perfect, she gives it a quick scrape with a spatula. If small flecks of butter or icing sugar are hiding at the bottom of the mixing bowl, and the buttercream isn't completely smooth and is a little stiff, she pours in a small amount of milk—around half to one tablespoon, either whole or semi-skimmed. For her cake, she used semi-skimmed milk.
How to Get the Perfect Consistency
The milk helps to dissolve the lumps of icing sugar and makes the buttercream smoother and more pliable. It also helps to loosen the stiff, dry texture created by icing sugar, making the buttercream less grainy—a common issue Jenne has faced many times.
She advises starting with a small amount of milk to thin out the dense, heavy mixture, adding a little more to achieve the desired consistency. Too much milk will result in a runny buttercream that won't hold its shape. Jenne sometimes takes a Jamie Oliver-style approach by eye-balling how much milk she adds.
Milk helps the butter and sugar bind together completely during mixing, which cuts down on air pockets and texture bumps. Not only does it result in a smooth finished product, but when it comes to decorating, it makes it easier to spread over cakes and pipe, giving a professional finish. When adding the milk, she keeps the mixer on a low speed to help incorporate properly, and makes sure the milk isn't extra cold, as the cold temperature may make the butter seize.
Decorating the Birthday Cake
To decorate her 30th birthday cake, Jenne added a liberal amount of black gel-based food colouring. She finds that gel food colours create the best and most vibrant buttercream, especially when using dark colours. For her buttercream, she used Sugarflair Extra Black, to really emphasise the dear departure of her 20s. The buttercream helped to stay on brand, and for the cake itself, works as a supportive base for any filling.
She spread a small but generous layer of buttercream between each of the three layers, using a cranked palette knife to make walls to hold in the cream cheese filling. To help create a smooth finish, she recommends doing a thin crumb coat and placing it in the fridge for an hour or so. This makes it easier to spread an even layer of buttercream on the outside of the cake. Once she cut into the cake, the black buttercream helped to create distinctive layers.
So if your next buttercream is looking a little grainy or stiff, all you need is a splash of milk.
Buttercream Recipe
Ingredients:
- 600g icing sugar, sifted
- 300g unsalted or salted butter, softened
- Milk - to your choosing
- Food colouring (optional)
Method: Beat 600g sifted icing sugar and 300g butter together with your chosen colouring if using. Once nearly smooth, add milk to loosen and beat until smooth. Smear in the middle and over the top of a 17cm cake using a palette knife, or use in a piping bag to pipe for decoration. This buttercream can also be used for cupcakes.
