WTF have Tate & Lyle done to icing sugar?

[RagingWhoreBag]

Just made a birthday cake and the buttercream is even more vile than it usually is It’s grainy and gritty, like the start of making a cake when you mix the butter and sugar.

WTAF have they done? Just googled Gritty Icing Sugar and apparently they’ve changed the caking agent to make it less likely to clump. They’re saying it will give a smoother icing as less likely to be lumps in it,land that it doesn’t affect the performance of it, but you can feel the sugar (or more likely the Maize they use as anti caking) crunching in your teeth like granulated sugar.

AIBU to feel like they’re gaslighting us by telling us that actually it’s a better product, when in fact it’s shit and has ruined cake making for me?

Will now have to faff about making Swiss meringue buttercream or some bollocks.

Bloody fuming

Brexit supporting bastards.

I noticed this! Haven't made buttercream since I was a kid but made it last month... it was like greasy sand and speedster strangely!

Separated 😳 not speedster

Taking tips from Cadbury.

I've noticed it too - try the Aldi brand if you have one near you, it's much smoother and gives a good result.

Yes! I have noticed this!!! I thought I was just suddenly doing something wrong!

Thanks mycat - I always thought there was only Silver Spoon or Tate and Lyle to choose from. Will try Aldi and hope they don’t also change to the course grade crap I’ve been saddled with tonight.

Thank you for this thread!

I made a cake for an engagement party and couldn't figures out why the buttercream icing had gone grainy. Made it twice, and still grainy (and I never have problems with it usually). I feel better now.

Glad someone else noticed 🤲

I thought it was me!!!

I've used Billington’s before and been pleased with it (although it’s not as pure white as standard icing sugars): www.waitrose.com/ecom/products/billingtons-golden-icing-sugar/020643-10057-10058

Thanks for the heads up though, I do a lot of baking and I’ll not bother with T&L in future. Might give the Aldi one a whirl.

You can grind caster sugar down to a powder in a blender, probably best done in a heavy duty glass one.

Oops. Cross post queen strikes again.

Tate and Lyle is awful. I stopped using it a while ago sounds like it hasn't improved any.

Well now I’m confused. Just looked at the article about changing the formula and it’s from 2015 so it can’t be that then?! Unless the stuff on our supermarket shelves has been hanging around since then and we’ve only just moved onto the new stuff?! They must have done something else to it.

I’ve never had a problem with it and I bake on the regular - last bday cake was November and that was absolutely fine.

Make your own. No need to have lots of sugars in the cupboard, just granulated. Castor sugar is about 30 seconds with the Bamix, icing sugar, fine as you like, about 60.

Taken the sugar out to avoid sugar tax?

Will now have to faff about making Swiss meringue buttercream or some bollocks.

That made me properly laugh.

There's a way of making buttercream using castor or granulated sugar, you can google it, from memory it involves cornflour and making a sort of custard to add the sugar to. When I tried it, it was very nice and smooth, and got a lot of compliments. Could be worth looking up the recipe for use on the new T&L icing sugar.

Ohhhh I wondered why the buttercream seemed weird on the last cake I made! I couldn’t put my finger on it but now it makes sense! Gah!

Silver Spoon is British, my local Morrisons stocks their granulated, caster and icing sugar. Their granulated is a finer grain than Tate & Lyle, Sainsbury's etc (the imported ones made from cane sugar). I bake a lot and have no problems with any of their products, maybe see if you can find SS icing sugar locally.

Investors made it (once because it’s a faff) using egg yolks, sugar syrup and unsalted butter. Meant to be the real deal French butter cream. It’s nice but you have to boil up sugar and water to make a syrup, beat in loads of egg yolks and then let it cool before beating in Sotheby’s softened butter.

Jeez. Investors should be ‘I’.
And fuck knows where Sotheby’s came from!

My iPad has a mind of its own sometimes.