My chocolate buttercream has got lumps in it <<<whimper>>>

[MamaG]

They won't whisk out. I don't know what to do. Its for DD's birthday cake.

Please help!

lumps of icing sugar or lumps of butter? (eat one to check)

try beating (with wooden spoon and lots of vigour) rather than whisking with whisk.
Or rub it through a sieve if all else fails.

Or if they're small lumps, just ice the cake and rough it up with knife blade to a peaky finish and no-one'll notice - DD certainly won't!

did you sieve the icing sugar? (not that that'smuch help now...)

Try adding a table spoon of water/milk then wisk again, are you using an electric wisk?

Yes I sieved the icing sugar, but I didn't sieve the cocoa powder - recipe said mix with hot water to a paste etc - my paste resembled potted meat paste and I think it should have been more like wallpaper paste

The lumps are cocoa and quite bitter. I really don't have time to go buy more icing sugar etc, party is tomorrow and I was doing soooo well too.

Thanks for replies

lol - I'd spend the next couple of hours carefully crushing each one with the back of a teaspoon until they have all gone

Yep, electric hand whisk - do you mean boiling water?

Thanks Kaloo thats probably what I'll end up doing!!

If its lumps of butter use boiling water to melt the lumps, but not too much of you icing will be too runny.

its lumps of cocoa

I've been beating & beating with wooden spoon. Still lumpy

Start again , i always mix the cocoa with a bit of hot water then add to the icing, have you got enough bits to start again?

I would crush with teaspoon as suggested below, or force the whole lot through sieve with back of spoon then re-beat

if still lumpy tell people they're chocolate chips.

no and don't have time to go to shop....maybe it would push through a sieve? either that or its the flippin teaspoon....

lol at choc chips

Right, thats it, they're choc chips. Only tiny anyway.

Can you cover the icing with choc sprinkles? Or is it a character cake? I always cry when making the kids cakes (!) it's a combination of the stress of wanting it to be perfect, wishing I was Jane Asher and usually a bottle of wine. I always wonder why I don't go to ASDA and buy one, it would cost less by the time I made everything twice (ha ha)! DD's princess castle cake cost about 8 quid in icing last year!

Good luck tho mate!

its silly really isn't it? I sooo want it to be perfect, this year I asked her if she wanted me to make her cake, or buy one and she said she def wanted Mummy to make it. Obviously I was thrilled

She probably won't care less about the bits! they are now bits, rather than lumps and it doesn't taste bitter when you eat it....might post a pic of DS's face!

that's why kids want their mums to make the cake - to eat the mixture! yummo

Couldn't resist it here