Buttercream disaster!

[iusedtobecool]

Could anyone give me a foolproof basic frosting recipe. I've had to throw out my second batch, as it was so funny, it's glooped out between the cakes and down the side.

I've followed the recipe, so not sure where I've gone wrong. Butter and cream cheese beaten with an electric whis

I've managed to scrape most of it off, but really want to save the sponges!

Sorry, my son nudged me. Butter and cream cheese with electric whisk, then added the icing sugar. Used Philadelphia full fat cheese.

Did you use real butter? I'm not sure what the cream cheese is doing in it. How much icing sugar was in the recipe? Are you sure the cakes were cold?

Cross posted with you. The buttercream recipe I use is here...
www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/521721/easter-vanilla-cupcakes

It's just butter/marge and icing sugar. That's it.

If you over beat anything with cream cheese it will go runny (thinking about experience with runny cheesecakes). What recipe are you using? My buttercream would just have butter and icing sugar in it?

If you overbeat cream cheese icing it does go runny. If you're doing a buttercream you could just do butter and icing sugar on a 1:2 ratio and it'll be great.

I struggled with cream cheese icing until I found this recipe which bizarrely involves melting the butter but gives a decent stiff icing.

It'll be the cream cheese reacting with the icing sugar that has made it runny. There's no recovering it after that. Buttercream icing is just butter and icing sugar though, no need for cream cheese, whipped until you're happy with the consistency.

If you make the cream cheese one again, add the icing sugar very slowly and don't mix it too much. Treat it very gently.

If you really want the cream cheese/butter combo then I'd beat your mixture and return it to the fridge for a while to chill before spreading in your cake.

Half the amount of butter to icing sugar and use a wooden spoon to mix it, a whisk will make it too light and get loads of air into it. Make sure your butter is room temperature and pop in a couple of drops of water if it's too soft. A splash of vanilla essence is lovley in it as well.

if it's too hard drop water in it, not soft! lovely!

I like stiff and fluffy, so beat the butter for ages and ages until fluffy, then beat in the icing sugar - half, then milk and vanilla, then rest of the icing sugar then beat again for ages. If using stand mixture, use bowl guard, if using normal mixer use the paper plate trick.

Cream cheese is notoriously tricky so I have never tried it, but if I ever did try I would make fluffy with the butter and first half sugar and vanilla, then add the cream cheese as the last step with the last half of the sugar and then wouldn't beat for long.

For cream cheese frosting I make a stiff buttercream with 50g butter, 100g icing sugar. Beat thouroughly then add 200g of cream cheese and mix as little as possible. The more you mix, the softer it gets. Its a very soft icing so won't pipe well.

For a tasty white chocolate buttercream 100g butter, 200g icing sugar, 50g melted white chocolate.

Otherwise I just use 1:2 butter to icing sugar plus milk, cream or other liquid to loosen.

Thanks! I think I've over beaten it, I use cream cheese but didn't occur to me that it could be left out! I'll try it again and use less or no cream cheese.

I've never used cream cheese in buttercream, are you supposed to?

Cream cheese isn't a usual ingredient in a plain buttercream, which really is just butter and icing sugar. Adding cream cheese makes the kind of icing you normally get on a carrot cake.

I always use butter + cream cheese, somehow less cloying than just butter (although not sure that matters when you're talking about frosting!).

If you're in the uk, cream cheese tends to have a pretty high water content making frosting v wet. I always staring t first through a muslin: just wrap it up tight into a ball, hang it off your tap and let the water dript into the sink. Do this while you're doing other stuff. Then make sure your butter is at room temp and whisk in the cream cheese until just combined. Add icing sugar to taste (which is never as much as the recipe calls for, for me).