How to get really white buttercream?!

[ToBeHere]

There must be a way! Please share your top tips!

A small amount of purple food colouring can do it

As it balances out the yellow tinge

Use lurpak or similar paler butter
Whip up loads and loads
Don't add too much vanilla
Add a very very tiny bit of violet food colouring (works like purple shampoo in counteracting the yellow tones of the butter)
I usually add tiny amounts with a cocktail stick, whipping up between to check the colour.

You need to beat it for longer - at least 15 minutes.

Never tried it personally but I've read on multiple sites that a tiny amount of purple food colouring is meant to counterbalance the yellow

Or to just keep beating the butter and eventually it becomes paler

Yep it is the beating that adds air that makes it whiter (Food Tech teacher here)

You can get a white colouring to add.

Brilliant, thank you so much for the tips!

I had read that a Swiss meringue buttercream would also be paler but I am not sure how well it would ‘set?’ I need the icing to have a bit of a crust to make it slightly more transportable.

Or use white fat instead of butter, but it won't taste nearly as nice.

Swiss meringue buttercream doesn't crust at all so wouldn't work well for travel. Good butter being yellow means it is a bit of struggle to get buttercream that tastes good and is white simultaneously.

Use Trex, or half Trex half butter, beat the whatsit out of it, and use some of the special whitener

Beat butter only for about ten minutes in your mixer, it really does lighten

After adding icing sugar again beat in the mixer for around ten minutes. Then add a very tiny amount of purple paste colour to balance out the yellow. It will never be white but it should be a very pale cream

I'm a hobby baker and what uI usually do is beat the butter for as long as you can in a stand mixer (remember to beat it very slow again after or you will get air bubbles in your buttercream)
I then add a little bit of purple and it usually makes it a creamy colour. If I need it to be bright white I add some white food colouring.

If its got to be white - then use trex as above poster suggested, but only if you need to prioritise the colour, it doesn't taste of much.

I think you can add titanium dioxide to make it white

I use half trex half unsalted butter as that’s paler. Then add a shit load of vanilla extract (not the one with seeds!) plus a bit of salt. The vanilla and salt take the trex taste away - my kids love this type of frosting.

Whip for ages.

I’ve never found using white food colour gets normal butter white enough and all those cooking shows the judges say they can taste the titanium dioxide when chefs use lots of it, so don’t dare use more!

I hate buttercream, always replace it with a cream made of mascarpone, whipped cream and icing sugar (amount to my liking). That's much nicer tasting, and definitely very white if you want to give it a go.

Australians use a little cornstarch, to help stabilise it in the heat.

Sugarflair Superwhite Paint Powder amzn.eu/d/8SdriPZ

This is excellent.

I agree with half butter, half trex and vanilla. It is very pale, and 'crusts' really well

It's time. You need to cream the butter for absolutely ages in a mixer to get it properly pale. The tiniest smidge of blue food colouring (I like the pastes best) will give the illusion it's even whiter.

People used to add blue to their washing to make their linens look whiter.

Italian meringue buttercream? www.souschef.co.uk/blogs/the-bureau-of-taste/italian-meringue-buttercream-recipe

Really white buttercream is made with shortening, not butter. 🤢. It’s not worth it. Flavor is what matters. Just whip it forever and live with the yellow tinge.

or maybe make marshmallow frosting, but it doesn’t set very well.

you could also cover the buttercream in fondant which will be white as snow and can just be peeled off before eating.

That would have to be kept refrigerated until serving, definitely not suitable for travelling in a car presumably in the next weeks when it's still warm.

It depends on how long it has to stay unrefrigerated for, if it's long definitely not suitable. If transportation is for a short time and the issue is just how well it holds, then it's fine.

Beat the shit out of your butter to start with. At least 10-15 minutes on a high speed.
After adding icing sugar and beating for another 10 mins, I had some Colour Mill (or other good quality oil based colouring) pure white colouring and a drop or two of violet colouring. The purple helps neutralise the yellow tinge - like when hairdressers use purple toning shampoo on brassy blonde hair!