I finally realized my buttercream was wrong after a bakery trip in Portland

For years my buttercream was always a bit gritty and heavy, and I just thought that was how it was supposed to be. Last weekend I tried a cupcake from Blue Star Bakery and their frosting was so light and smooth it was like a cloud. It hit me that I'd been using cold butter straight from the fridge instead of letting it soften for a full hour. Has anyone else had a simple mistake that totally changed your results?

3 comments

3 Comments

vera2910d ago

My mom's cornbread was always dry as dust for 20 years. We just thought that was her recipe. Turns out she was using a metal pan instead of her cast iron skillet. The difference is insane, it's actually moist now. She found the old skillet in the basement last fall.

kevin_williams10d ago

Wait, she had the right pan in the basement the whole time? That's brutal.

kimblack10d ago

My grandma always said a cast iron pan is the secret to good cornbread, something about how it holds heat. @vera29 your story totally proves that old kitchen wisdom is still true. I read once that the even heat from cast iron stops the edges from burning before the middle sets up. It's wild how one pan change can fix a recipe after twenty years.