My buttercream turned into soup on a 90-degree day

I was making a birthday cake for my friend last Saturday and it was super hot outside. I had just finished a batch of Swiss meringue buttercream and went to answer the door. Came back five minutes later and the whole bowl was a runny, melted mess. The AC just couldn't keep up with the kitchen heat. Has anyone else had a frosting disaster like this and managed to save it?

2 comments

2 Comments

rayc895d ago

My buddy Jake had that exact thing happen with his wedding cake test run last July. His kitchen felt like an oven and his buttercream just gave up. He stuck the whole mixing bowl in the freezer for about twenty minutes, then re-whipped it on low speed. It came back together but he said the texture was never quite as smooth. Do you have any space in your freezer to try chilling it?

singh.jessica5d ago

Freezing can work in a pinch, but it introduces ice crystals that wreck the fat structure. That's why Jake's buttercream got grainy. A better fix is to chill just the bowl itself, not the frosting. Wrap ice packs around the outside of your mixing bowl while it's running on low. It cools the buttercream down without freezing it solid, so the emulsion stays smooth.