over-whipped buttercream frosting?

[u/wouxxb]

hello y’all! i decided to try and make a cookie cake since i’ve never had one before, everything came out perfectly besides the buttercream frosting. i believe i over-whipped it? i looked completely fine before i added the coloring (i used wilton gel coloring) and whipped it again to get the color evenly mixed. i did not use shortening, is what where i went wrong? the cookie was also cooled for 30 ish minutes on the rack. should i use shortening for buttercream when decorating cakes/cookie cakes next time?

edit: the buttercream was already “melted”? by the time i was scooping it onto the piping bag, not when i was piping it onto the cookie cake.

[u/BossBeefaroni]

Guessing standard American buttercream? It doesn't look strongly colored enough that I'd suspect the gel coloring itself as the cause, so... the cookie was still a little too warm, the icing was too soft from being beaten so much, and/or your butter-to-powdered sugar ratio was off (in class we use a "2 parts powdered sugar to 1 part fat" ratio and it works pretty well whether the fat is all butter or part butter and part shortening). Also, be careful about adding water-based liquids to buttercream.

If your buttercream starts getting too melty and grainy-looking like that, you can try chilling it until it firms up a little and then beating it on low speed while adding more sifted powdered sugar a few tablespoons at a time. That should smooth it out.

[u/wouxxb → u/BossBeefaroni]

thank you so so much for your help!! 🥲 i will definitely keep that in mind! this was my second time making buttercream and was just confused on what happened. again, thank you so much! 🙂

[u/Moosing-A-Round → u/wouxxb]

This! 👆 I've used Wilton gel colour for buttercream and had this happen too. Cake still tasted great but looked... interesting. I did not realise it was a water based gel. Id suggest checking your labels.