Why are my frostings grainy?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

prettyblueyes

Assistant Cook
Joined
Jun 18, 2008
Messages
13
Location
The Land of Oz
I have several recipes that call for cooked frostings. The times I make them they come out grainy. One is similar to Coconut Pecan frosting used on German Chocolate Cake and the other is a chocolate fudge frosting that I made for brownies.

The first time I made the Coconut Pecan frosting, I accidently let it boil, so I thought that that is why it got grainy. The next time I made it, I was careful not to let it boil. It says to cook it for 9 minutes, so that is what I did, but it still came out grainy. It uses butter, sugar and sweetened condensed milk.

I have only made the chocolate fudge frosting once. It is a boiled frosting that you "beat without cooling until a spreadable constistancy". I just kept stirring it quickly until it cooled and thickened, but the cooler it got the grainier it got. Should I have beat it with a mixer vs by hand? This recipe uses butter, brown sugar, chocolate and cream.

Any ideas on what I may be doing wrong? I really like the flavors of both of these frostings but it is driving me nuts that they are turning out grainy!
 
What kind of sugar are you using? Confectioners sugar will give you a smoother icing. Plus any recipe I have calls for boiling the sugar in water OR adding boiling water to sugar creating a syrup (simple syrup, that is). Don´t boil if you are using dairy product though because it will curdle. You have to be real careful not get any undissolved sugar back into the mixture, though, because even one grain will start a chain reaction that re-crystalizes the whole mix. So while cooking the sugar you can wash the sides of your pan with a wet brush to get all the other sugars off. Also, if you add a little bit of acid to the mixture it will help it resist crystallization by forming invert sugars. Honey or molasses I believe contain some acids. Lemme know if this helps!
 
I too thought maybe trying to reduce the sugar alittle too.
Cheaper sugars also, seem to be ground less fine.
And a drop of fresh lemon may help with the acid, as BOTB suggested.
 
If you are using beet sugar, that is the answer, imho. I have always found the beet sugar sold in American markets to yield a grainy product. I only bake with pure cane sugar. If the bag doesn't say that, it isn't.
 
Wouldn't Cream of Tarter also help in keeping the frosting from becoming grainy?
 

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom