Your Hair Dryer Can Actually Help Fix Lumpy Frosting
Buttercream frosting is elite. It not only has a rich flavor profile, but it also looks absolutely beautiful on cakes in both rustic (as in the rustic spoon decoration method) and more elaborately decorated cake preparations. There's something about buttercream frosting that makes it extremely pleasant to eat — perhaps the smoothness of its consistency. When eaten, it coats the inside of one's mouth in an almost velvety fashion, but achieving that texture becomes impossible if you get lumps in the frosting.
Bake Club posted a response to a question about why buttercream frosting curdled after milk was added to soften it. They stated that "butter is essentially an emulsion and when you add milk the additional water (full cream milk is almost 90% water) causes butter emulsion to split." So, how do we get curdled buttercream — a shattered image of what it once was — to return to its previously airy, whipped shape? You can actually revive your frosting by using a common household tool.
Blast warm air to reheat the frosting
Have you ever thought about using a hair dryer in the kitchen? Thomas Joseph sure has. In a video posted to YouTube by Everyday Food, food editor Thomas Joseph showed viewers two ways to fix buttercream frosting that is, initially, not quite where someone might like it to be. One batch of frosting was too runny, so Joseph used a cold towel while folding the buttercream to get the mixture to thicken up. The other batch, however, was curdled — or broken — so he took out his trusty hairdryer to warm the mixing bowl and, ultimately, the buttercream itself back up. Try using the hairdryer on a medium heat setting and low power for the best results.
Commenters on Youtube fell in love with Joseph's unconventional method. "You saved our frosting! It curdled and the hair dryer worked like a charm," one user wrote. This hack is so easy and accessible, we're going to start stocking our cooking jumpsuits and culinary utility belts with hairdryers from here on out.