Way back when I was first married, I decided to try my hand at Italian Buttercream. I had everything ready. I'd studied the recipe for days. My KitchenAid stand mixer (which is STILL in use today, 41 years later!), at the ready. I won't bore you with the details, but this was to frost the first birthday cake for my husband's birthday. It meant a lot to me! When I got to the adding the room temperature (68F) butter pats, it all fell apart. I had NO idea it would come together if I'd kept at it. No one had written that part! It looked like curdled old - very old! milk! I kept beating it but it just kept curdling. Temperatures were dead on, but I just had no idea what had happened - so, in utter tears by then, cursing myself for thinking I could pull it off, and with guests coming shortly, I scraped it all into the rubbish bin in horror. Mind you, we were young and just starting out and it was a "pretty penny" in that trash can, to boot. I swore it off and never attempted it again. And then, decades on, I read your post here and the entire fiasco gelled (way better than my buttercream!) as to what was wrong or at least how to fix it. THANK YOU! So much! I am going to attempt one of my most favored foods in the world - Italian buttercream - again soonest. I just hope my old KitchenAid can withstand the abuse, this late in his life. They sure made stuff to last back then! I've got a new model but want my old guy to have the privilege. Thank you soooo much for closure! I can't tell you how it irked me that I just could not suss what had gone wrong!

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