Decorator Frosting I

I did not follow the recipe exactly. I substitued 1/2 crisco and 1/2 butter. I also used vanilla extract instead of Almond. I am not much of an almond fan, but the icing was great. Not as sweet as others I have used and alot simpler.

This is a pretty, pure white frosting and very easy to work with. Thin it for a crumb coat, leave as is for piping, and thin, if you prefer, to frost. The texture is great as well - creamy and fluffy. But it was prettier to look at than it was to eat. I believe it is a combination of factors that made this not as good for flavor -the fact that it was all shortening made the taste flat. Maybe a pinch of salt would have helped that. The almond flavoring, while it keeps the frosting white, is harsh. I miss the buttery, vanilla flavor of other frosting recipes I've tried which are far better. This was one occasion where I pushed most of the frosting off to the side of my plate...

This is the decorating frosting recipe that I learned when I first started decorating cakes. I like the almond flavoring but you can also use butter flavoring if you prefer the butter flavor. Actually butter can be used rather than the shortning but then you will not have a true white frosting that decorators want. I have also substituted any number of flavorings depending on what I wanted although almond is my personal favorite. You have to remember this is made for DECORATING, more so than the actual flavor.

I'm a very serious, though non-professional, cake decorator. I bake and decorate a cake every two weeks, and even made my own wedding cake. First, I have to say, this icing DOES have its place: It's very easy to make, cheap, and kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator, it says good almost forever. I use this for practice all the time, but I *never* eat it. The taste is vile. It's greasy, and most people, myself included, find it way too sugary. There is no reason to serve this to people given there are actually tasty icing recipes out there that are still appropriate to decorate with. If you are coloring the frosting, a traditional buttercream is wonderful. If you must have pure white: marshmallow fondant is good for icing an entire cake, and boiled icing is great for writing and string work. If you need white flowers, gum paste can do the trick. If you absolutely must have *pure white piped flowers* and there is no way around it, I'd check gourmet stores or online to find some goat milk butter, which is pure white if it isn't dyed.

I made this today to decorate a birthday cake and I am very pleased with the results. This is teriffic for making flowers, borders, and writing on cakes. I separated it into 3 bowls and added a different food coloring to each one...I made pink and yellow for flowers and green for leaves. This should be a thick frosting in order to pipe it out of the different decorating tips. I would not thin it down to frost an entire cake...it's very sweet in large amounts!

The standard decorator frosting that most home cake decorators begin with. Admittedly, it's lovely to look at and pipes like a dream. However, the taste leaves a lot to be desired. When using only shortening, it's essential to add some salt to the mix - just a little will suffice, under 1/8 tsp - or the flavor will be dull, like it's missing something. That much almond extract will be too strong for those who don't absolutely love almond flavor, and there are many. Either half almond and half vanilla (clear, if you want to preserve that stark white color) or half vanilla and half lemon are more generally appealing possibilities. Thin to use as a frosting for the entire cake, but know ahead of time that this recipe might well be considered too sweet. For me, this isn't the overall taste I'm looking for. A frosting made with all or mostly shortening doesn't melt on the tongue the way I like. This frosting leaves a tell-tale gummy, cloyingly sweet residue. This frosting is better when reserved strictly for decorating. When used for this purpose, I find that cutting the ingredients in half gives me plenty to decorate a 2-layer or 9" X 13" cake. Be aware that this will develop a light crust when left exposed to the air for several hours.

I used this frosting to make a wedding cake that I entered in a dessert contest at my school, and I won. :) It tasted good, and it worked nicely to cover the cake and also to make borders and decorations. I used 1/2 cup butter and 1/2 cup shortening instead of one whole cup of shortening. Also, I think 1 1/2 tsp of almond ex. was too much, and I reduced it to 1 tsp in the second batch. Thank you for this recipe! :D

This was exactly what I wanted it to be. I doubled the recipe and used half Crisco, half butter, and left out the almond extract (since I ran out). I used it to ice and build a princess castle and it was declared the best birthday cake that anybody ever saw! The flavor was really good too, unlike most bakery cakes anymore. Thank you so much, I'll use this one a lot for decorating.

I loved this frosting! I have used it several times now. It tastes awesome, simple to make and is good to frost cakes and cupcakes. I've used different variations - like used vanilla extract and lemon extract instead of almond. It was awesome! I used butter instead of shortening and it still turned out very white. Thanks!!

Fabulous icing for cake decorating! My daughter was decorating a cake for her 4H project to enter in our county fair. We needed a really good icing that handled well for frosting the cake and doing borders, flowers etc. This was the best one we tried. Thanks!

I vary the recipe a bit, but as a cake decorator this is my go-to frosting recipe. I substitute water for the milk and vanilla extract for the almond extract. The vanilla extract is just a taste preference, and I sub the water for milk because with decorated/celebration cakes they are often left at room temp. to be displayed so I would rather just worry about there being even a little bit of dairy, which should be refrigerated. I first cream together my shortening and liquid ingredients until well combined and smooth before adding the confectioners sugar, which I add gradually - one cup at a time. Once I have all the confectioners sugar added I check the consistency and add more water if necessary.

This frosting is WONDERFUL and PERFECT for decorating!!!!!

Good frosting! I needed it for my Wiltons decorating class... This is the same recipe they gave us minus the optional meringue powder and salt. Also a tip from my decorating instructor is to use water instead of milk so you can leave your frosting out.

This is the best frosting I have ever made. I plan to use this many many more times! It's easy to make, tastes wonderful, and you can flavor it with anything! And it's perfect for decorating, like it should be. I had made a Mountain Dew Cake for my boyfriend for his birthday, and wanted a different frosting than the one provided (he doesn't like coconut). I used this for both frosting AND decorating. Instead of using almond extract I used lemon extract so it would blend better with the flavor of the cake. It turned out wonderful!

People need to read the recipe title before rating. This is a DECORATOR Frosting and not necessarily one to grade as flavor. We use this consistently to decorate and as a crumb coat. I use a buttercream to frost the cake and fill between the layers. Thus, I use two different kinds of frosting for my fancy cakes and cupcakes. I have used this recipe for years. It is exactly as the title stated - Decorator Icing and fabulous at that.

This is my new favorite icing! I fell in love w/a buttercream recipe from here, but I feel guilty serving it to people because of the raw eggs. I was searching for a WHITE frosting to make to decorate a cake and found this recipe and boy am I glad I did! I used clear vanilla extract instead of almond (fit my cake's flavor palate better) and it was white white! It tasted great and held up well for piping! I added more vanilla, so I also needed to add some more 10X sugar to get the right consistency. THANK YOU for my new go to *butter*cream recipe!!!!

it is an average decorating frosting

Made this again today! (I have a ton of cupcakes in my future) and to the mix I added 2 tbs of cocoa, and in place of the warm water I used warm coffee. PERFECTION. Super awesome chocolate frosting. My 6 year old and my 1 year old licked the beaters and were COATED in it. Happy times! (Till bathtime, now my tub is coated in it!)

This is an excellent frosting. I've been making a similar one for years. But normally use clear vanilla extract or butter flavoring. I like the almond flavor in this one. But I feel you could use any different extract you wish to flavor per cake or cupcakes you desire. I've even used Rum extract....and it's lip smacking. But this is a winner.

i have been looking for a recipe for a frosting like this for ages. i make alot of cupcakes n wanted 1 that would stay firm n keep good shape so when i found this i thought my luck was in. i tryed it but used half butter half crisco. it piped perfect n looked gr8 but god the taste made me feel sick. so really this frosting is for looks n not for taste .

This is the Wilton buttercreme frosting recipe and will work everytime. I also add a 'pinch' of salt to cut down on the sweetness. I use 1/2 cup butter and 1/2 cup shortning (without Transfat!). The transfat will break down the frosting. A note on this: this is a crusting frosting which means it will somewhat harden after sitting, which is perfect for decorators as it smooths out and stays. Other flavors can be added in place of the almond for complimenting the cake.

I realy did not know that they had a recipie for this ! I've been making it for years! ( 35 ) . And have had people ask me how i made it . !

I made this with all crisco baking shortening butter flavor. I beat shortening with heavy cream to replace milk, vanilla (instead of almond)extract and added dash of sea salt like others suggested. Then I blended in the sugar until it was light and fluffy. Half I used as is and the other half was mixed with 1/2 cup cocoa powder and it made a great light chocolate frosting. I did need to add a little more cream and didn't even measure the powder sugar, just used what was needed for right consistancy. Great basic recipe Jean.

I've used this recipe about 10 times now and it's a house favorite! It's very versatile and can be used as is, colored, thinned, etc. A real keeper!

I bake all the time, and make frosting all the time. Even though this is really white, and will never go bad in the fridge, that's about all it's good points. The taste of this frosting is awful, and I loathe the thought of feeding pure shortening and sugar to anyone!! I make buttercream reguarly and achieve a very white frosting by using land o lakes butter, and whipping it a tiny bit. It's pipeable, tasty and white.

I give this only for stars because it calls for shortening. I don't eat or use hydrogenated oils so I replaced it with butter. I believe this got rid of the blandness others wrote about. It was good with vanilla and with almond flavoring. As it is called "decorator frosting" that is what I made it for. Less milk and it is nice and stiff. The amount it calls for made the perfect spreading consistancy. With butter the taste and consistancy were perfect. I will use this time and time again!

Yes this frosting is white, but that's about it. The taste is average...very sweet and leaves a film in your mouth afterwards. I frosted a white cake with this and ended up having to throw it away because my family disliked the frosting. Sorry. This recipe did have potential though.

Im sorry to say this frosting was not very good. You could realy taste the shortening.

This is real close to the recipe I learned for decorating cakes except I use a full 2 lb bag confectioner's sugar to the 1 c shortening. Instead of milk I use 1/2 c water and 1 tsp of flavoring rather its vanilla, almond, butter etc. You can use more water to thin down for frosting the cake but it pipes and sets like a charm. People come to me for the "budget cakes" this is what i use. I also add up to 1/2 tsp salt this will take out the overly sweet taste.

I followed the recipe exactly, with the following additions: 1/4 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp butter extract. The extract didn't change the color; it was still pure white. Personally I liked the almond flavoring -- but I *really* love almond extract. I found this to be of an excellent texture, and like all shortening-based frostings, of superior consistency for piping. This did not make quite enough for 24 heavily piped cupcakes, but did make enough to pipe 27 adequately. (Using skim milk and covering 27 equally, this recipe has 138 calories per serving.) If spreading, you could probably get 36-40 out of it. Thanks for sharing!

A very greasy taste...no one in the house liked it...used it on my son's first birthday cake and he wouldn't even eat it...my advice find another recipe!!!!

Tasted like Crisco. This is regular frosting nothing special better off with store bought.

Very good! I didn't change a thing and it was perfect.

A good basic decorator's frosting. I replaced the almond extract with another flavor. When you want pure white this will get it.

This frosting is OK for decorating, but not great for frosting the whole cake. I added a pinch of salt to tone down the sweetness.

Used 1/2 butter, 1/2 shortening. Turned out excellent.

I made this for my daughters birthday cupcake cake and everyone loved the almond flavor. It was a big hit. The frosting travels well even in heat.

Excellent!!...I used 1/2 butter and 1/2 shortening!!!...First time to decorate cupcakes with pastry bag & tip...Will never ice w/ knife again!

Worked perfect for decorating my cookies! I had to thin it with a little more milk in total I think I used about 2 tsp. more. Thanks for a solid recipe!

This recipe is great and super easy and I loved its consistency! I used butter instead of shortening and added more milk. Put vanilla extract with the almond because it wasn't strong enough and colored it with very soft pink and sky blue and made beautiful cupcakes, thank you :)

Most decorator frostings have too much of a sugary taste to it and this one tastes great! I made it substituting the almond extract for vanilla extract and it was very tasty and was great for piping designs on cakes.

This had to much Almond extract

A good "old faithful" recipe. If you are leaving the cake on the counter, I used water instead of milk. 1/2 butter, 1/2 crisco works best, with a high quality butter, it takes away the crisco taste. The best way to thin it for flat icing is white corn syrup.

This was WAY too much Shortening, made for a very greasy icing.

I love this frosting. It always turns out and is never runny and no having to buy expensive whipping cream that goes old in the fridge. Doesn't taste too sugary sweet and plenty fluffy, yet it holds it's shape. Thanks for the recipe!

I used this frosting to practice some cake decorating techninque. I would probably give it 5 stars for the purpose - decorating...but maybe 3 stars for taste.

I love this frosting!! I didn't have any almond extract so I used vanilla. I only made 1/2 of this frosting b/c I only needed it for the middle of my Patriotic poke cake. I didn't have quite enough frosting so I added a little cream cheese to extend it.It was DELISH!! Next time I will try it with the almond extract(I can't wait!)Thank You very much for a yummy and versatile frosting, Jean!

3 stars for taste, 5 for piping so we'll average it out to 4. This stuff really pipes well!

This was my first experience using shortening in a frosting recipe, and I loved it. I did use 1/2 shortening and 1/2 butter because I wanted some butter flavor in the frosting. It came out the perfect piping consistency, and went perfectly on the white almond wedding cake recipe from this site.

LOVE this frosting!! Very simple to make and my family LOVED it. I have tried bunches of frosting recipes and this is one of the best!

This was delicious and wonderfully effective for my initiation into cake decorating. I substituted butter for the shortening because that is what I had available. It was very creamy. The downside was that as it warms, it becomes less able to keep its shape. Next time I will use half shortening/ half butter. I just kept all but a small portion refrigerated until I needed to use it... problem solved. I loved the texture and flavor. I will absolutely use this again. Thank you so much!

So yummy!!!!!

I have never liked any of the fronstings I've made but even I didn't mess this one up and it turned out great! It was just the right consistency and for once I'm not embarrassed to take the cupcakes I've made to a party!!

I use this frosting all the time for decorating cakes. It's perfect every time!

Wow! Great decorator frosting. The only change that I made was 1/2 tea almond and 1 tea butter flavor. I didn't realize that my almond bottle was almost empty and I wanted to keep the frosting white, I did and the taste is wonderful. Thanks!

Wow, this recipe was incredible. I will continue to use this. The only thing I did differently was I used butter flavored shortening instead of regular shortening. The came together well and as quick and easy.

By far the best frosting! Perfect for decorating & frosting vanilla cake. I cut the almond flavor to suit my taste, but otherwise - it's perfect in my book!

I needed a decorator frosting to edge a cake I was making and this recipe fit the bill. It was excellent in flavor & texture.

This is probably the easiest, tastiest recipe I have found for this type of frosting. I made it for a baby shower cake, and it came out perfect. Piped beautifully also, without even thinning it down (it had be refrigerated).

IT TURNED OUT VERY GOOD, EVEN THE KIDS LIKED IT, I USED IT FOR CUPCAKES FOR MY DAUGHTERS FIRST GRADE CLASS

This is the perfect frosting for decorating!! I'm not crazy about almond, so I used clear butter and vanilla extracts to keep the frosting white, and give it a buttercream taste. My husband, who hates frosting, even liked it.

this was the second time that i had attemped to make a frosting that wasnt the wilton recipe for my cake. it came out excelent. i also took some to class to make the roses for my cake and they came out better than the wilton icing roses. this recipe is deffinately a keeper!

I am not a cake decorator, but but wanted to try hand at making "furry" cupcakes using a Wiltons grass tip. I was very happy with this, and it made for a terrific first try. It was very easy to handle, and easy to thin and thicken. its a perfect white and took the blue color well. Thank you!

This is my husbands all time favorite frosting. I make it atleast one a week!!

Wonderful frosting. I substited water for the milk and substitued 1/4 part butter for the shortening just to add flavor.

Maybe I did something wrong, I used butter flavored shortening and the taste was overwhelming so I added more sugar and milk, which changes the recipe completely, maybe I would try again, I don't know.

This frosting was very good for decorating, but be sure to use white shortening, otherwise it will turn out yellow.

This is the best frosting I have ever made so far. It is really good. And it holds its shape very well when decorating. It is just right to frost cakes and cupcakes. Everyone whom I have made a cake for tells me that love it and want me to make then more cakes. Well I hope if you stumble upon this recipe you will try it yourself. Enjoy.

This is EXCELLENT frosting for decorating! Will use this often, Thanks!

My husband, who isn't a sweets person, said this was the best icing ever. HOWEVER, I followed everyone's advice and used 1/2c butter and 1/2c shortening, hence the 4-star review. I also used coconut milk instead of regular milk. The almond taste was great and my hubby took some to work, which disappeared in 20 minutes...and his office is all men. So, I say if MEN eat these things, then they're GOOD!

Thank you for such an easy frosting recipe. Mine turned out light and fluffy and perfect for my 2-year old to help decorate cupcakes. We will definitely use this one again!

This is a very good frosting and very easy to make and adjust to your needs.

This was a great starting point for frosting! I didn't add the almond and added lemon extract instead, and tinted it with food coloring. It came out pretty well. Thanks for this quick and easy recipe, I will probably use it again.

I don't like shortening, so I used butter instead. It turned out great, the flavor was good and it was easy to work with. It was yellow to begin with, but I continued beating it in the mixer, and it ended up looking off-white. It was pretty close. I was going to color it anyway, so it didn't matter. Even as the plain color, against my chocolate frosting it looked white! I will definitely be using this recipe in the future!

The consistency was very good for decorating. The flavor was okay. Next time I might use butter instead of shortening and a different flavoring. But this is a great basic recipe.

unbelievable! perfect and stores great in the fridge. the almond does it.

Excellent receipe.Used pure vanilla extract instead of Almond and was superb! Glad I found this receipe.My go to icing receipe .

I use clear vanilla extract instead of almond, add a can of vanilla frosting from the store and two more tbs of milk. Now that is the perfect frosting!!!

I use water rather than milk as milk did not mix well with shortening.

This is exactly what I was looking for. I used it for my daughters 4th birthday cake. Having no experience at cake decorating, I found this frosting very user friendly and the cake turned out beautifully. Thanks!

Standard Frosting! I did use all Butter only because I didnt need a pure white icing plus i prefer the flavor over using Shortening! Very creamy and fluffy!! Perfect for the Birthday cake I made!!!

Loved this recipe. Super simple! I really appreciated the advice to "separate decorating part then thin the overall cover" advice. will use from now on... I just used a cup of butter instead of shortening, I think it tastes better than with shortening.

This frosting was so much easier than any decorator frosting I have used and it turned out perfect! I didn't change a thing in it as I used it with star and writing tips as well as basic cake-covering. Thank you!

Perfect with the white almond wedding cake recipe!!!!

I liked this recipe. I too added half cup butter shortening and half cup butter plus vanilla instead of almond. I used my Kitchen Aid wisk attachment to whip. I had made 8 small cake loaves and this was just enough to cover them. I will make again.

Easy to make and it tasted great. It makes a lot of frosting, though, so I ended up throwing a lot of it away.

I have used this in the past and have had success and failure with it. I used an off brand shortening and the coloring didn't mix. For those who pure white and want to use butter you can always make your own butter from whipping cream. Butter is not supposed to be yellow. Just pour it in a food processor and let it go until it stoops changing in consistency. Then salt to taste. You will only get about 1/3 to 1/2 cup butter out of a qt. of whipping cream. Doing it this way isn't cheap but if pure white is important and all shortening or goat milk doesn't sound appealing this is another option. Maybe you can get white butter in a store or shop I have seen it. Good luck.

This was the best frosting I've had. I'm never buying the stuff from the store again. I used butter instead of shortning.

This frosting is rich & almondy. By using a little less milk than called for, I was able to get a thicker frosting that held up really well for making flowers.

Perfect. Used on sugar cookies (Christmas cookies) perfect for what I needed.

I added a little more almond extract than said, and it tasted amazing.

great flavor, great presentation, got rave reviews from friends and family at my son's birthday! I used the home-made vanilla extract I had on hand and it was delicious! Everyone was devouring the frosting!

I subbed a half teaspoon of almond extract with vanilla and added juice squeezed from one small lemon wedge. I got lots of complements on the toast of this icing! It held its shape well! I had to make it dairy and soy free, so I used nutival palm oil shortening and walnut milk in the recipe. I will definitely use this recipe again!

I did not like the way this tastes.

Thanks to this recipe my cupcakes were yummy....loved it

This is a fantastic frosting!! I used this recipe for the cupcakes that I made for my 2 year old daughters birthday part. I substituded vanilla extract (brown) and 1/2 cup of butter 1/2 shortening and it came out PERFECT!! I used brown vanilla extract because I colored the frosting with food coloring anyway and my daughter is allergic to almonds. I HIGHLY recommend this recipe if you need to decorate your cakes.

I loved it! I used Crisco & Vanilla extract and it was white, stiff, and favorable.

As far as texture, this icing was PERFECT for piping. The taste...not so much. I followed the recipe exactly and I could barely get through eating the first cupcake. You can feel the shortening grease on your lips and maybe it's just me but it really grossed me out. Also, it's too sugary. I realize I could've tweaked it but I wanted to see how it turned out by following it.

This decorators icing is amazing and easy to work with. I have made it for every cake I have made since before last Christmas. Great for cupcakes, wedding cakes, birthday cakes and decorating cookies.