If you're looking for the definitive buttercream recipe, then look no further. Here are a few reasons why this recipe rocks my world: 1) Consistancy: It's PERFECT. Not too gloopy or too stiff. Just right. EVERY time. 2) Flexibility [part 1]: You can easily adjust ingredients to suit tastes of the cake-eaters. Butter instead of shortening is unbelievably rich but a firm favourite for older eaters. The shortening-only version tastes a lot like bakery icing, so popular with a younger crowd. And a mixture of the two gives you the best of both worlds. 3) Flexibility [part 2]: Recipe here makes a shedload. Great if you need to ice cupcakes for a couple thousand of your closest friends, but proportions are such that it is easily halved (to ice one normal sized cake) without losing any flavour or needing a degree in calculus to figure out what the measurements would be. Make it. You won't regret it.
After reading all the reviews, I decided to take a chance and follow the recipe *exactly* - that's right, NO changes - and it was absolutely delicious! 5 Star all the way. I've taken the Wilton decorating classes, and I used to use their frosting, but from now on this will be my staple Buttercream recipe. I've been looking for a Bakery Frosting replica for years, and this is definitely it! Not only is the flavor wonderful, the texture is *perfect* for piping decorations! I made this with a hand held mixer, and my only tip is to REALLY beat the crisco to get it as light and fluffy as possible before adding the powdered sugar, and then beat it as much as possible after adding the sugar, and again after adding the remaining ingredients. If you're looking for a copy cat bakery frosting recipe, this is it! A+ (Exactly as written!)
I made a huge birthday cake for 50 people yesterday and wanted to try a different buttercream recipe. I made 2 changes based on other reviews. (1) I used 1 1/2 cups shortening and 1/2 cup butter. I didn't use more butter because of potential problems with softening/melting. (2) I added 1 tsp Wilton's butter flavoring. I left everything else the same. What a great icing! It was very spreadable and great when piping shell borders, rosettes and lettering. It also tinted beautifully. I did have to refrigerate the pastry bags after a minutes of use because the heat from my hands was too much and the icing became very soft. At the birthday party, I had 4 guests who bake tell me that this was the best icing ever--that it was so buttery and not too sweet. I will definitely use again.
I tried two variations of this recipe so far. The first time I tried a variation I read in the reviews because I didn't want the frosting to have a greasy after taste. I used 1 c. butter and 1 c. shortening, and only 4.5 cups of powered sugar and 4 oz of heavy cream (along with the other ingrediants). This tasted great and wasn't too sweet. The only problem is that it tended to be a bit more runny that I liked and I had to refrigerate it often because it was getting too soft for my decorations. The 2nd batch I made was 1 1/2 c. shortening, 1/2 c butter and the rest of the ingrediants according to the recipe. This batch came out fabulous! It was sweet (as expected) but with a great consistency for piping, star tip design, and other decorating techniques. I don't care for really sweet frosting, however, I didn't have a problem with this frosting at all. I think from now on I'm going to stick to the 2nd variation for my cakes!
This is the best buttercream recipe I have ever tried before, but I read the reviews and substituted 1 and 1/2 cups of the shortening with butter (having made buttercream that tasted "greasy" before) and only added 1/2 a cup of shortening. It was phenomenal!! I froze the extra so that I can use it for any decorating needs in the future - perfect decorating consistency, but tasty also. I also needed to make a lemon buttercream icing, so I substituted the vanilla with lemon extract. I could not stop "taste-testing". Didn't give it 5 stars just because if it was made as is with 2 cups of shortening, I do believe it would be too greasy-tasting. This is a keeper!
While this recipe is really good, it is definitely not for cakes to decorate in the Wilton fashion. It is too soft to hold up intricate work. Also, because of the cream, refrigeration is necessary. Another reason to not use it on a large elaborate cake, unless you have a lot of room in your frig. But if you just want to frost a cake this is really delicious. I don't usually like to lick frosting, but this one is lickable.
Its not buttercream if it doesn't have butter in it
This really is a GREAT RECIPE however I STRONGLY recommend using half unsalted butter for half the shortening and only 5 cups sifted powdered sugar (otherwise it would be much too sweet). I also used real vanilla powder (less color than extract). With the heavy cream, it becomes a terrificly light, fluffy frosting that spreads beautifully. You could beat in slightly more sugar to part of the finished frosting if you want to use it to pipe roses (but don't use that much sugar to cover the whole cake).
After reading several reviews and seeing all the changes everyone made to this recipe, I looked for the opinion of someone who actually followed the recipe. I followed it exactly and it is the best frosting I've used. Fluffy, easy to work with, delicious and a beautiful white color. Thank you, Rick!!
