recipes for buttercream frosting

[moosemama]

Does anyone have a recipe for buttercream frosting that you've tried and love? Or, for that matter, for *any* cake frosting that you love?

[Garnet]

I do but I have to get back to you.......

[Beyond Blessed]

Everyone LOVES my moms buttercream frostin - she applies it GENEROUSLY with a decorating tip to cupcakes and it's always the most sought after dessert - go figure. It's simple...

4 cups of SIFTED confectioners sugar (it really does help with the consistency
1/2 cup Crisco solid shortening
1/2 cup butter or margarine (I use Imperial stick margarine)
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream butter and shortening with a mixer - I always used a hand mixer and got soooo tired! My mom bought me an electric upright mixer for my birthday :jump. Add your vanilla at this point. Add your sugar bit by bit while you are beating it on medium (slow down that mixer when you add, I got a HUGE white cloud in my kitchen when I forgot :O) Use a scraper and stir a lot. When the sugar has all been mixed in, the icing will be very thick and that is when you add the milk. Mix this as long as you can! I love the consistency when I leave it mixing as I clean up all the utensils I used. We usually double or triple the recipe to generously ice a cake and to pull some aside for different colors. The leftovers are always GREAT between two graham cracker halves and frozen - YUM!

hth

[Garnet]

my recipe is like that, but I use real butter, and no crisco. sometimes I use a dash of hazelnut syrup, or even coffee, depending on what kind of cake I am frosting........

[RealLifeMama]

Just a note on that recipe-
I use Smart Balance shortening so there aren't trans fats.
When you use butter in your icing, it can tint the icing (ie, it will not be pure white) and that can change the tints of your icing colors a bit. So, if you want pure white, then use all shortening and add butter extract ( and clear vanilla, of course) .
I usually use the butter extract and then half vanilla and half almond extract. I thought the all shortening this would be wierd at first but I tried it because I needed totally white icing and Wilton said to do it, and it was great! I do it all the time now, I always get rave reviews on my icing and the colors turn out really well. It also doesn't get as slippery in the summer heat and humidity.
Thin with corn syrup for icing the cake to get it to desired icing consistency.
Yum!
Thanks for posting this! I have three birthday cakes to make this month, and I was not excited but now I am! :yum

[moosemama]

Oh yummy sounding recipe! And thanks to the other posters for the tips! I will definitely have to try this out.