Looking For A Butter Frosting Recipe

[dottywseven]

I'm not POSITIVE, but I asked my aunt if she knew what made Grandma's frosting taste so much better and she said: "I believe it could be: "The usual ingredients - salt, confectionary sugar, butter, milk - then she added a little brandy; wasn't sure if it was in addition to the vanilla or whether it replaced the vanilla. You could use the brandy extract if you don't want to use real brandy.

[midasshannon]

I am making my own wedding cake for my wedding this next spring and I just LOVE tehe butter cream icing that they use at the bakeries. I can purchase this already made but it ranges in price from $3.50 - $6.00 a lb. depending on where you buy it. I am trying to cut as many corners as I can financially. If anybody out there could help me I would greatly appriciate it.

shannon

[midasshannon]

OOPS. Iforgot to ask if anybody has any ides or recipes for the icing. Goofy me. Thank you.

shannon

[cat lover]

Originally Posted by midasshannon

OOPS. Iforgot to ask if anybody has any ides or recipes for the icing. Goofy me. Thank you.

shannon

BUTTERCREAM ICING

1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup shortening
1/8 salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/8 almond extract
5 cups powdered sugar
4-6 teaspoons half & half


House Buttercream

3 cups confectioners’’ sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup boiling water
1 1/3 cup shortening
3 ½ ounces (7 tablespoons) cool butter, cut into pieces


Fit your mixer with the whisk attachment. Put sugar and salt in the bowl. Add the vanilla and boiling water and whisk on medium-low speed until smooth and cool. Then add the shortening and the butter. Whisk until smooth. Then, increase the speed and whip on medium-high speed until the frosting is very light and fluffy and has doubled in volume. This could take up to 15 minutes, so be patient. You can flavor this with other extracts, as well—almond, butter, even peppermint.


Italian Buttercream

5.25 oz. sugar (3/4 cup), divided
2 oz. water
4 large egg whites, at cool room temperature
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoons lemon juice
3 sticks unsalted butter, at cool room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla or other extract

Over medium heat, bring water and 3/4 of the sugar to a boil. Cover the pot and let boil for 2-3 minutes to wash any sugar crystals off the sides of the pot. Remove cover and cook until the sugar syrup reaches 248 degrees, F.
Fit your stand mixer with the whisk attachment. On medium speed, whip egg whites, salt and lemon juice until foamy. Add the reserved sugar and beat to medium-stiff peaks. Try to time this so the sugar and the whites are ready at the same time.
When the sugar has reached 248 degrees, F and the whites are at medium-stiff peaks, with the mixer on medium-high, carefully pour the sugar syrup in a thin stream down the inside of the bowl. This will prevent the syrup from hitting the whisk and getting spun around the sides of the bowl instead of into your frosting. It will also cool the syrup just a bit so you don’t risk curdling your whites. Whip until cool, about 5-10 minutes.
Once the meringue is cool, add the butter, one piece at a time. Whip until each piece is completely incorporated before adding another piece. The icing might start to look a little curdled, but it should come together nicely by the time you have added all the butter. Feel the mixing bowl. It should feel somewhat cool. If it doesn’t, cool the mixture down by either putting the bowl in the refrigerator for a few minutes before continuing to whip or by rubbing the outside of the bowl with a bag of frozen peas while mixing. Guess which one I do?! Whisk in the vanilla, and you’re good to go.
This icing will get spongy on standing, so re-whip before icing. Italian buttercream keeps nicely in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. If you do refrigerate it, make sure to bring it up to room temperature before whipping, or it will curdle.

You can also make a lovely chocolate variation by whipping in 2-4 oz. (this depends on how chocolaty you like your chocolate frosting) good quality chocolate, melted and cooled.

[Queen of Hoot]

One handy tip I learned in cake decoration class is if your frosting/iceing is to sweet for your taste, this can be home made or store bought, just add a pinch of salt to it and mix well, it will take away some of the sweetness..I use it everytime I make frostings for cakes.

[cat lover]

Thanks for the salt tip Queen of Hoot! I use "no salt" in my cooking because of sodiun problems, it has the "taste" of regular salt, but no sodium. Do you think that it would do the same thing in the icing?