Wah!

I've tried buttercream dream, decorator's buttercream, wilton buttercream, SMBC and all are either grainy, too sweet, or too hard once refridgerated... I absolutely love cake and decorating them, but I am hating buttercream!

Am I the only one who thinks buttercream is disgusting? I have always been one to love duncan hines chocolate straight out of the can with a spoon... Is it even possible to make a frosting taste that good that you can decorate with?

I am about to give up on buttercream... when that happens, I just don't know what the heck I'll put under my fondant to keep it smooth. Does anything else work for this?

Stepping off my buttercream soapbox now!!! LOL

I like the French buttercream recipe off of the Food Network by Duff Goldman. Tastes addicting all on its owm, although I believe some people on this site aren't fans. And, my dog actually begs for it (and he's a picky one!)

I don't really like any icing, except this one kind of chocolate that my grandma makes! It was pretty funny, a couple of weeks ago, I made a cake for my DD's piano recital. We were eating it afterwards, and I was scraping off all the icing. People were looking at me funny, because they knew that I had made it. Ah, well, I figure that at least everybody knows I'd never lick my fingers while decorating!

My husband hates buttercream. I've never tried it and I made some for a cake for this weekend. Just seeing all the Crisco going in it I thought aghhh!!! I don't like icings either and always scrape it off the cake and also peel the fondant!!!

I'm with you guys.....I don't like icings of any sort....Im not even a real big cake fan ....luckily, I have a big enough family, with a wide range of different tastes, for experiementing on and for taste testing sessions

I wish I DIDNT like it so much! It creates another whole set of problems!

You could always try chocolate butter icing.
approx :
4oz chocolate (white or brown)
1 stick butter
3/4 cup confectioners sugar.

Cream sugar and butter, then add melted chocolate.
If its too sweet add a little vanilla. If it goes too hard, pop it into the microwave for a few seconds. I use this now on my mud cakes under fondant, and for a filling aswell. You could also add cream and extra sugar for a slightly different taste.

jenndga,

You can also use ganache under your fondant.

HTH

love buttercream...knowing it's full of crisco...
keep trying to find a perfect recipe...but overall give me the corner piece...the one w/all the icing...

thanks for the icing tip...going to search for duff's recipe

I never was a cake fan either, until I tasted Dixie's Finest Whipped Icing. I now LOVE cake, unfortunately for my waistline! Cake is cake...it's the icing that makes all the difference.

I hate it too. The Wilton buttercream especially, the one they teach in their course 1. It shouldn't even be called buttercream since it's all Crisco. I ONLY use that one for practice. I would never use it on a cake that was paid for.

I use Toba Garrett's buttercream recipe otherwise, and I've heard about French buttercream but haven't tried it.

No one in my family likes it, we all like fresh homemade whipped cream. But it's so hard to decorate with that.

So I mostly use fondant.

Alex

Are you using good sugar? I have heard people complain about texture when they use other sugars that have beet in them.

Wow! I guess my son isn't the only one that doesn't like icing... I have to serve him his cake on the side or upside down so he doesn't have to get it on his fork. (he's 6.5 y/o) He has never liked it.

I wish I could find a good and stable whipped cream icing - now that is my fav!!!! Cream cheese isn't too far behind.

Good luck on your search

I like to use this recipe. It doesn't leave a funny taste in your mouth like the Crisco buttercream does.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/buttercream-frosting/Detail.aspx


I have used it on the last few cakes I have made and it works just fine.

I don't like the all Crisco BC either, but I do like BC made with real butter. How do you get pure white using butter? My instructor told me if you need pure white you had to use all Crisco?

My family actually begs me to buy the canned icing. Hrumph!

emhurston, I have read that a tiny amount of violet food coloring will cancel out the yellow of the butter frosting. Have never tried it myself, but several attest to it. HTH.

Yes, blue or violet does work (in small amounts). We have shampoos designed to make white legs (horse and dog) whiter, those products are alwaus blue or purple based. (it helps get out yellow urine stains, nice right? lol)

Okay...I have to admit...I LOVE buttercream! But not as much as my middle sister...whenever I make a cake she asks if I had leftover frosting and if so, grabs a spoon and gets the bowl out of the fridge. My youngest sister, on the other hand, prefers her cakes frosted with store bought, out of the can frosting...I don't even consider that frosting....well, except the chocolate...now that's good...but vanilla out of a can when you can have buttercream?! That one I don't understand....Jodie

i used to eat the icing out of the can by the spoonfuls until learned how to make bc w/crisco. I can not eat the canned stuff anymore and adding butter to the crisco only makes it taste like the canned stuff. Have you tried making the buttercream with hi-ratio shortening? I hear it is alot better and doesn't leave that greasy feeling. My sister hates the crisco bc and scapes it off also!

Thanks for the hint about adding violet or blue to the BC. I have some left over in the fridge I'll try tomorrow.

I really have to be in a "sweet tooth" mood to be able to eat icing or cake. I am so burned out!! However, I was taught by my grandmother to make icing w/just crisco, powder sugar, little water, & flavoring. Butter flavoring is my favorite besides almond.
I have made the BC w/real sticks of butter but normally only on request. I dont know if its me or the humidity here but it ALWAYS gets runny. I can never make a stiff batch. And you can not decorate a cake or make decorations with runny icing! I've tried!

When people complement me on the icing & ask "how did you make it?" I just reply you dont really want to know...

Mentioning the diffrent kinds of crisco they have now. Has anyone used the low fat low cholesteral kind. I bought some a few weeks back & it seems less greasy than normal. It seemed to get stiff quick & I had to add more water to thin it out. To me this is a good thing! It tasted good too!

I hate the crisco+powdered sugar decorator's frosting/"buttercream"!

I LOVE the meringue-based European-style buttercreams! Yes, these do firm up in the fridge because of the butter. You have to let the cake come to room temp before serving. Then the buttercream will be soft and yummy again.

Well, I'm kinda in the middle. My favourite icing is a blend of both IMBC or Duff's buttercream and half-butter-half-crisco buttercream. It doesn't crust, but is light and not as sweet as the half-butter-half-crisco.

Last week I made the Whimsical Bakehouse House buttercream for the first time. It is extremely smooth and unbelievably light - in fact, I wasn't sure at first if I liked it. But it is very nice on the cake, not so much out of the bowl, and it was lovely to work with. It does not crust.

But I think the all-crisco buttercream (Wilton class buttercream) is pretty gross. Great for practice (and it keeps forever) but I would never put it on a cake! Blech!

d77, try this...
http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-901-Whipped-Cream-Frosting.html this isnt stable enough to put under fondant but it sure is yummy.

to the original poster, ganache with semisweet or bittersweet chocolate works well under fondant.

all butter buttercream isnt bad especially if you use 10x sugar and a really good vanilla - like madagasgar bourbon vanilla. beat it on low to get a good creamy texture for about 7 minutes in a a stand mixer with the paddle attachment if you have one. mmmmm

Wow, thanks for all the tips you guys!!!

I have been using Domino 10-x powdered sugar, I buy it in bulk at my local warehouse store (BJ's). I tried to find hi ratio shortening in all kinds of specialty markets here, but no go so far.. where in Atlanta can I find this??? I hate paying shipping, I am so cheap! LOL

As for ganache under fondant... oh goodness me.. I didn't know you could. Yummmmm!!!!

I've never eaten marzipan so I don't know if I would like it with fondant. Personally, I peel off fondant before I eat the cake. If it were up to me, I would just made a tube cake and drizzle chocolate over it, but it doesn't make a great presentation like the ooohhh and aaahhhh sugar art I would like to create.

My husband likes icing, but hasn't liked any of the ones I have tried either. I will be trying some of the recipes from this post.. I've got to find the IT recipe eventually!!!!

you say you peel off the fondant...have you ever tried satin ice? mmmm...it can change a persons mind completely.

www.satinfinefoods.com
www.intotheoven.com