Butter Or Shortening(Crisco)In Buttercream.which Is Better

Baking By wild_chick98 Updated 6 Oct 2007 , 8:38pm by smitti1

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wild_chick98 Posted 4 Oct 2007 , 1:59am
post #1 of 12

i was wanting to know if butter or shortening is better for buttercream icing. does butter taste better. Also if u use butter is the icing still white? I have only used shortening (crisco) for my icing and was wanting to know which was better

11 replies
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pastryjen Posted 4 Oct 2007 , 2:06am
post #2 of 12

In my crusting buttercream, I use 1 cup crisco and 1/2 cup marg.

If you use all butter, it can melt easier and may make decorating more difficult. That's what I understand anyway. HTH

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EmmyD Posted 4 Oct 2007 , 2:08am
post #3 of 12

i like 50/50, it makes it more stable than just butter and tastes better than straight crisco. if you beat it up enough it is pretty close to white but is not stark white. there is just something about straight crisco that gives me the heebie jeebies. hope this helps. it is what my local grocery store does for thiers and i have to say that their buttercream is one of the best in the world (well at least out of all that i have tried).

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vickymacd Posted 4 Oct 2007 , 2:11am
post #4 of 12

For the normal recipe, I used 1/2 cup butter/margarine (which ever I have on hand) and 1/2 cup Crisco.
I only use the all Crisco if I'm making roses.
I never use salt in the recipe, but found a recipe which calls for a pinch of salt and I think it tastes better than the Wilton recipe now.

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smitti1 Posted 4 Oct 2007 , 2:21am
post #5 of 12

There have been times that I've used both butter & Crisco and they keep separating. What causes that? I like just the Crisco except that it feels a little greasy to me. Any cure other than butter?

I think which way tastes the best is pretty much up to the taster. It could be different for everyone.

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ac2steachk Posted 4 Oct 2007 , 2:22am
post #6 of 12

I like the straight crisco when I MUST have white icing. Any other time, I use a combination, depending on the recipe I choose. I'm a fan of the crusting buttercream and the buttercream for FBCT recipes, which use both.

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EmmyD Posted 4 Oct 2007 , 2:30am
post #7 of 12

Smitti,
I make sure that my butter is really soft before trying to cream everything. i will usually put it on the counter in the mornign before work and then it is good to go one i get home. I cream the shortening and the butter for a couple minutes before doing anything else. Hope this helps a little bit.

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Lidunka25 Posted 4 Oct 2007 , 2:54am
post #8 of 12

Hallo,

personally I use only and again only butter, but i have my signature buttercream. When u use butter its not snow white (maybe whiten it with wilton white color could help, never tried it though).
And true is, when is really hot weather is hard to work with because it melts fast.
I never tryed to work with crisco, but I tasted the flawor and I did not like it. For me is flawor on first place.
Maybe u could use real butter cream inside the cake and for decorating use crisco one, which will have that white spark icon_smile.gif

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ValMommytoDanny Posted 4 Oct 2007 , 4:10am
post #9 of 12

I use a 1/2 butter, 1/2 shortening recipe for most of my stuff. If it has to be white then all shortening... Also conditions play a part - if its hot I usually cut back on the butter or eliminate it.

I like the flavor of the butter in the icing. icon_smile.gif

HTH

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wild_chick98 Posted 4 Oct 2007 , 4:40pm
post #10 of 12

does it have to be butter or can it be margarine?

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Brickflor Posted 4 Oct 2007 , 11:08pm
post #11 of 12

I use a 2-to-1 ratio, 2/3 butter, 1/3 crisco and I use half and half instead of water or milk. I have tried half butter and half crisco and although it tasted good I still got a little of that greasy feel in my mouth-blek! So I altered my recipe a little and this works really well for me. Still get the taste of butter, but the white-ness of crisco and the durability (or whatever you want to call it icon_lol.gif ).
Smitti-what are you using for liquid?

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smitti1 Posted 6 Oct 2007 , 8:38pm
post #12 of 12

Smitti,
I make sure that my butter is really soft before trying to cream everything. i will usually put it on the counter in the mornign before work and then it is good to go one i get home. I cream the shortening and the butter for a couple minutes before doing anything else. Hope this helps a little bit. EmmyD
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EmmyD
I make my sure my butter is soft. Sometimes I have to microwave for a short. Maybe I'm getting it too soft. Never buy margarine for anything. The last time I'm for sure that I used that recipe was last Feb. & we are in cold weater. No worry about high humidity then. I know I used 2% milk. From what I've been reading on CC I may have used the new Crisco. Can't remember that part or in what order I put the ingredients together. I'll keep working with it. Maybe I can figure it out. I've got to... it's my son's... actually the whole family's favorite frosting.

Thanks for your response.

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