I made it, the Whimsical Bake House Buttercream. I omitted the butter, added 2 tbsp of cornstarch and added powdered coffee creamer to the hot water. Ummmmmm devine flavour French vanilla. The icing is really really really good. I am very impressed 
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What is the secret of smoothing it on cakes. My birthday is tomorrow (April 23) and I want to decorate my birthday cake with it.
How long does it last in the fridge or on the counter?
Where have this recipe been all my cake life 
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Which recipe was that? The one I tried from that site had a lot of butter, so I can't imagine omitting that. I heard there are different ones.
cool video on how to ice a cake smoothly
i am confused.. the wbh has an imbc recipe, which is very good.. then i made the house buttercream.. with the hi-ratio shortening and butter,etc. i don,t see one that omits the butter, using the powder sugar.. maybe it isn,t in the book. is it on line? the house buttercream, with the hi-ratio shortening and butter is delicious.. she uses very hot water also in that one.. just confused? can you give me the recipe. that omits the butter? tia
Yes I use Whimsical Bake House Buttercream which is also called the house buttercream. I am not a fan of to much butter so I omited the it. I did not increase the shortening and it came out very well. Probably nice time I may increase it to replace the butter, but it did not make a difference in my opinion. I changed the mixing method a bit. I mixed the hot water, cornstarch and shortening together first then I added the powerderd Sugar.
The recipe:
Whimsical Bakehouse Whipped Buttercream - Chiara
This is a great light recipe that is not sickningly sweet and is stable. Now it is a whipped buttercream and I am not sure that it would hold up for flowers and decorations beyond borders etc. but it is my standard now for my basic cakes:
In 1 tsp vanilla dissolve 1/8 tsp salt
add 6 cups powdered sugar.
Using whip attachment, whip on low speed.
Add 1 cup boiling water (3/4 on hot days)
Whip until smooth & cooled. This is now a slurry. Don't get discouraged.
Add & whip until smooth again:
2 3/4 cup high ratio or regular shortening of choice
6 oz. butter (1 1/2 sticks) of butter cubed
*Turn mixer to med high. Whip until double in volume & is light & fluffly. This takes about 20 mins. Recipe will fill a 5 qt mixer. Makes 9.5 cups
For chocolate: exchange 1 cup of icing sugar for powdered cocoa. I have found that you have to whip it for the full 20 mins. on high.
No joke for the time. You cannot shorten it. It makes 9.5 cups of icing and it is light and fluffy without a greasy taste or a sugary one as well.
Thanks for the birthday greetings
majormichel thanks a lot for this, but i'm wondering does this icing crust at all,and how easy is it to smooth.
I have the icing in the fridge and the outside has a soft crust. I guess I have to bring it to room temperate before decorating the cake. But it is still soft.
As to the creamer I added 2/3 c of flavored coffee and added hot water until it equal 1 cup.
As for smoothing Cakemommy3 told me to check this link
So your coffee creamer was the liquid kind not the powdered?
Yes that's correct
I can answer your question about how long WBH House buttercream lasts on the counter. Just long enough for me to eat it all. The chocolate is even better than the vanilla. It tastes like chocolate mousse, and I eat it by the bowlful. When I refrigerate it, I bring it back to room temperature, and re-whip before using. I make half of the recipe in the book for a two-layer cake.
I have made WBH House Buttercream (Kaye's Buttercream is the IMBC) a couple of times. It does NOT crust. At all. Not even a little bit.
You have to smooth it as best you can and then go over it with a warm spatula for the finish. It takes practice to get non-crusting BC smooth, but it can be done! (just not so well by me, LOL) 
what is the cornstarch for?
I did not add the butter so I added the cornstarch which help thicken the icing and make it a bit firmer so it won't slide of the cake.
I didn't need the icing to be smooth on the last cake I frosted with WBH House icing (because it was a last minute dessert cake for the family), so I just glommed the icing on and swirled it. And it was beautiful, but not smooth.
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