Hello, I am sure this has been a topic before but I am new and I wanted to see if there was a recipe for butter cream that would crust if it is made with butter so that it holds up like the one with shortening and doesnt get so soft? I was in the Wilton Cake class and the instructor insists on us using shotening because it holds up better but I cant stand the thought of eating that so I hope there is a better way to decorate with real buttercream. Thanks so much!

If you think about it, when you leave butter out it gets soft but when you leave shortening out it never changes consistances.

You can use the Buttercream Dream recipe on here, it's got a great flavor.

I use half butter and half crisco when I make it - I prefer it over the taste of just crisco.

1/2 cup crisco
1/2 cup butter
4 cups of icing sugar
1 tsp of vanilla
2 tbsp of water or milk

DeezTreatz, does it still hold up and crust like the wilton one? I have done the wilton recipe and the indideby, which call for shortening but never tried half butter. just curious if it too will crust. what's the difference other than half butter, does it taste, crust the same?

I use the half butter one too...tastes good and yep it does crust...maybe not quite as hard as the all shortening kind, but it definitely crusts enough to smooth it with Viva or whatever.

I use indy deb's and substitute 1/2 butter 1/2 crisco.

Thanks everyone, one more question. what if I used meringue powder with an all butter butter cream. Would that stabilize it and make it hold up better?

I'm no professional, but I do use an all butter recipe that I LOVE. It crusts and does well with the Viva paper towel smoothing. The basic recipe is 1 tsp salt creamed with 1 c butter. Then add in 2 T+2t milk and 2 t vanilla. Then add 5 c sugar. That will give you enough for an 8in round. I usually double it. I use this all the time and haven't had any problems with it holding up, except the time I put the unrefrigerated cake in my trunk when it was over 100 outside and drove for an hour. But under normal circumstances I think it's wonderful, and so yummy!

I use 2 pounds powdered sugar, 1 1/2 cup hi ratio shortening, 1/2 cup salted butter, 2 tablespoons clear vanilla and 1/3 cup water. Whip until light and fluffy. Crust nicely in about ten minutes. If you can find butter without the added food coloring such as Land O lakes, Tillamook or Challenge you will get a whiter frosting.

Semi-off topic:

You can make your own butter! Quality control, and its a perfect flavor, consistancfy, and light pale color.

I always make butter, in fact I have cream in the fridge just waiting to be turned into delicious homemade butter...

I'm still waiting for someone to figure out how to get REAL vanilla clear

I think if you experiment you will find that the offensive flavor from your recipe is likely coming from the meringue powder.

I think what will keep a butter based butter cream stable is the temperature of the room. The reason they want you to use the Crisco based recipe is that your hand temperature will not affect it as quickly and so it is easier to work with for longer periods because of this. If you are at home and the icing in the bag starts getting too soft you can just put it in the fridge, you can't usually do that at the class.

Never thought of making my own butter on purpose! I did it accidentally once, does it end up being cheaper or just taste better/fresher. If you use the homemade butter and the real vanilla and whip the heck out of it, won't that get it pretty much to white or is it still just ivory?

p.s. I am just curious, why is a non-shortening based icing considered something "better" than a butter based one?