Are you sure it's 1 lb. each of the fats? Seems like a lot of fat in ratio to the amount of PS. My ratio is 1 CUP fat per 1 lb. powdered sugar. Please clarify. Thanks!

no milk or cream?

Christieena. The Merengue poweder will make it crust, I use a 75 % fat based on the weight of sugar, and my recipe still crusts .. I think you'll be ok .

The ratio of fat to sugar is what causes crusting. Meringue powder doesn't. I never use meringue powder in my buttercream.

Thank you for sharing. It's always nice to have another recipe to try.

I'm having trouble with my frosting recipe I've always used. I frost on Fridays and deliver Sat morning. sometime when I frost the next morning my cakes seem to wrinkle. I use the wilton recipe. this doesn't always happen but more in summer months. I had a four teir stacked with black ribbon around each layer and no other dec. which I hate doing with buttercream because every little flaw show. Do you have any helpfull ideas? After I dec. I leave all cakes in cool airconditioned shop over night. They are perfect when I go in at night but the next morning it's like the frosting has schrunk and tends to show wrinkles. Hope this makes sense to other cake dec. Thanks, Linda Designer Cake Shop

Please notify me by email on the above problem. [email protected] Thanks, Linda

well my butter cream is 1 cup of butter 1 cup of shortening 4 cups/1 lb of P sugar 1 tbs vanilla 3 tbs whipping cream 1 tsp cream of tartar same process cream butter and shortening, then add vanilla , then in gradually add the sugar and cream of tartar mix well until is well combine and the desire texture! hope it helps!!♥

Well, as far as the cakes shrinking, my rule of thumb is, if the cake is just buttercream, refridgerate it, if it is covered in fondant, you don't need to put it in the fridge, you can, but sometimes they I don't. If it's a space issue, leave time the next day to assemble the cake before you go and store it seperated. Buttercream can shift if the cake layers are heavy, sometimes mine do. A sturdy "pound cake' like recipe is good for layered tiers. It helps a lot. Hope that helps!

@lveatch - the little wrinkling happened to me after it crusted, when i used the thin boards. even the slightest bend in the silver/gold boards caused this to happen. the solution was to use the thicker boards/drums on the cakes. HTH

what does the cream of tartar do to your icing???

good info thanks everyone for sharing

I use a buttercream recipe VERY similar to this and get rave reviews, too. I use salted butter so I skip the extra salt. I'm wondering if people are giving this low stars BEFORE they try it? Good stuff SnoopyBird...love it!

I have also had a problem with wrinkles occasionally - and I agree with sweettoothmom that it's from the cardboard bending when you move the cakes around. I use three or four layers of cardboard as a base or a drum on a bigger cake and that seems to help. I have an issue with my buttercream (I use this same basic recipe) melting and leaving an oily puddle around the base of the cake. I don't cover my cakes in fondant, only buttercream, but I use all fondant decorations which get ruined in the fridge. So I don't store my cakes in the refrigerator. Anyone else have this same problem??

for wrinkles..want the answer...a little vinegar..wont change the taste at ALL!

and a tad of corn syrup makes it smooth

Now that the Crisco brand is Trans Fat free I have noticed that it is not as stable as the old formula. Did you need to alter your recipe with this change?

Love this recipe. I get nothing but great feedback about it. I tend to put a little less meringue, maybe two Tablespoons, but other than that, it holds very well and people love it.