I've made this recipe several times during the summer, and I also used it for my daughter's Dragon Tales cake. I found it at another site under the name of Charlotte's Buttercream. I wanted a frosting that would hold the July temp. and decorations would not slide down the cake.

I found it to be very easy to work with. It's fluffy like a whipped cream, smooths very easy, pipes well, colors well, but a little too soft for making roses, they just look OK, nothing special.

What I really didn't like was the aftertaste Crisco leaves in your mouth. it kinda sticks to your tongue. I've even used the new Crisco, the one with zero trans fats.

Can anyone share their version of this recipe but using some butter and some crisco? How much of each have you used?

Thanks
Emi

I didn't find it to have an aftertaste of crisco. The only odd thing I found when I ate it was I was looking for that thickness of regular buttercream and the grittiness of it.

I don't know why it says not to refrigerate. Maybe b/c it gets very stiff. Perhaps that is the key to smoothing it.

I think if it was a little bit sweeter it would be great as a filling. Nice and smooth.

Edited to add:
I did a taste test this morning with some coworkers. They said this recipe is nice and smooth and has a good mouth feel and neither thought it had a greasy after taste. The other recipe (the dreamy cream recipe available here too) they said was very sweet but with a better flavor.

Conclusion: I think next time I'll add more flavor to the whipped frosting recipe as well as maybe less crisco and more sugar. I'm still going to try mixing it with regular buttercream to get a slightly crusting variation before modifying the recipe.

I used to use this buttercream exclusively..It's really good, but it became a pain to make. You had to clean the bowl between batches because of the meringue. I made mine with butter and crisco!!

Hi Ladies,

All your talk got me to test this receipe this morning!
I only made up half a batch, which came out to be around 3 cups...so I don't know how the receipe got the yield of 3 cups from a whole batch?but anyway...

I liked the lightness of it, colour was very white, tinted better with chefmaster candy colour rather than the normal wilton colours. I guess candy colour are oil based and hence blends in better with the cisco.

but like Emi, i also found that it had a little aftertaste of crisco. but i think this is all very personal. coz i've only just started using criso in my buttercreams - that's the only thing that will hold up in warm weather!

TamiAZ, could you share with us your ratio of crisco and butter?

Have any of you tried the WBH Kaye's IMBC. This buttercream kinda reminds me of that. I love that IMBC but i don't want to use raw eggs and the boiling of the sugar is a bit tedious.

Have any of you compared this to the Dreamy Whip/ Dreamy Cream receipe contributed by PolishMommy? I've yet to try that coz still looking for the Dream Whip. very interested to compare the two.

I'm on a buttercream quest! sori for the long message...
Thank you!

Do you think this would work well with a FBCT?

I made this frosting today and it is very light. No crisco mouthfeel w/this frosting. I haven't frosted the cake yet, but this frosting has a lot of air bubbles. I think I'll try it again with a little more pwd sugar. I used about 3.5c pwd sugar.

This frosting lacks the flavor a a real IMBC. However, it does not have the "hurt your teeth it's so sweet" taste of other pwd sugar frostings. This is the best crisco based frosting I've tried. Good mouthfeel and not the heavy kind of frosting that's like wallpaper paste.

I too tried this recipe this week. I love the taste, not to sweet.

I did find it difficult to work with. I found it impossible to get the crisp edges on my cake that I really like. I can imagine using it to much because it was to difficult to smooth out.

Here's my version of Charlotte's buttercream. It fits perfectly in the 4.5 quart Kitchenaid. The icing comes above the beaters which means that a lot of air bubbles are not incorporated and you get a nice creamy icing.

Start with the wire whip. Combine on low:
1/2 cup meringue powder
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
Add 1 cup boiling water. Mix on low until well blended. Turn on high until stiff peaks form.

Change to paddle. Add in small increments:
2 sticks room temp butter (not too soft or the icing will be very soft).
3 cups Crisco. Blend after each addition. It will look curdled but just keep beating until blended. Turn on high and mix well. Turn back to low.
2 pounds powdered sugar added a little at a time.
2 tablespoons flavoring of choice- 1 vanilla and the other whatever you like-almond, hazelnut, lemon, orange. If you color the icing, add it now. Turn on high and let it go for 2-5 minutes or so. When it is done, it is very smooth.

You can replace 1 cup of shortening with cream cheese for cream cheese icing-also very good.

It keeps well outside of the refrigerator if you don't use all of it at once. Make sure it is covered because it does form a soft crust that you wouldn't want to clog your tips with the next time you use it. Smooth using whatever method is the best for you.

It pipes really well and I imagine you can make roses etc with it. I love this icing because it's not overly sweet. Try it!

Dang I wish I would have caught your updated version of this recipe before last night when I made more of it!! I'll have to look for some of the candy colors since I need a rich red for decorating an elmo head.

I do think this icing turns out really nice. It is a bit of a pain with the multiple bowls to get it to come out right but I think worth it for the picky customer (or family member in my case).

Thanks for that feedback, Barefoot_Contessa. Good to know, as I don't even know where to find Dream Whip!

VickiC, thanks for sharing your receipe. Sounds interesting, I'll give it a try soon!

I've seen the Dream Whip in Wal-Mart. It's usually on a shelf with the Jello gelatin and pudding. Hope this helps some of you looking for it.

Dia---
Did you ever try combining it with regular buttercream? I would love to know the outcome if you did.

VickiC - -
I don't have a Kitchenaid mixer. Do you think a regular hand mixer would work?

What flavorings do you use? Has anyone tried icing the cake with this frosting then use a regular buttercream for the "decorations"?

Thanks,
Cecilia

SquirrellyCakes,

Thanks for pointing out that this does not contain whipping cream. I was reading the thread but almost didn't check out the recipe becauase I figured I couldn't use it since it was "dairy"

Has anyone tried adding chocolate/cocoa to this icing? Has anyone used hi-ratio? I see that it is a bit of work, but at least it doens't require boiling sugar syrup. I look forward to trying it soon.

Shalom,
itsacake

I just tried this recipe but I got it from a diffrent post the author called it CREAMY DREAMY BUTTERCREAM , I did omit the granulated sugar and mixed the meringue, powdered sugar and salt then poured my boiling water on it, after a good whip I got the stiff peaks I added 1 stick of butter and 2 cups of crisco, it tastes very good and not too sweet I'm assuming it's because of the added salt. Cutting back on the amount of crisco is a good idea I was concerned about the after taste of crisco too. It's veru fluffy and light I'm using it as a filling to torte my layers.

This recipe sounds alot like the Whimisical Bakehouse House Buttercream recipe....I really like that one also!!!

Hey SquirrellyCakes--Congrats on being the "OFFICIAL CAKECENTRAL NUT"! I just noticed it.

As for the frosting, does anyone know if this will be okay to put under fondant? I have to use a lot of frosting for my next cake, but I was a bit worried about it being too sweet. This sounds perfect for it.

[quote="llee815"]Hey SquirrellyCakes--Congrats on being the "OFFICIAL CAKECENTRAL NUT"! I just noticed it.
Hubby said it was just a matter of time before I would be officially declared a nutcase, so it is appropriate, haha!
Hugs Squirrelly

This frosting is too airy and has a mousse like consistancy, it won't hold up too well under the weight of fondant especially if you want some edges on your cake.

I would like to try this buttercream recipe, but am confused on if all these posts are on the same recipe or different recipes since there are different names for the recipe(s?) mentioned.

If someone could clarify please....
Thanks in advance
Tamara

This frosting is very light and airy and that's the point of the "whipped cream" title although it is misleading. No, you can't use it to dam your filling.

You need to stop the mixer for short bursts when you pour the boiling water in with the meringue powder to scrape the lumps off the bowl. If you do this and your water is really boiling hot, you shouldn't get lumps.

I have read through all the posts and have a question.

Has anyone ever tried the Hi-Ratio Shortening with this recipe.

If so, how did it turn out?

cj

This is my new favorite frosting. I made 2 cakes so far with it (blue with ruffles & peach in my photos). My hubby took the blue to his job and everyone loved it. They said the frosting was perfect, not too sweet. I got nothing but compliments for the cake. I am making it for my son's christening in June also. It does take alot of time especially when you have to make a few batches but it taste great. If you take a look at the pics you will see that it pipes great. The roses are just ok as mentioned before but it can be done.