I have read many recipes and I was wondering if you want to share what others add to buttercream to cut sweetness or help it taste less greasy.

Here is what I have found:
Dream Whip
Powdered coffee creamer
dry milk powder
flour
cornstarch
cane powdered sugar not beet sugar
butter flavor
popcorn salt

I thought I would bump this up. Maybe somebody has better ideas.

I was taught in Wilton to add a combo of vanilla, butter and almond flavorings. Personally I like mostly almond but not everyone does.

Others like creme bouquet. I really don't care for it in my buttercream but really like it in the MMF.

Anybody else?

I have always just used powdered sugar, crisco, butter and vanilla flavoring. I have never gotten any complaints about too sweet. However I have tasted other icings that all really gritty. I will have to say that a lot of it depends on what brands of powdered sugar you use. I tried to buy an off brand and it really was sweet. I always use Domino powdered sugar. Hope this helps!!

I have also used lemon juice to cut down on the sweetness, however, it does sometime change the icing colors (ex. my black will turn green when adding lemon juice).

I use butavan instead of my former clear vanilla and butter flavorings and Alpine Shortening instead of Crisco....big difference in texture! I still base it on my former Wilton Class Buttercream recipe (just crisco, water, vanilla & butter), but my new version is much creamier simply because of the higher quality shortening. I've also started adding popcorn salt to cut the sweetness. I get my Alpine shortening & butavan flavoring from sugarcraft.com.

So I guess my add-ins are:

Butavan
Popcorn Salt
Alpine High-Ratio Shortening

I use salted butter instead of adding salt. It helps to cut the sweetness.

Just yesterday I did a taste test using Lorann oils and creme bouquet to flavor small batches of butter cream.

I tested the Bavarian cream, amaretto, and vanilla butternut Lorann oils. The Bavarian cream was the hands down #1 favorite. The other three were tied for second.

What amazed me is that once I added the flavorings, everyone thought the buttercream was less sweet then the unaltered original batch.

I use 1/2 the amount of shortening in the recipe. Have for years. Not greasy at all. Works for me.

I always use a pinch of salt and you can really tell the difference in sweetness. I also use butter, vanilla and almond flavorings.

Genna, I have seen others add popcorn salt. What is the difference in adding this compared to regular or kosher salt? I actually add some kosher salt but would like to know what popcorn salt brings to the buttercream.

Thanks,
Julie

I have heard on FoodNetwork that salt is used to enhance sweetness (other baking/cooking shows say the same). But, every one here seems to think it cuts the sweetness. I vote for it cutting the sweetness.

As for the popcorn salt. I guess is just a finer salt that dissolves faster in the liquid. Grittiness can come from adding salt directly to the buttercream instead of dissolving it into your liquid.

I use the Lorann oils as well and I've had people tell me that the frosting doesn't taste as sweet event though it's the same Wilton recipe with flavor thrown in....I like the cheesecake flavoring...it has a really nice aroma.

Sarah Phillips at Baking 911 says add popcorn salt to help cut the sweetness.

I believe that if you add salt to a recipe that is being cooked - it enhances, but if you add it to the buttercream, it definately cuts it. Make sure you use UNflavored popcorn salt!

I use 2 sticks of salted butter, 1/2 cup of Crisco (name brand) and 2tsp of REAL vanilla and DOMINO 10x sugar. (the name brands for this particular recipe has to be followed through)

I put orange extract in mine - it's devine! I also only use real butter, no crisco for me, it's nasty stuff!