My "perfected" BC recipe calls for adding a little bit of milk to thin the icing to the desired consistency. But I always figured I needed to refrigerate the cakes b/c of the milk in the bc.
I just found out that to get my kitchen certified I can't use anything that requires refrigeration.
I need some ideas on what to use to thin my icing that still tastes good

Thanks in advance!!!

Welcome to Cake Central.......and my BC recipe also uses a bit of milk....but you do NOT have to refrigerate it......as was explained to me the sugar stabilizes the icing......I have had cake left over 3+ days with that icing left out and never had it go bad!

I just took my first class last week and the recipe that my instructor gave me did not have a drop of milk in it and it tasted great! She used basically the same recipe as Wilton's BC, but substituted the milk for water.

I use water rather than milk so I don't have to refrigerate.

I use water and I really can't tell the difference.

I took the Wilton course and the BC recipe said it used milk, but our instructor said we could replace the milk with water and the taste did not change at all!! The good thing about using water, is that if you had BC left over you could refrigerate it for a couple of weeks, and if you used milk you would not be able to do that. Hope this helps!!

ok I also refrigerate my leftover buttercream (with the milk in it) and it has been fine later (for spreading on graham crackers anyway).......

I know we have talked about it on this site before and there are quite a few of us who use milk in buttercream and don't have any problems.

They look great. Practice makes perfect (or just better)

I use water in mine... because my family is lactose intolerant, we never have milk in the fridge and there's no use in buying a big container just for icing.
You use so little milk/water in the recipe, it doesn't make a difference in taste at all. If the regulations are going to be really sticky, try whipping up a batch of BC with water and see if you like it.
Good luck

I use a buttercream recipe that has no refrigerated product at all. Leftovers can be chilled or frozen for later use, but it is stable at room temp for a long time.

1 1/2 c. Crisco shortening
3 T. Dream whip powder
1 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp vanilla
3/4 tsp butter flavor
1 tsp almond flavor
Beat together till smooth. Slowly add:
1/2 c. cold water
2 lb. powdered sugar

You can add more powdered sugar to stiffen or more water to thin. I get a lot of compliments on the flavor of this one and it is very workable.