I took my daughter to an Easter fair yesterday and one of the events was to do cupcake decorating. Everything looked really yummy but when we both took a bit out of the cupcake we had iced, we almost gagged Needless to say, they went into the garbage. The icing was from a big tub from the bakery and it tasted like colored grease....... oh it was nasty. We watched as everyone ate their cupcakes with no problems and just said to ourselves that they do not know what good icing must taste like. I think once you have eaten real buttercream , you just can't go back

Isn't that the truth? Many people who have never experienced true buttercream icing will eat anything! But those of us who make and serve the stuff know the real thing right away. Sorry that you all had a bad experience. But maybe it will give you an opportunity to try to make some for the fair next year. Happy Baking!!
Tanya

awesome avatar tanya!
I have tasted some crappy icing too.... maybe they didnt have tastebuds?

Everyone has their own tastes, that's for sure!

I was at a church dinner back in October and for dessert they had cupcakes. Some people from my tabke went up and when they came back they were raving about their cupcakes, how good the cake was and how yummy the icing was. I took a bite of mine and knew right away it was standard cake mix and Duncan Hines icing. I sort of chuckled and said so and they immediately wanted to know how I knew. How do you explain that once you have had the really good stuff, nothing else compares and you just know?

It's very hard to explain without coming off as a self-appointed snob. My gut instinct answer is, "because I am a decorator and I know yuck when I see it or taste it." But we can't say that. I just tell them I am a decorator and I've gotten fairly good at recognizing different products.