meringue powder has been used for stability (what I was told in wilton class)
PS I notice ur in Sac.. I move from natomas in November to American Canyon! Welcome to CC
I have had no trouble with Sugarshacks icing recipe crusting.....my daughter even used it to make her first FBCT and it turn out great. I have even made roses with this icing and they were just fine.
As far as using MP in this recipe, I couldn't say how it will do......the only time I can remember using MP is in royal icing for some cookies I made.
God Bless,
Sharon
THANK YOU! Ya I am in South Sac, been here all my life. I would love to move tho!! Thanks for the info on the merenge powder, (why i can't spell today is beyond me!) I hate putn out the money for the stuff!! I am just getting started and alot of my cakes are for family so I don't really charge. Helps my pocket book out!!!!!
Hey ya'll!
Just got back from vacation. Glad you all are having success!
I never use MP and my icing crusts well and is very stable.
I highly recommend hi ratio ( sweetex my fav) but I have heard the wal mart brand of shortening in the royal blue can is a great sub for the old crsico.
I'm Jealous!! I WANT A VACATION!!!! Sharon thank you so much, you have no idea how much sorrow my unsmooth icing has caused me!!! My family will thank you also!! They think I'm crazy for being so obsessive about it!!!!! Everybody here at Cake Central has done so much to help me with my new found hobby and I really appreciate it!!!!!!!!!!! Ya'll Are The Best!!!
Oh Ya, this was my first batch with the high ratio, LOVE IT! I used one of the modified recipes from this thread and it was EXACTLY the right amount for my mixer, I think I have the 4.5 KA. My son was taste testing for me last night and he loved it, also my 2 year old is just started talking and he said CAKE for the first time last night!!!!! I AM SO PROUD!!!
dezzi.. do u go to cake castle for supplies? I cant wait to see the cake u make with it
yea, they are expensive, but i have bene places even more expensive LOL.. I procrastinate too.. also, if u get hi ratio from there, u can ask for a bigger container.. I used to all the time
I just can't get this right! 
Everytime I do this I end up with the most unbelievable amount of air bubbles. Like nothing I have ever seen before! My batch is completely up to the spring on my paddle and I am following the directions to the letter.
Does anyone have a suggestion as to what part of the process I could be screwing up that would cause the air bubble problem? I would appreciate any help at this point!
Anya
Anya, are you adding the liquid at the beginning of the recipe??
Cream your butter and shortening (or all shortening) REALLY well at the beginning. Then add your flavoring and milk - SLOWLY - then add the powdered sugar. Don't increase the speed and mix until all the powdered sugar is incorporated.
HTH
Anya, the same thing happened to me!! I do not know where I went wrong! 
Soooooooo, I made another batch last night, I didn't modify it with butter this time, becuase I was out..... NE Ways, What I did change was I creamed the shortening really well with the liquid, then my sugar wouldn't all fit in the bowl at once so i filled it to the brim, covered the mixer, and didn't turn the speed above 2, just enough to mix the sugar in so that I could add more. After all of the sugar was in I turned the mixer on full speed, I added some liquid as I went, but I didn't turn the mixer off, and this is what I ended up with, the most smooth and creamy icing I have EVER SEEN!!! My kids were laughing at me as I was singing and dancing around the kitchen last night! All I can tell you is TRY AGAIN IT WORKS!!!!! HTH!! 
YEP! That's it!!!
I never said it wasn't messy!!!
HAHAHAHAHAHA
CONGRATS!
I have done that dance myself once or twice!
Yu guys, I struggled BIG time with BC for about 3 years before I got it to behave. I TOTALLY understand the frustration it can cause. I just kept doing experiments till I got it to submit to my will...ROFL!
So I am so excited for you guys when it works out for you too!!!!
HUGS
Thank you all for the warm welcome here. I promised to post my BC stuff, so here it is:
I make a big batch in my 5 qt mixer. It gets the level of icing well above the paddle while mixing, and you get very little to no air bubbles in your icing this way. It is important to start with an icing with as little air as possible; so i fill my KA to the rim with this recipe:
5 1/2 cups hi ratio shortening ( sweetex)
5 pounds sifted powdered sugar
liquid which consists of 1)flavorings and 2) a liquid I make by mixing powdered coffee creamer, one cup to one cup hot water. I make this liquid up a few cups at a time and keep it in the fridge till I need it.
sugarshack- what kind of "flavorings" do you add? do you mean Vanilla extract etc.? I am dying to try this! Also, do I have to order the "high ratio" shortening on line? Can't seem to find it anywhere. Thanks for your help.
Sue W
I let it go for 5-7-minutes till creamy and smooth on about speed 6.
I ice the tops of my cakes with the open in a pastry bag and give it a quick smoothing with a hot spatuala ( dry, not wet). I then ice the sdies regualry, then use my bench scraper to smooth out the sides. after that I pull the excess icing along the top edge in toward the middle of the cake . I get down eye level with it to make sure that top edge is level all along and not waving. i then use viva with my hands, then viva with a fondant smoother and then computer paper with the smoother to give the final smoothing; which really is the magic touch.
I hope that helped you some!!! Its hard to explain without seeing it!
Okay I did add all my liquid at the beginning but if I remember right, I didn't cream the shortening completely before I added it, and I know I didn't add it slowly! lol I also think I turned the speed up too soon. So you guys have definitely given me some things I can do differently!
Thank you so much! I think I will actually give it another go! 
Ya'll are awesome!
Anya
Ok, for those of you who have tried this with success, what are the flavoring ingredients that you used? How much of these did you use? I guess, if at all possible, share your version of this recipe. I would love to try this on a cake I will ice tomorrow, but I am confused by the liquid ingredients.
per Sharon's recipe we use 1 cup of coffee mate creamer mixed with 1 cup hot water and a few tablespoons of a flavoring mix called wedding bouquet that she gets from a local bakery. i got some from my local cake shop called creme bokay. i don't know the exact measurements but i just put enough liquid to get the texture I want. HTH!
P.S. I used more creamer mix than the creme mix, just not sure of the amounts!
WELCOME BACK!!! Sharon from vacation hope it was a great one. Nice to have you back!
dezzib, yeap I have had that dance also....I call it the Sugarshack Cha-Cha 
.....It is nice to hear that you are very happy with the icing.
I am so very happy with this icing and love it and Sharon's recipe tips so much......I gave it a 5 rating in the rating area of the recipe . heres a link to the recipe Sharon posted if anyone would like to take a look at it. Thanks again Sharon for posting the recipe, tips and the new post about ordering the flavor you use.
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-5313-Sugarshacks-Buttercream-Icing.html
Heres the post about ordering the flavoring Sharon uses. http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-418353.html
Anya, please do try it again....IMO it is so worth doing over and over if need be, till you get it and you will get it, I have faith in you 
.....I had to do it a few times till I got it.....and when I did, I was doing the Sugarshack Cha-Cha in the kitchen, dinning room, den, living room . DH & family thought I had lost it 
, don't know why they would think that
Heatherly 30......I start off with about 12 to 14 tablespoons of the creamer mixture (I add a tablespoon at a time if needed later to get the texture I want), I use french vanilla powder creamer, I mix up a cup of it with a cup of hot water. My flavorings are 3 to 4 tablespoons of Wilton butter flavoring & 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoon of french vanilla blend flavoring (this depends on how strong I want the flavors). I hope soon to be able to order the flavoring Sharon uses Wedding Bouquet from MS. Sandra and give it a try. Click link above for info on ordering this flavoring. Hope this helps.
God Bless,
Sharon
Thanks granny! I may have to give it a try. I don't have the sweetx, so I'll have to use my crisco. So you use the French Vanilla powdered creamer (with hot water), and then a separate french vanilla flavoring?
Yes Heatherly30......I use the french vanilla powder creamer with hot water....using the hot water with the powder creamer is a tip from Sharon (sugarshack) and yes I also use the french vanilla blend flavoring/extract..... this is a flavor taste that we like it may not be to others taste buds.
Sharon once said in a post (this thread) to play with the flavors till you get the one you like....so I did and this is what is working for me, for now. I also can not get the sweetex hi-ratio shortening, but I can get alpine hi-ratio, so I use it with Sugarshacks recipe.
Hope this helps,
God Bless,
Sharon
EDITED TO SAY: Here is the link to Sharon recipe with the tips on making this icing....I try to edit it in my post earlier but couldn't (sorry).... so I'll just put it here in this one.
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-5163-Sugarshacks-icing-and-Tips.html
I have the recipe down. I just need Sugarshacks advice on getting the top perfectly even around the edges of the cake or the seam where the top meets the sides...
OK, ice the very top first, then smooth with hot dry spatula, then viva, then fodant smoother.
THEN ice the sides and smooth with hot dry spatula, viva, typing & paper.
OK, I have been icing the sides first. So that is my first mistake. Anything I'm missing Sugarshack or anyone??
Thanks so much!
I was just wondering, would it be possible to use the pre-mixed coffee creamers and just heat that to use, or does it have to be the powder mixed with water? I've never used powdered creamer, so I don't know if that ratio makes a very thick liquid, or if that's the actual ratio for making creamer for your coffee, etc.
I hope that made sense, and thank you in advance.
Holly
I have the recipe down. I just need Sugarshacks advice on getting the top perfectly even around the edges of the cake or the seam where the top meets the sides...
OK, ice the very top first, then smooth with hot dry spatula, then viva, then fodant smoother.
THEN ice the sides and smooth with hot dry spatula, viva, typing & paper.
OK, I have been icing the sides first. So that is my first mistake. Anything I'm missing Sugarshack or anyone??
Thanks so much!
Holly I am not sure....I just always use the powder creamer, I do know she saids to use the same amount of water and powder creamer.
SkisInOkinawa, here is a part from her recipe where she saids how she ice the cake.
(Quote)Sugarshack:
I ice the tops of my cakes with the open coupler in a pastry bag and give it a quick smoothing with a hot spatuala ( dry, not wet). I then ice the sdies regualry, then use my bench scraper to smooth out the sides. after that I pull the excess icing along the top edge in toward the middle of the cake . I get down eye level with it to make sure that top edge is level all along and not waving. i then use viva with my hands, then viva with a fondant smoother and then computer paper with the smoother to give the final smoothing; which really is the magic touch.
I hope that helped you some!!! Its hard to explain without seeing it! (end of quote).
Link to recipe: http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-5163-Sugarshacks-icing-and-Tips.html
Hope this helps you out.
God Bless,
Sharon
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