Answer To The New Crisco Problems - New Recipe
Baking By gourmetcakes Updated 19 Jul 2007 , 3:13am by heavenscent
Here's what I tried:
1 1/2 C. Great Value (Wal-Mart) shortening
1 1/2 tsp. butter flavoring
1 1/2 tsp. clear vanilla extract
Salt dash to 1/4 tsp.
2 lbs. powdered sugar
Water, as needed
I used this on the baby shower sheet cakes. It didn't slide off and the small 9 x 13 sheet with the overalls on it was iced smooth/textured and it did not crack. But, I am holding my breath....
gourmetcakes: Don't be sorry! This is just one of those things that we're all trying to put our heads together on to come up with a solution and your efforts are much appreciated. Together, we can "lick" this! We will not let it "whip" us!
Thanks for the nice response. I'm a little slow sometimes. I didn't know Crisco had changed. Why can't they just leave well enough alone?
Thanks for the nice response. I'm a little slow sometimes. I didn't know Crisco had changed. Why can't they just leave well enough alone?
You are welcome......ditto....it was just fine the way it was!!!!!
Thanks for the nice response. I'm a little slow sometimes. I didn't know Crisco had changed. Why can't they just leave well enough alone?
The problem seems to be that our politicians want to make us all healthier. Doctors have been telling us that it's the trans fats that clog our arteries quickly. Therefore, if we eliminate them from our diets, we'll all be healthy! Sounds simple doesn't it?
The problem comes in when the politicos want to make this change mandatory for "the good of all", not just the people who could benefit. They don't think that we're capable of reducing our trans fat intake on our own ; no, they must regulate what we put into our bodies! Argh!
So now, restaurants all across the US (and a good portion of Canada, from what I understand) have gone to "zero trans fat" oils/shortenings. And since that's just NOT good enough to make us healthy, they've got to get us to reduce the trans fats in our homes as well. Sheesh! You'd think we're just really stupid! Sorry, but I just don't buy it.
The problem is (as I see it), they're really afraid that we can't control ourselves! A piece of wedding (or birthday, or first communion, or graduation, etc., etc., etc.) cake will NOT kill us, so long as we HAVE IT IN MODERATION!
I guess they just can't be happy unless they're messing in our lives ...
And that's all I want to be heard to say on the subject (even though there's so much more I want to scream from the rooftops!!! )
HTH,
Odessa
I have just PM'd Heath to ask him not to post this recipe. You are welcome to try it if you want, the icing is staying on the cake very well and allowed me to have a very smooth cake, but this cracking issue is not good. It still has a greasy shine to it as well. This morning when I went to touch the area that had the cracks, it left a wet, greasy streak on my finger. I just don't think the butter and new Crisco are going to be able to work together.
I am SO, SO sorry to get everyone's hopes up....I thought we had a winner. Again, you are welcome to try it, but I have had several people on other posts recommend the Walmart (royal blue can) brand of shortening. Guess I will have to use it until they jump on the band wagon and go 0 trans fat.
I'm not sure you should have given up on this so easily. I tried it this weekend and I didn't have any problems with it. I had it in and out of the refrigerator, then it sat out at Mom's church picnic for several hours. No cracks, no greasy spots, etc.
The only complaint was that it was "a little sweet". It is a higher concentration of sugar than my usual, the WBH buttercream, but that seems to be the case with all crusting buttercreams. And the WBH isn't holding up well for me with the new Crisco.
selahmycat-
The meringue powder in buttercream is not what makes it crust. The crust comes from a high ratio of sugar to fat. The meringue powder is supposed to help stabilize the icing - I guess keep it from separating - but I never use it in the BC - I just save it for royal. The cornstarch in the high humidity recipe also acts as a stabilizer, I'm sure much the way it does in stabilized whipped cream. But I'm not a food chemist, so I don't know how exactly.
Adding white vinegar to b/c icing prevents the sugar from crazing (cracking). However, you only need to use "drops" not a teaspoon per batch:
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-2375-Brite-White-Buttercream-Icing.html
(Recommends use of vinegar in frosting.)
See yh9080's post in this thread:
http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-333823-.html
B/C for high heat and humidity:
http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-288073.html
Less Sweet & Less Greasy B/C:
http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-169691-.html
Hi-Ratio Shortening:
(Definition.)
http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-142601-.html
Hi-Ratio comments, recipes, buying info and more:
http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-219731-.html
New Crisco Problems:
http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-225701-.html
Mixed Reviews:
http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-326373-.html
Not Everyone is Having Problems with New Crisco:
http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-311523-.html
HTH
I'm not sure you should have given up on this so easily. I tried it this weekend and I didn't have any problems with it. I had it in and out of the refrigerator, then it sat out at Mom's church picnic for several hours. No cracks, no greasy spots, etc.
The only complaint was that it was "a little sweet". It is a higher concentration of sugar than my usual, the WBH buttercream, but that seems to be the case with all crusting buttercreams. And the WBH isn't holding up well for me with the new Crisco.
I am so glad it worked for you. I guess that I have been so frustrated with it and seeing how this last cake did, even with the cornstarch, I just didn't want other people to get false hope. Maybe it was from having the color in it as well. On another thread, SugarShack said she has had cracking problems when she adds color to her icing.
I am going to try the Walmart brand this week, just to see if it is like the old Crisco. I just need a little reassurance that my icing will do well.....I have 2 wedding cakes next weekend. Maybe after that, I will try the cornstarch recipe again with a non-colored icing. Maybe I will also try adding a couple of drops of vinegar.....just need to get through next weekend first.
I use the store brand from Schnucks (a grocery store chain popular here in MO and IL) because it had occured to me that I had grabbed a can of 0 trans fat free Crisco (could explain why my frostings had been crappy as of late). I tried it out in a recipe that I found on recipezaar.com and made a few changes and it turned out wonderfully. Smooth, creamy, not too sweet and most importantly yummy. I'm going to tinker around with some more to get it more to my liking but I was very happy with the results using the Crisco off brand. Just as long as they leave my trans fat in there .
I am going to try my frosting
with my first can crisco with0 trans fat
hope it is not a waste of time
did pick up target store brand which has 2.5g trans fat
Being I'm a military wife, our commissary still is stocking the old crisco (may have to stock up on it!)
I'm not sure you should have given up on this so easily. I tried it this weekend and I didn't have any problems with it. I had it in and out of the refrigerator, then it sat out at Mom's church picnic for several hours. No cracks, no greasy spots, etc.
The only complaint was that it was "a little sweet". It is a higher concentration of sugar than my usual, the WBH buttercream, but that seems to be the case with all crusting buttercreams. And the WBH isn't holding up well for me with the new Crisco.
What temperature do you have your refrigerator set at?
I just made this recipe last night with the Walmart brand shortening....it turned out great. After I iced and smoothed it, I put it in the refrigerator as I usually do. I looked at it this morning, it had hairline cracks around some parts of the sides and the middle had dipped down a little. What is going on?!?!?!?! Is my refrigerator set too cold? On a scale of 1 - 9, I have it set on 6 (well, now that I think about it, I had it set on 9 and switched it to 6 before I put the cake in, so it probably didn't have time to adjust to the lower temp). Now that I am writing this, I am realizing that the eggs I had in there that were closest to the back were frozen.....I think my refrigerator temp is the culpret......
I do keep my fridge pretty cold, in the 34-36 deg range. I guess I'll have to try this recipe again too and see if the first time was just a lucky fluke. Everyone, put your lab coats on, we'll get to the bottom of this
I do keep my fridge pretty cold, in the 34-36 deg range. I guess I'll have to try this recipe again too and see if the first time was just a lucky fluke. Everyone, put your lab coats on, we'll get to the bottom of this
Thanks! This is just so frustrating....I see so many people having problems and I wish I could help.....I can't seem to help myself. This cake is another colored icing, I wonder if it is just happening when I color the icing. Who knows.
Besides the crusting, greasy and sliding problems....has anyone else noticed the taste of the new crisco is disgusting? I made a batch of bc with it and felt it was almost inedible!!! At first taste it was ok but then it had this terrible chemical aftertaste....gross!!! I couldnt serve it.
Plus, the walmart by me do not carry the walmart brand shortening, just crisco!!! I used the shoprite brand (grocery store on east coast) and it was pretty good. It is so humid here, I usually end up doing the crisco only recipe from admin here on the recipe section (called crusting buttercream faux fondant II) It uses flour as the stabilizer which is so much cheaper than mp and I have always been successful with it.
newlywedws - I just noticed some of the new Crisco on the shelves at our commissary, so I bought ALL of the old stuff, sticks cans , the whole kit and caboodle. I even went to the Army base down the street and bought them out. Now I just hope it doesn't melt this summer since we don't have air conditioning here.
Yes, I noticed the taste of the new crisco is different. When I made mine with the Walmart Great Value brand last night, I told my DH that it tasted so much better than even the original Crisco. Creamier and smoother. Oh, and it doesn't have a gritty feel to it.
gourmetcakes, do you know if you can order that item from walmart.com? They dont sell it here!
gourmetcakes, do you know if you can order that item from walmart.com? They dont sell it here!
I'm not sure. I would maybe go on their website and see if there is a customer service number. That's the only thing I can think of.
Ok I have to comment now lol....
I purchased a can of the "new" Crisco the other night in the store because that's ALL they had. I JUST compaired the can with the almost empty can of "old" Crisco. There is absolutely NO difference. I don't have ANY problems at all with my icing. The only thing I can say about problems with my icing is that when I made my chocolate buttercream icing (first time we've ever made chocolate before) once it crusted I was adding the roses to the top and the nail smooshed a line into the icing I went to smooth it with my spatula and it turned a different color brown lol but it wasn't THAT noticable. If you look at the photo you'll see a small area on the front side of the cake (facing the camera) that got smooshed too and was a different color brown...
I don't have any issues with crusting or cracking. The only time I had issues with cracking was when I didn't have enough cakeboards under the Yellow sheet cake in my photos and once it "melted" to room temp again I just picked the cake back up let it bend again and it smooshed itself back together lol.
I don't know how long the icing has been 0 trans fat but the can I checked ... we've had it for about 4 months now lol I have another one that's unopened that was bought 6 months ago or more (we just moved and alot has been packed up for some time lmao) but it is the same... 0 trans fat... now the only difference I see is with the can... it now STATES clearly that it's 0 trans fat.... but in reality it's ALWAYS been 0 trans fat....
Is it possible that it's something else that's causing the problem???
My husband makes the BC for all our cakes and the recipe he uses is:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup Crisco
2 lbs Powdered Sugar
1 tsp Clear Wilton Vanilla
2 TBS MILK
water to thin if I need it thinner
We NEVER have problems with this recipe and everyone raves about how delicious it is and I've even had customers complain about store bought cakes... I think the exact thing that was said was "Why did you just throw that away I bought that for us for Mother's Day" "Because I can't stand their icing it's disgusting! I'm so used to Becky's icing I can't stand store bought cakes anymore" (not meaning to brag or anything trying to explain lol)
So I was thinking maybe it has something to do with how long it's been mixed for the air bubbles??? Or maybe altitude could be a problem??? I've heard people having issues if they live in a higher altitude then I do.... I live on the East Coast... Eastern Shore of MD (as far East as you can get pretty much lol) and I never have any issues with anything unless I myself do something wrong....
Good luck to everyone else and yes I am knocking on wood that this weekends cake will come out alright lmao
Edited to add Hubby's 2 cents lmao...
He's fuming made that I didn't mention this before lol... He's tried water in the recipe and it didn't act right while mixing so he trashed it and started over with milk. He said common sense back to school time here.... water and oil don't mix so water and crisco won't mix either.... He's being nice about it and doesn't mean to sound like he's insulting or anything like that please don't take it the wrong way. He's always used Milk in ours and it's always tasted great and worked great and we've never had any problems. Our cakes do NOT STAY in the fridge or anything like that because of the milk, I'm told that the sugar does something so that you don't have to refrigerate constantly due to the milk.... so that isn't an issue, I've had one cake sit out for an entire day (too big for the fridge) and served after sitting in the sun for 2 hours and everything was fine, no one got sick, and it didn't taste funny or anything....
Maybe yall should try using Milk instead of water....
Edited to add Hubby's 2 cents lmao...
He's fuming made that I didn't mention this before lol... He's tried water in the recipe and it didn't act right while mixing so he trashed it and started over with milk. He said common sense back to school time here.... water and oil don't mix so water and crisco won't mix either.... He's being nice about it and doesn't mean to sound like he's insulting or anything like that please don't take it the wrong way. He's always used Milk in ours and it's always tasted great and worked great and we've never had any problems. Our cakes do NOT STAY in the fridge or anything like that because of the milk, I'm told that the sugar does something so that you don't have to refrigerate constantly due to the milk.... so that isn't an issue, I've had one cake sit out for an entire day (too big for the fridge) and served after sitting in the sun for 2 hours and everything was fine, no one got sick, and it didn't taste funny or anything....
Maybe yall should try using Milk instead of water....
First, let me tell you how much I envy you that your husband makes your buttercream! My hat is off to him....
Second, you know, I had wondered about the water not mixing well with the new Crisco.....but I never thought it would be as simple a fix as that. I will do a sample cake this weekend before my 2 wedding cakes next week and see how it does. I will say, though, the taste (as you know since your recipe is the same), is VERY good. But after using the Walmart brand last night, it was even better. I will try the milk this weekend. Tell your husband thanks for his 2 cents!!!!!!!!!
GourmetCakes,
Hubby says "Certainly! I'm glad my 2 cents helped!"
I say... I just hope it does work out for you lol. I called my MIL whom uses Crisco for EVERYTHING!!! (black lady loves her fried chicken ) anyway she says it's been 0 trans fat for ever! for as long as she can remember. Since she is on a strict diet and since the people she works for (she sits the elderly) can't have certain things she had to make sure that everything she uses is proper for them and says that it's always been 0 trans fat... maybe it's just that they are labeling it as such now so people will KNOW! HEY I'M TRANS FAT FREE BUY ME EVEN THOUGH I'M MORE EXPENCIVE!!! type thing lol.... I dunno....
Oh hubby added more lol....
I love making the buttercream and I don't understand why other husbands don't help out with it since it only takes max 20 minutes lol....
With our new stand mixer (Cook's brand) it only takes him about 5-10 minutes from start to finish lol.... and he loves it! I've never seen him love doing something like this except his building of course lol (he's a carpenter) but he loves cooking and loves baking although he's not really good at baking he's learning but he can make a mean buttercream
Good luck everyone and please let me know the results of the Milk run
Thank you so much for taling the time to post this. I was wondering what was wrong with my icing for a couple months now and figured, myabe it's just the heat? I do remember seeing a thread awhile ago about the 0trans fat but it just didn't click, oh well. Hopefully my problem will be solved with this recipe! THanks again!!! I am going to try it tomorrow.
I live in northern Alberta, and the Crisco I have here, blue canister, has 1.5 grams of trans fat in it. Never seen the no trans fat stuff and never had an icing issue, other than one I created myself, lol.
Tara
Question - isn't Crisco basically 'lard'? And tell me, please, why would they try to make that 'healthy'? wouldn't that make more people want to fry stuff (ok, I know I'm entering dangerous territory - I'm a southern girl myself - my father had a quadruple bypass - I know my 'grease').
I'm on the East Coast - SC...and I noticed a BIG difference in my icing - even before I noticed the change in the crisco. I did a cake this weekend and even after a full day, the icing barely crusted. I use coffee creamer instead of water - in the Buttercream Dream recipe. Since it's mostly butter, I'm hoping the humidity had something to do with it. I buy crisco b/c it's in the sticks but I'm going to ck around to see if I can find some of the unhealthy stuff.
I use the bars of crisco, and I still have some packages left of the old crisco that clearly states on the back 1.5 grams of trans fat. The new packages clearly state 0 grams of trans fat. I am just curious if some states are different in what they sell in the stores. Oh my goodies, where are you located that you have never had trans fat in your crisco? By the way, I use the same recipe as your husband, with milk, and have not had any problems, even when I use the 0 trans fat crisco. Maybe the milk does have a lot to do with it!!
ok - i just had a stupid thought....what exactly is trans fats and where CAN we get it to add it back to Crisco. Spoonful of bacon grease?
I have been using the wal mart brand for almost four years. I prefer it to crisco for the cost and the taste. I did however, have to have another can and my DH picked up crisco (his comment was, honey, you make the best cakes, I figured you used the most expensive stuff out there. How sweet.). But, it didnt' mix well at all. I lost the entire batch and got so ticked I tossed the remainder in the trash.
Im anxious to hear how the milk works out.
Well I made my first batch of icing today and will be decorating it tomorrow, PRAYING it works well!!
ok I was curious so I went and red the cans. I have one of each kind. they are identical!
Ingredients, everything. So what's up?
Like I said I made the first batch today so we will see.
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