I have been lurking aroung CC and testing this technique and that and 1/2 a dozzen recepies but I cannot find a BC that i love. A lady in my community used to do realy georgeous cakes from scratch and her BC was amazing. Verry crusting on the outside and very soft on the inside. tHE PERFECT CRUSTING BC. But alas she has moved away since retiering fromm the cake biz so i cannot even beg her for the recepie. Most of the BC i have tried are either waaaay to sweet and taste like icing sugar only (my mom's, sry mom but your BC is grose) or it tastes like Grosery store cake icing. Blah! I like sweet but id rather not rot my teeth out and blah is...well..blah. Am i shasing a white rabbit here or what?

My Wilton teacher says it's the Merengue Powder that gives it that extra sweetness (if using the Wilton recipe). So she deleats it from recipe. She is bringing a non-overly sweet recipe to class Monday night. Will let you know.

Play with the recipe a little-use half butter, half Crisco, add salt, add different flavoring (I prefer almond) and just see what suits you. It takes a bit of trial and error to come up with your favorite-I doubt anyone on here makes it exactly the same way!

thanks guys. another thing...the BC i have been using as of late does not crust but solidifies rather. like the consistency of cold butter. is this because of the high ratio of butter in it? or is it because it was in the fridge? Thanks in advanced guys.

I use the 1/2 butter, 1/2 shortening ratio and I try to keep it out of the fridge or it will get hard. If it is out at room temp it crusts nicely and so far everyone loves the flavor. I don't use margarine either--real butter.