Hi there. I have been somewhat unsatisfied w/ all the different recipes I've tried and come across in making a buttercream icing. I don't like the icing to taste very sweet and every recipe I've come across (even on the recipe section on this site) calls for just too much darn powdered sugar. IF a recipe calls for 7 cups of sugar, I can do 5 cups and the sweetness is already too much for me. However, I need the icing to have the consistency and texture as if it has 7 cups in it - so what can I put in it to have this texture? 5 cups of powdered sugar and 1 to 2 cups of cornstarch? I am looking for a buttercream that holds up in the heat well and also isn't that sweet. Something that decorates well, not just for spreading but something that I can use to pipe out flowers as well. Any tips?

No Bettercreme for me; I want the icing to taste good and that whipped stuff is just tasteless IMO. I want something in the middle between Bettercreme and buttercream. Just can't seem to find the right recipe or substitution. Someone said to add in some salt to take away the sweetness. I did and its still too sweet for me, but too much salt and it will ruin the icing... so what to do?

Well in my opinion there just is not anything in the middle that will have the taste and consistency of b'cream recipes.
Icing is *meant to be sweet*! Sorry, but that's all there is to it.
You can try cornstarch but I can taste it......to me it completely changes the taste of icing.
But then,,,,,,everyone's taste buds are different

Yes that is true - usually 3%. When you increase it considerably as you are thinking of doing it changes the taste.
It certainly would not hurt to try it. Maybe you would like it.

Hahaha, or it may severely dehydrate you. LOL

Try IMBC or SMBC. It's the creme de le creme of buttercreams. Not too sweet, it does take more work to make but worth it. I use IMBC exclusivly for all of my cakes.

I also don't like super sweet when it's something I've made myself...when it's purchased, for some reason the sweeter the better...I make indydeb's bc recipe with only 6 cups of PS and 1/2 tsp. of salt...and I add a whole tsp. of salt to Michele Foster's fondant recipe.

Anyway I had this post by Lazy_Susan saved:

"When making frosting that uses confectioners sugar, I replace part of the confectioners sugar with flour. People always comment on how delicious my frostings are and how they aren't too sweet. For instance, my cream cheese frosting calls for 4 cups of confectioners sugar. I add 3 cups of confectioners sugar and one cup of flour."

Oh, so I can replace some powdered sugar w/ some flour, huh? Neat - I will try that. Thanks a bunch FlourPots!

BTW - what does WASC mean? I saw that in another thread over and over...

,,,,,,,what does WASC mean?.......

White Almond Sour Cream cake recipe **THE BEST**!! recipe for *any* cake flavor there is
Do try my *original* recipe 1st, then if you like it you can try some of the many, many variations around.

Read thru the whole recipe before you start. Note the extra info at the end. Enjoy your baking!

The *original* WASC cake recipe by kakeladi

1 box cake mix (I prefer Betty Crocker) *see notes at end
1 cup flour*
1 cup granulated sugar
generous dash of salt

1 cup sour cream*
1 cup water *
3 whole eggs
1 tablespoon flavoring*
In bowl mix together dry ingredients. It's helpful to use a wire whisk; important w/choco cake not so much for other flavors.
In mixer bowl place next 4 ingredients. Add about 1/2 of the dry ingredients and blend together, then add the rest of the dry ingredients & blend. Mix for 2 minutes.
Some tell me they just dump all ingredients into the bowl together others say they sift all dry ingredients together.
Pour into prepared pans * and bake as usual.

*NOTES: *ANY* cake flavor can be used. Match the flavoring to the cake flavor such use lemon/almond mix for lemon cake; strawberry for a strawberry cake etc, etc. For most flavors you can use a mixture of vanilla, butter, and almond which is what I do most of the time.
You can use milk, juice, thawed fzn concentrates, soda pop (ie: Coke) cream or just about anything wet for the liquid.
This recipe is based on mixing in a kitchenaid mixer. I use position #1 to stir it, then #4 to mix the batter.
Most of the time I forget to add the salt
On rare occasions I have used other brands of mix.
This makes the amount of batter as if you used 1 1/2 mixes and is perfect for a 10" sq OR 9x13 OR one 8" & two 6" round;OR two 8"rounds OR a 12" round; and other combinations of pans.
I prefer to bake at 300 degrees for about 20-30 minutes (depending on size of cake) then turn oven up to 325 for about an equal time. If cake has pulled away from sides it is overbaked. After cooling, the top might be a bit sticky.
Some people have told me they use plain or flavored yogurt instead of sour cream.
I've always used all purpose flour. Some tell me they use cake flour but then the amount is less - maybe 3/4 cup - not sure.

The flavoring I most often use is this mixture:
1 part vanilla extract
1/2 part butter flavoring
1/4 part almond flavoring

A "Part" is any measure be it teaspoon; tablespoon; cup or quart Smile Since I made many wedding cakes I usually mixed it up by the cup

Coupla ideas--I don't taste the butter per se in my smbc. So maybe if the proportions in your formula were twiddled with you would get a better flavor that did not overwhelm of butter.

I use Margaret Braun's recipe from Cakewalk. It's one and a third cups of butter to 3/4 cup of sugar to three large egg whites and one tablespoon of vanilla. Works for me.

Dude, I've used flour in icing before to make it more heat and humidity proof--it definitely has a rawness that scrapes down the back of the throat. And I just used a few tablespoons--not as much as you are proposing. When it was eaten with the cake it was ok you did not notice but you definitely get the impact of that raw flour otherwise.

Bronwen uses buttermilk in her buttercream.

Just a thought for you.