Hi, I was given a recipe for Walforf Red cake and the frosting from a friend who wants me to make them their Ann. cake. The frosting recipe is as follows

1 cup milk and thicken with 3 Tb flour (heat ).
cream 1/2 cup butter 1/2 cup shortening
then add 1 cup sugar and 1 tsp vanilla
cream until real fluffy then add the cooled milk mixture
frost the cake.

she had this for her wedding cake. Unless I did something wrong , I don't see how this could be used for decorating. She told me this is what they used. I think I should suggest using it just as a filling then using the crusting cream cheese frosting recipe on this site.
Once filled does it have to be refrig because of the milk ?
Has anyone else ever used this?
Thanks

I actually call this recipe my mock whipped cream. It is relatively shelf stable for at least a day (I am not sure about how much longer after that). All of my cakes get refrigerated until delivery anyway.

That being said- it is a very light and fluffy icing. I use it as a filling and it needs a piped inner border a more stiff icing. I know some bakeries may not say that they do a buttercream icing around all the cake layers- so the person who bought the cake may have no idea. I don't think there is any way you can put that around on the sides of a cake and have it stay in place. I would let her know you can use it as a filling, but it needs something else to ice the outer area with.

That custard based recipe makes a lovely light frosting with the texture of whipped cream and the frosting properties of an American buttercream without the over sweetness. This cake was done with that recipe:

http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1929493/1929494

The recipe instructions as you've given it doesn't seem very clear. You need to cook the unsweetened custard (the milk and flour) till it is quite thick (stir constantly or it will burn) then set it aside till it is completely cooled. You should beat the butter, shortening and granulated sugar till it is very fluffy (I usually give it 10 minutes on high with the paddle attachment. Then add the completely cooled custard and give it another 10 minutes. Some versions of this recipe call for all shortening or all butter and I've even seen one that calls for hard margarine.

sorry about the directions. The directions you gave are exactly like mine. I did all that. I did find the frosting was a little grainy from the sugar. did I not beat it long enough? or does that make a difference?

It does have a very soft whipped cream taste and texture to it which was nice I think for a filling.

The cake you made and decorated , was that frosted on the outside and piped with that or a buttercream?

Also, just a question about measurements if you can help. when a recipe calls for lbs of powdered sugar (sifted) do you measure out 1 lb then sift or measure after sifting ?
thanks for the help

Lb is weight, sifted or unsifted it is the same

much better way to measure ingredients than using cups or such, because using cups and spoons you really do have a difference. When sifting the ingredients take up more space in cups than unsifted. Go with lbs or grams and you cannot go wrong

Weigh the ingredients, then sift

I find that if you don't beat it long enough it will be grainy. Also, I usually let it sit overnight and re beat it before using.

The cake in my photo was filled, coated and piped with the custard frosting.

I weigh my powdered sugar before sifting, but if truth be told I seldom sift powdered sugar because I find that it winds up all over the kitchen. I find that a little extra time beating it will usually take care of any lumps.

Oh, I also always strain the custard before I add it to the fat/sugar mix because I find that any lumps in the custard won't disappear with more beating.

My friend came up and tasted everything. she said Yummmmmmm
She said I could use the cream cheese frosting to ice and decorate with . Yeah!
Thanks for the help guys
Wendy