Another question. Im making my first "big" cake for a New Years party. I have never made one like this before and its going to be for my family and for practice. I am planning on using just store bought icing for the crumb coat then fondant on top. Do I need to add anything to the icing or will it work straight from the container?

Seriously, just make some icing! The stuff from the can is nasty and doesn't get stiff enough, it's too plasticky. It's easy, just look up any recipe that uses butter and it will be much better and work better than canned.

The cost of a bucket of Wilton frosting is like $11.00 vs $3-4 making it yourself and it tastes soooo much better. I use Sharon Zambito's recipe and I get rave reviews. Wilton is good too, but is second choice for me now.

..............please, make your own. It's not worth wasting your time to bake just to use chemical tasting canned frosting--blech. It's good practice, too!

Rae

I agree with all of the others, you should make your own. It's really easy and you can adjust it to make it exactly how you want it. And the best part is, it tastes much better and is so much cheaper than the store bought kind. This is the recipe I follow and it works wonderfully for me.

1 tbsp vanilla
2 tbsp butter
1/2 milk
5 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup shortening

These are all estimates. I usually just add however much I feel like adding. The shortening is what keeps it standing up. You can tell if you have enough by pulling the spoon out of the frosting and seeing if it stays sticking up.

i agree with all the others, i started out practising with canned frosting (Betty crocker) and that stuff is like wall filler! its so gloopy and sticky! Really, not worth the hassel given that that making your own buttercream is super easy and super yummy!! my recipe is very simple for butter cream its
4 0z unsalted very soft butter
12 oz icing (powdered) sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp water

i simply beat the butter till its slightly paler than it started, add all the sugar, the water, and vanilla and then let my mixer run for five minutes, and it gives perfect fluffy yummy buttercream everytime. . Thats my base my base recipe and if i need more, i just double it/triple it. Please do try making your own, it wont take you long and youll reap the benefits much better than using store bought x

I have to agree with everyone else too. It makes such a big difference and doesn't take long to make a good batch of frosting. Your taste buds will thank you for it!

!/2 of what of milk, Jessicakes? I'm interested in your recipe but you left the unit of measurement out. Teaspoons? Tablespoons? Help!

I use the Wiltons bc recipe with some adjustments, I add a packet of vanilla pudding or chocolate pudding (depends on the flavor I need) and use soy vanilla milk or soy chocolate milk, I use quite a bit, far more than the recipe calls for. Works a dream and tastes delicious.

Don't ruin a good cake with store bought stuff? It's too easy to make your own to skip that.

Thank you all very much for all the advice I didnt know there was such simple recipes! I have spent so much time trying to find a simple one and none of them compared to the ones you all listed! I think I will try and make it now!