Hi,
New to this board and the whole cake decorating thing. My 9 yr old and I took the first Wilton decorating class at a local craft store. My question is how long is the icing good for if kept in the refrigerator? How can you tell if it is still good or not?
Thanks in Advance for all your help.
I've kept it in the refrigerator for a couple of months and it's never gone bad. I do this with leftover BC which I've used later on stuff for the family. However, unless it is sealed very tightly, it might pick up a strange taste from everything else that's in there.
Ok, Marianna, full confession. I had two bowls of icing (buttercream but not the Wilton recipe) in the freezer and over a couple of days ate the whole thing frozen just this week. Chunky spoonful by chunky spoonful.. I need a buttercream anonymous support group some times.
You know, I've just found out that I'm a borderline diabetic, so I've had to cut that kind of stuff out, but believe me I know exactly where you're coming from! Do YOU know how many seconds it takes in the microwave to thaw 6 tablespoons of buttercream to put on exactly six cookies, so you can scarf them down all at once? I do. Er, sorry for hijacking this thread. I'll cut that out now, too, but PM me if you want to talk!
The official guidelines from Wilton are 2 weeks in the fridge, and 3 (or 4?) months in the freezer.
That being said, the Dept. of Agriculture guidelines say that buttercream does not need to be refrigerated.
I will keep it out on the counter while I am working on a project (i.e. if I make the icing Wed. and am using it Thurs. & Fri.). When I'm not in the midst of a project, I keep it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, then would put it in the freezer (though it generally doesn't make it that long).
Well, you're probably right about that, Apti! I left it out accidentally for about a month (covered the container then stuck it away in a corner instead of in the fridge). When I opened it up to empty the carton before washing it, it was still fine - no fuzz, no crud, no untoward smell, in spite of the fact that I live in the tropics and my kitchen has no AC. So of course, I tried it and it still tasted like it was supposed to! You'll be glad to know I took the high road and tossed it anyway, but it just goes to show you.
You have some willpower Marianna. I would have eaten the bowl of it, old or not. It would have been like wasting good food. 
I would never have used it for an outside order though.
I have put the Wilton buttercream in the freezer for at least a month and kept it out on the counter for over a week. It's got a long shelf life.
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