Hello, Can anyone help me with an icing I can decorate with that tastes great. Just getting started. Thank you

I have 2 for you to use

1/2c water or milk
2tsp meringue powder
2lbs powder sugar
1/3c brite white
2c hi-ratio shortening
2tsps clear flavored emulsion ( cream bouquet my favorite) or use almond or whatever you like
2tsp butter powder or tsp butter flavored emulsion
1tsp clear vanilla



1 1/4 c crisco(only crisco, its white and taste is better)
2tps clear vanilla
1tsp falvoring emulsion
2tsp meringue powder
1/2c milk or water
2lbs of powder sugar
1/8tsp or pinch of salt

Mix together for 10 minutes on med-low to avoid getting too much air in it

LOL

Thank You

Here's what I use. It's Earlene's recipe. Below, I have copied the text from the post where I discovered this great icing. I also use these mixing directions.

One more thing, Butter Vanilla by Magic Line is the same thing as Butavan. It took me a long time before I ran across the right person who could share that knowledge with me.

The post:

Earlene's cream cheese butter cream is a great tasting buttercream that crusts well. It stays soft underneath, and I like it because you don't have that heavy shortening taste.

This is her recipe:
Maximum recipe for a 5 Qt bowl

5 1/2 lbs. Powdered Sugar
3/4 Cup + 2 T Warm Water
1 T Butavan ( A thick butter, vanilla flavor, it's good, but when I don't have it, I use 1 1/2 tsp clear vanilla, and 1 1/2 tsp clear butter and omit 1 T of the water)
12 oz. warm cream cheese
1 1/4 lb. of Shortening (I dump in three of the regular crisco sticks)
1 1/2 tsp. salt

She has mixing instructions on her site (earlenescakes.com), but I don't follow them. I just mix the shortening and cream cheese until smooth, and then dump in the powdered sugar and salt. I start my mixer on low and drizzle in water and flavor.

She also has a recipe for a smaller batch on the site.

Me again....

Good luck with this recipe. I love it! It tastes great and is easy to smooth. If you haven't tried the crusting cream cheese icing on this site yet, you should try it, too. It's yummy as well.

Hi chas026,

Welcome to CC

Here's a list of acronyms:

http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-2926-.html

My favorite b/c recipes.

Whipped Cream Buttercream:
(doesn't contain cream)

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-2019-Whipped-Cream-Buttercream-Frosting.html

Dreamy Cream:

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-2006-Dreamy-Cream.html

Brite White Buttercream:

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-2375-Brite-White-Buttercream-Icing.html

A new one I'm going to try:

Julie's Less Sweet Buttercream:

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-2523-Julies-Less-Sweet-Buttercream-Frosting.html

Here's a very good doctored cake mix recipe:
(can easily cut recipe in half)

White Almond Sour Cream

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-2322-White-Almond-Sour-Cream-Cake.html

HTH

Thank you

My personal favorite is Italian meringue buttercream, it is less sweet than powdered sugar icing and less greasy in mouth feel to icing made with Crisco. It is light and airy and goes on very smoothly. Can be used for borders and writing, piping, but is a bit soft for making icing flowers. I have not made this with a hand held mixer, I hope you have a KitchenAid so you can switch the beaters. I use the whisk for the egg whites and beating in the sugar syrup, and the paddle attachment for beating in the butter.
http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-2426-Italian-Meringue-Buttercream--Shirleys-Method.html