ASo I was finally able to get a buttercream recipe that is famous in my hometown, but, when I mix the ingredients together, I keep getting the correct flavor but the wrong texture. I'll post the recipe below, so you'll see the ingredients I'm dealing with, but I'm looking for a way to preserve the flavor without giving the icing a whipped consistency. I was told by the woman who gave me the recipe that this was as close as I could get to the original recipe because I would not be able to buy the Penguin brand shortening as it only comes in 500 lb. quantities from IFH food service companies. I have since been able to find the shortening (and not in 500 lb. quantities, *shew*), but the icing is still coming out whipped. I don't understand what I'm doing wrong! :-( ... And it's frustrating because there's another woman I know who got the recipe around the same time as me and hers works perfectly! And she won't tell me how she tweaked it to make it taste like the original. :-(

Here's the recipe:

Whitman's Icing

1 cup Penguin shortening 2 lb. (one bag) 10x powdered sugar 1 T. pure vanilla flavor 2 T. light corn syrup Warm water

Cream shortening. Add sugar, blending in about 1/4 at a time. Add warm water as necessary while you mix to keep mixture creamy. Add corn syrup and vanilla. Blend well (about 5 minutes). Note: use stand mixer with paddle attachment or you won't get the right texture.

Perhaps you are beating it on a higher level and incorporating more air into it.  

I don't use shortening based BC --only butter--but sometimes I will get a 'whipped' look to it.  I've found that if I just take a knife and start moving it up and down and back and forth it takes that whipped texture out.  Dont' know why but it works for me.
 

AMm, thank you :-)... I'll try the knife thing... I will say I've tried keeping the mixer between a 2 and a 4 and it still comes out that way.... I've come to the conclusion that the recipe is intentionally missing something, but I can't imagine what! I've been playing with this icing for months now and I am out of ideas (which is why I'm turning to y'all - you're brilliant! :-) ).

to me it looks like it has half as much fat as it should.  If you have a stand mixer, try doubling or tripling the recipe so that you have a full bowl so that the paddle doesn't pull air into the mixture. Look into the Sugar Shack method of making buttercream to see what i mean. there are youtube videos on the subject on keeping a full bowl for a creamy, no-air ABC. 

A

Oh wow... I hadn't read sugarshack's original version... I've only seen bunnywoman's "mock shack" buttercream recipe... I'm going to try this right now! :-) Thank you!