Decorative Frosting Recipe Please!! (Or a Great Cake??)

I use the Wilton buttercream recipe which is great and easy -- people always think I work harder than I do : )

1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine softened
1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (approximately 1 lb.)
2 tablespoons milk

Makes: About 3 cups of icing.

I always have more than enough icing for my cakes. I've also been using food coloring rather than the Wilton icing colors and that's worked out fine. Anytime I'm using red or black though, I buy the pre-made icing tubes in the store (either Cakemate or Wilton) because those colors are just too hard to get right.

For the cake, I always just use a box recipe. When my parents renewed their wedding vows, I made their cake with a recipe I got off the Wilton's message boards.

Good Luck!
T.

Hi. I took a few cake decorating classes, by no means am i great...but I've done all of the kids cakes since they were born...and I've done a different things in class. Thomas the Train coming out of a book, princess cakes, dinosaur and volcano scenes, etc.
This is what we used for class but i strongly suggest you have a stand mixer for this.
Buttercream Frosting
3 lbs Powered Sugar
2 TBsp Vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1& 1/2 C butter (or white margarine)
2&1/2 C crisco
milk as needed

Mix together butter, crisco and salt slowly until combined. Add vanilla and 2 lbs of powdered sugar slowly until combined. Add remaining 1 lb of powdered sugar. Add milk with the last lb if needed to make frosting creamy.

Add Stay Ice if it's hot weather so it doesn't melt.

I usually never have to add milk. Buy the bagged powdered sugar so you don't have to sift it. You should be able to find Stay Ice at Michael's in the cake decorating dept. You can substitute the vanilla with any type of extract if you don't like vanilla.

I just use box mixes for the cakes...for a quarter sheet (9x13) I make 2 boxes, pour them in the pan then take out 12 cupcakes worth. It makes for a denser cake. For rounds I use a whole box for a 9in or 10 in pan. You can also flavor basic mixes...but I won't go into all that.

Have fun!!!

Go to http://www.recipezaar.com . They have so many recipes to chose from. Good luck. I am so awful, but the last time I made a cake I bought a huge plastic pail of Wilton frosting (like 4 or more pounds) at Walmart. It came in three colors. I bought white and used the paste Wilton food coloring. It tasted good and everyone thought I made it, although I never said I did. It was so easy and delicious.

I've found Wilton's Buttercream recipe to work really well with my cake making -- it lasts well without any refrigeration. There are some cream cheese frosting recipes out there that are "stabilized" to last better without refrigeration if that's what you like. What I like about the buttercream is that it tastes better than the typical decorator frosting that you get at grocery store/bakery, etc.

http://www.wilton.com/wedding/wedding-cakes/wedding-cake-...

similar to the wiltons buttercream recipe is the one on the side of the confectioners sugar box. It just uses butter (no crisco), vanilla, milk and confectioners sugar. Love it. I feel guilty when I use crisco for some reason hahaha!

We love this recipe

Butter Cream frosting

1/3 cup butter
1/8 tsp salt
about 3 cups sifted confectioners sugar
about 1/8 to 1/4 milk or light cream
1 1/2 teasp. vanilla extract

With electric mixer at medium speed or with spoon, thoroughly mix butter with salt and 1 cup confectioners sugar until light and fluffy. Add rest of sugar and milk alternately, beating till smooth and of spreading cosistency; add vanilla.
Fills and frosts 2 8" or 9" cake layers: or frosts 9"x9"x2" cake.

I'm not much of a baker myself, but I have a friend who takes any cake mix (Duncan HInes, whatever) and substitutes egg whites for the eggs, and applesauce for the oil. Keeps it lower calorie. Then she takes regular store-bought frosting and microwaves it briefly to soften it - it spreads very easily and she uses a lot less. Spreading it doesn't take off the top of the cake, and it goes on very smoothly. I would think that would work for decorating.

All the recipes you've been given for buttercream are good, but the butter will add color. If you plan to color your frosting fire engine red, you will want to start with white frosting. It's a little tricky to get true red frosting. Don't use liquid food coloring. It will dilute your frosting and make it look like something you found in a swamp. :D At Michael's, JoAnn's, Wal-Mart, they sell Wilton supplies. You can find paste food coloring there. They make a "no-taste" red. It doesn't make your frosting bitter, like the old red food coloring did. You will have to use a fair amount of it to get a true red. Same advice applies for black. All other colors are easier to mix, but I would still advise the paste food coloring.

I decorate cakes a lot, here is the recipe I use:

1 cup shortening
2 lbs powdered sugar
½ cup water
½ tsp salt
½ almond extract

*You can use any flavor extract you like, but if it's not clear, it will tint your frosting slightly. Wilton makes a clear vanilla if you want to use vanilla without tinting your frosting. Most other flavorings tend to be clear, but cherry and strawberry are often red. You'll want to check before pouring. I have found that almond goes well with most cake flavors.

I would suggest using a stand mixer. If you don't have one, maybe you could borrow one. It's very hard on a hand mixer and it is hard to get the right consistency with one (you'll probably need more water.) Although, my (almost) DIL says she she doesn't have a problem making it with a hand mixer (???).

This frosting does not need refrigeration.
Good luck!

cream cheese should be fine.. just watch the temperature of the room with it.. classic buttercream is great, but not on a hot day.. the butter gets really soft. you can try the Wilton class buttercream, but it gets crusty and will fall off the cake when you cut or bite into it... stick with the cream cheese, but keep it refridgerated until cake time..

I have tried so many yellow cake recipes and the only one I've found that everybody seems to enjoy is one of Barefoot Contessa's recipe. Here's the link: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/birthday-sh...

Good luck!

If you and your family like oatmeal I have a recipe that was handed down to me by my grandma and the frosting has coconut and pecans or I have a fruit cocktail cake recipe from her as well with with frosting they are both sooooo good. If these interest you let me know and I will send them to you in a private post.
Kay

My favorite chocolate cake is the hershey's old fashioned, it always comes out great and buttercream frosting for sure:

http://www.hersheys.com/recipes/recipes/detail.asp?id=527...;

assuming you want chocolate course. Who wouldn't : ) ?