Buttercream Icing for Sat. Blog Showcase

Today is Ann's turn to host the Saturday Blog Showcase on her beautiful blog, Thibaults Table

The idea is to try a new recipe each week,
one that another blogger has shared on his or her blog.
Prepare the recipe any time during the week and
then link your post on Saturday to the Blog Showcase.



It doesn't matter what you make as long as the recipe came from another blog.
Please include the recipe in the body of your post
(only if its NOT a copyright violation)
and a link back to the recipe on the originating blog.

I used the Buttercream Icing recipe from Em at

The Repressed Pastry Chef


Last summer, I took the first in the
Wilton series of cake decorating classes.
They use a buttercream icing that doesn't have any butter in it!
Just Crisco....and its very sweet.

When I found Em's recipe for Buttercream Dream Icing
I wanted to see if I liked hers better
since it contains real butter.

Before I show you my cake, please indulge
me & allow me to share
photos of my Sweet Caroline & her breakfast.
She had a sleep-over with us so she could
be the first person to wish me
"Happy Birthday" in the morning.

We had OJ, hot tea, bacon &
Minnie Mouse pancakes
with PINK punked whipped cream hair & a
chocolate chip face!

Okay, back to the buttercream recipe.

1 stick salted butter – room temperature
1 stick unsalted butter – room temperature
1 cup solid veg. shortening
1 tablespoon clear vanilla extract
2 pounds confectioner’s sugar (powdered sugar, 10x)
4-6 tablespoons very cold milk...added according to what you intend to use it for.

Cream the butter and shortening in the bowl of an electric or stand mixer.

Add the clear vanilla extract and combine well.

Begin adding in the sugar in small amounts.

If you cover your mixer with a damp towel

you'll have less of a mess to clean up afterwards.

Mix well after each addition.

After all of the sugar has been added and mixed thoroughly,

begin adding the very cold milk… one tablespoon at a time,

combining very well after each addition (mixer on medium-high to high speed)

until you reach the desired consistency.

Now the Wilton recipe does it a little differently.
It calls for 1 tsp. of water or milk
to make "stiff" icing, which is used for flowers.

You add 2 tsp. of water or milk to make
"medium" icing, used for piping borders.

You add 3 tsp. of water or milk to make
"thin" icing, which is used for covering the cake.

My piping bag with a #12 tip attached
for piping a dam of icing around the
edge of the first layer of LEMON cake.

This is done to hold in the filling layer...
in this case, LEMON curd , my favorite!

If you place the top layer on upside down
you then have a nice flat surface
to work on.

Popping your layers into the freezer
for about 15 minutes prior to icing
it helps to reduce the crumbs.

Start by filling in the sides using an
angled spatula.

I should have placed pieces of
waxed paper under the edges of the cake
to keep the plate clean.
I forgot.

What can I say....I'm a year older now!

Next you pile on the top!

After smoothing it as much as possible
with the angled spatula
I use a high density foam roller
(new & used ONLY for icing!)
to get a smooth surface.

I learned this & lots of other helpful tips & recipes
at CakeCentral.com

I have arthritis developing in
my right hand, so working the pastry
bag is a bit difficult & uncomfortable for me.

My poor little roses look like they were
frost bitten by the Ohio snows!

I have a great deal of respect & admiration for the
people who can create beautiful
masterpieces in this art form.

I'm not one of them.

It tasted pretty good but Ms. Caroline informed me
"Nana, this LEMON stuff in the middle
doesn't go in cakes!"

She was right, too.

The tartness of the LEMON did not
taste good against the sweetness of the icing.

I do, however, prefer Em's recipe of
buttercream dream for flavor.

Please stop by Ann's place, Thibaults Table
to see what everyone else is cooking up.

Thanks for visiting & have a nice weekend.