I used 1 1/2 cups butter and 1/2 cup shortening. I actually really loved the consistency and how it set up. It was really quite easy to work with and had a lovely sheen. It looked fantastic once it dried, too. It was a bit sweeter than I was hoping for, but everyone else liked the frosting. I added a little orange and almond extracts in addition to the vanilla, and also substituted about half of the cream with orange juice. I wish there was a way to cut back on all the powdered sugar, but overall a really good recipe.

Reviewed On: Jan. 1, 2011

This really did taste delicious. It made up for the problems I had. I mixed the butter and regular sugar on high for 45 minutes. It was still grainy, but I continued on anyway. I combined the flour mixture with the butter mixture until smooth, but when I was frosting the cake, I noticed there were little bits of the flour mixture... it looked weird... like itty bitty dumplings. That batch set up nicely and when we finally ate the cake, there was no graininess from the sugar and no one noticed the bits of the flour mixture. With the second batch I made, I used powdered sugar. It wasn't grainy at all, and after combining, I still had little bits of the flour mixture even though I let that whip up extra to get rid of those bits. Sadly, the second batch never set up properly, so I had to stick my cake in the garage overnight so the freezing cold temps would keep my cake in tact for the party the next day. Problems aside, the frosting was delicious and got rave reviews. I wouldn't use powdered sugar on this one but not sure how to get rid of those little flour mixture bits... I might try a different recipe next time and see if the taste is just as good... A week later---I used this again at the request of a friend. The little lumps were worse! I was so worried that the frosting didn't look so great, but no one noticed the lumps and it got rave, absolute RAVE reviews for taste. I used raspberry flavoring instead of vanilla. Sigh... How do I get rid of the lumps?

Reviewed On: Jan. 11, 2010

This couldn't have been easier. Got absolutely rave reviews. I used 10 eggs, but otherwise followed recipe to a T. It was the first dish that was empty and I had multiple requests for the recipe. Will definitely make again.

Reviewed On: Jan. 11, 2010