You know those people who don't follow the recipe but then they review it anyway & maybe give it reduced ratings? Yeah. That's me right now. So I was looking for a sugary somewhat stiff frosting/icing for a cake for my boyfriends b-day and this seemed good. BUT a bunch of people were complaining about flavor, consistency & etc. So I made the following changes. Color wasn't vital to us since it wasn't for a white wedding. So I used TRIPLE the amount of vanilla extract it called for & put that amount in the 1/2 measuring cup before I put the water in to avoid too much moisture. I used ALL butter & less salt since my butter was salted. My last change was to omit the almond extract. I used C&H sugar, btw. I followed the vague instructions. Saying to "mix" but not at what setting & saying to mix for 5-10 minutes but not saying what consistency you're looking for is bad recipe writing, in my opinion. I used what felt like "logic" when deciding how to approach those two vague elements. I started out slow & creamed my butter first, then added the wet and then the dry ingredients and upped the speed to about 4 on my KitchenAid mixer. After several minutes the color got MUCH lighter (butter and dark vanilla extract made it come out a pale ivory in the end, color-wise) & MUCH more volume & fluff to it. I add the other half of powdered sugar but w/ powdered sugar "cups" are flexible so I kind of eyeballed it. My results: Very flavorful, pale, tasty frosting. He loved it!!

This is an incredible recipe! Received endless compliments....I followed the recipe to a T. No modifications. Decorating with this icing is a snap.

This was the perfect frosting! I did not have butter and some other ingredients a lot of the other frosting recipes called for. I left out the almond extract, used real vanilla extract and it came out sweet and tasty. My daughter did over mix it the second time so it was as "fluffy" as it could have been. But a keeper for sure. No reason to ever buy store bought cakes or frosting ever again.

This recipe is WONDERFUL!!! I've been trying to find the magical white wedding cake icing recipe....... This is it...look no futher!!! Follow directions... I mix mine 10 mintues...more whippin' more fluffin'

I bake so often that I often rely on other people's reviews of the things I make to help me determine if I should make things again. My husband's mother and step-mother both said this was the best frosting they'd ever had. That's a good enough reason for me to use this forever.

I followed the ingredients and instructions exactly and got a stiff consistency icing. It does not taste like a wedding cake icing like those delicious wedding cakes that you ate at a wedding. It taste very sweet and plain. Disappointing! It is a good icing if you like a very sweet icing for a birthday cake or other occasion. Not for wedding. It was hard for us to finish our cakes because we are not used to very, very sweet food. (we do not eat sugary food very much, so that was why we were not used to the sweetness of the icing.)

This is my favorite cake icing. It's the very sweet icing used in bakeries. My original recipe called for 1/2 t almond and 1 1/4 t white vanilla. If you like almond flavoring, you might want to make the adjustment. Also, beat 10 min on high , then 5 min on low. This makes a LOT of icing, but it keeps for 6-8 weeks in an airtight container at room temperature.

Good! I only used vanilla just because that's the flavor I needed to ice my cupcakes, but I'll definitely try this again using the almond too. I'd never made an icing using water before; turned out pretty well. Thanks!

LOVE THIS, THIS IS WHAT I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR...

Did not turn out good at all, the texture was unappealing, even after I mixed it for 10 mins, and I did not care for the taste. I'm sorry, but I won't make this again.