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Special Buttercream Frosting

Make this creamy frosting for your favorite cake recipe. See more

READY IN 30 mins

Special Buttercream Frosting

Read Reviews (873)

"Ideal buttercream for frosting and borders." — Rick Mazzuca

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Original recipe makes 7 - 1/2 cups Change Servings

2 cups shortening
8 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons clear imitation vanilla extract
6 fluid ounces heavy cream

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Directions

Cream shortening until fluffy. Add confectioner's sugar and continue creaming until well blended.
Add salt, vanilla, and whipping cream blend on low speed until moistened. Add additional whipping cream if necessary (up to 2 ounces). Beat at high speed until frosting is fluffy.

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PREP 30 mins
READY IN 30 mins

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If you're looking for the definitive buttercream recipe, then look no further. Here are a few reasons why this recipe rocks my world: 1) Consistancy: It's PERFECT. Not too gloopy or too stiff. Just right. EVERY time. 2) Flexibility [part 1]: You can easily adjust ingredients to suit tastes of the cake-eaters. Butter instead of shortening is unbelievably rich but a firm favourite for older eaters. The shortening-only version tastes a lot like bakery icing, so popular with a younger crowd. And a mixture of the two gives you the best of both worlds. 3) Flexibility [part 2]: Recipe here makes a shedload. Great if you need to ice cupcakes for a couple thousand of your closest friends, but proportions are such that it is easily halved (to ice one normal sized cake) without losing any flavour or needing a degree in calculus to figure out what the measurements would be. Make it. You won't regret it.

—wee red

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Most Helpful Critical Review

Apr 20, 2011

Its not buttercream if it doesn't have butter in it

—M.Andrews

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1,063 Ratings

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Sep 03, 2007

After reading all the reviews, I decided to take a chance and follow the recipe *exactly* - that's right, NO changes - and it was absolutely delicious! 5 Star all the way. I've taken the Wilton decorating classes, and I used to use their frosting, but from now on this will be my staple Buttercream recipe. I've been looking for a Bakery Frosting replica for years, and this is definitely it! Not only is the flavor wonderful, the texture is *perfect* for piping decorations! I made this with a hand held mixer, and my only tip is to REALLY beat the crisco to get it as light and fluffy as possible before adding the powdered sugar, and then beat it as much as possible after adding the sugar, and again after adding the remaining ingredients. If you're looking for a copy cat bakery frosting recipe, this is it! A+ (Exactly as written!)

—Princess Mandy

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Dec 03, 2003

I made a huge birthday cake for 50 people yesterday and wanted to try a different buttercream recipe. I made 2 changes based on other reviews. (1) I used 1 1/2 cups shortening and 1/2 cup butter. I didn't use more butter because of potential problems with softening/melting. (2) I added 1 tsp Wilton's butter flavoring. I left everything else the same. What a great icing! It was very spreadable and great when piping shell borders, rosettes and lettering. It also tinted beautifully. I did have to refrigerate the pastry bags after a minutes of use because the heat from my hands was too much and the icing became very soft. At the birthday party, I had 4 guests who bake tell me that this was the best icing ever--that it was so buttery and not too sweet. I will definitely use again.

—TLBRAN

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Mar 15, 2008

I tried two variations of this recipe so far. The first time I tried a variation I read in the reviews because I didn't want the frosting to have a greasy after taste. I used 1 c. butter and 1 c. shortening, and only 4.5 cups of powered sugar and 4 oz of heavy cream (along with the other ingrediants). This tasted great and wasn't too sweet. The only problem is that it tended to be a bit more runny that I liked and I had to refrigerate it often because it was getting too soft for my decorations. The 2nd batch I made was 1 1/2 c. shortening, 1/2 c butter and the rest of the ingrediants according to the recipe. This batch came out fabulous! It was sweet (as expected) but with a great consistency for piping, star tip design, and other decorating techniques. I don't care for really sweet frosting, however, I didn't have a problem with this frosting at all. I think from now on I'm going to stick to the 2nd variation for my cakes!

—MONIQUE1181

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Dec 03, 2003

While this recipe is really good, it is definitely not for cakes to decorate in the Wilton fashion. It is too soft to hold up intricate work. Also, because of the cream, refrigeration is necessary. Another reason to not use it on a large elaborate cake, unless you have a lot of room in your frig. But if you just want to frost a cake this is really delicious. I don't usually like to lick frosting, but this one is lickable.

—GWANMA

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Mar 14, 2007

This is the best buttercream recipe I have ever tried before, but I read the reviews and substituted 1 and 1/2 cups of the shortening with butter (having made buttercream that tasted "greasy" before) and only added 1/2 a cup of shortening. It was phenomenal!! I froze the extra so that I can use it for any decorating needs in the future - perfect decorating consistency, but tasty also. I also needed to make a lemon buttercream icing, so I substituted the vanilla with lemon extract. I could not stop "taste-testing". Didn't give it 5 stars just because if it was made as is with 2 cups of shortening, I do believe it would be too greasy-tasting. This is a keeper!

—Jenn Jones

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Dec 03, 2003

This really is a GREAT RECIPE however I STRONGLY recommend using half unsalted butter for half the shortening and only 5 cups sifted powdered sugar (otherwise it would be much too sweet). I also used real vanilla powder (less color than extract). With the heavy cream, it becomes a terrificly light, fluffy frosting that spreads beautifully. You could beat in slightly more sugar to part of the finished frosting if you want to use it to pipe roses (but don't use that much sugar to cover the whole cake).

—DFLEON

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Nutrition

Calories
222 kcal
11%

Carbohydrates
26.7 g
9%

Cholesterol
7 mg
2%

Fat
13.3 g
20%

Fiber
0 g
0%

Protein
0.1 g
< 1%

Sodium
34 mg
1%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Nutritional Information

Special Buttercream Frosting

Serving Size: 1/36 of a recipe
Servings Per Recipe: 36
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 222
Calories from Fat: 119

% Daily Value *
Total Fat 13.3g 20 %
Saturated Fat 4g 20 %
Cholesterol 7mg 2 %
Sodium 34mg 1 %
Potassium 4mg < 1 %
Total Carbohydrates 26.7g 9 %
Dietary Fiber 0g 0 %
Protein 0.1g < 1 %
** Sugars 26.1g
Vitamin A 1 %
Vitamin C < 1 %
Calcium < 1 %
Iron < 1 %
Thiamin < 1 %
Niacin < 1 %
Vitamin B6 < 1 %
Magnesium < 1 %
Folate < 1 %

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
** Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available nutrient data.
(-) Information is not currently available for this nutrient. If you are following a medically restrictive diet, please consult your doctor or registered dietitian before preparing this recipe for personal consumption.