A Good Frosting Recipe PLEASE!!!!!!!!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I would like your best frosting recipe!

Years ago, when I was young, a bakery had this frosting that was absolutely delicious and it remained stiff in warm weather, went with everything in it’s neutral form and could be flavored easily. The bakery closed up over 25 years ago, but I still remember the frosting and I have sought a replacement ever since.

Forget the frostings in places like Winn Dixie or Publix because they all taste the same, no matter who the baker is. The last small bakery here made frosting that tasted suspiciously like it was from a can and all frostings from cans, tubes or aerosols suck!

I’ve had home made frostings made from confectionary sugar, milk, butter, and vanilla that they drizzle on things and hardens in cool weather but melts in hot and tastes mediocre. I’ve had whipped frostings that never stiffen, taste like sweetened cardboard and those which turn rapidly into something close to cement.

I beg of you, please grace me with your best frosting recipe! I need a good, homemade one. I’ve tried those in books, but nothing comes close to the one that the old bakery used, all of those years ago. That had a body and texture that graced one’s mouth and titillated the taste buds, was sweet but not sickly sweet, firm but not chewy, and seemed to have more in it than vanilla, butter, milk and confectionary sugar with added flavors. When I first had it, that I can recall, there was no air conditioning anywhere but in movie houses, and the frosting stood up well to the summer heat that infused every home no matter how many fans were used.

It was a true Bakers Frosting, something rarely found within 200 miles of here anyhow out of a fancy, pricey restaurant.

It was magnificent. The Bakery used to be called Langbeans, and their goods were delectable. Back then, the novelty of grocery stores with bakeries in them, churning out pastries and cakes by the ton, cheaper, quicker and not as good, ran them out of business and I’ll not even try to describe their breads and rolls and meticulously hand made wedding cakes.

Ugh! It has been years since I’ve gone to a wedding that has had a cake not made in a grocery store, chain bakery or by a good but not that good home baker. Nothing has come since to replace the wonders of Langbeans bakery and for that I curse some sections of progress!!!

2

OK, Laser45, as my username suggests I am a baker. The following is the frosting recipe I have used for decorating cakes. You can make it a little softer to spread on layers smoothly, and a little stiffer for flowers, borders, and other such decorations. It’s not for use if you are concerned about cholesterol.

4 ounces(110g) sweet butter, softened
4 ounces(110g) shortening,the slightly harder kind bakers use is best but Crisco will do)
1 teaspoon(5ml) almond flavoring
1 pound(450g) powdered sugar

Cream the butter and shortening together until light, then mix in sugar and flavoring until smooth and creamy. Add just a leetle milk if too stiff, but leave some firm if you are going to be piping out roses, borders, etc. This recipe takes colors well. I recommend paste colors rather than liquid, as you will need less to get good color. For red use just a little less than you think you need, becasue the color tends to deepen as it sits.

I like this recipe. It is easy to increase or decrease. It lasts well in the fridge if you have some left over, but I figure that is why God made graham crackers. For a chocolate version, add melted unsweetened chocolate and a little extra sugar if you like it sweet.

I don’t like the frostings the store bakeries are using these days. They taste fluffy, and have a texture more like whipped topping. What I have posted is good old CAKE frosting, the kind I liked to have as a kid, becasue we almost never got a storebought cake. I’m lucky to work in a cafe that does a lot of scratch work, and cares about quality. You should taste my mocha torte!

3

Soften cream cheese and add a little vanilla and powdered sugar. From there, what ever cptures your interest—strawberries, lemon juice, what ever.

4

Here’s a recipe I just made tonight:

1 cup butter
1 cup cocoa
2 lbs 10x sugar
dash of salt
2/3 cup cold water
1/2 tsp vanilla

Melt the butter. Whisk melted butter and cocoa. Alternate sugar/salt with water/vanilla. Makes more than enough to frost a 9-inch layer cake.

It’s very simple, and you can easily adjust the sweetness and thickness as you alternate the sugar/salt and water/vanilla mixtures.

I also wanted to decorate a little, so a made a small batch without the cocoa. I just started with 1/4 cup of butter and added the rest until I got the right consistency. It mixed easily with food coloring and was perfect for piping.

5

I’ve made decorator cakes and this is the Wilton recipe I use, since it does stay nice even in warm weather. It’s easy to smooth, or thin to write things.

Buttercream Icing

1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening [I used butter-flavor Crisco, it makes it slightly sweeter]
1/2 cup butter or margarine [I stick with the Crisco again, NOT butter or margarine]
1 tsp Vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioners sugar 10x
2 tblspoons milk

I will usually triple this recipe since I use designer cake pans, and they are larger than normal pans.

Good luck

6

The easiest frosting comes from a touch of butter condensed milk and sugar.

You can whip it up in no time, and flavor it as you see fit with a variety of seasoning.

The richness is unique and silkily pleasing compared to all the canned sugar shit that’s out there, and the standard whipped stuff.

You’ll have people asking about and thinking your a gormet who slaved for hours.

Condensed milk.

Trust me.

7

Here you go, take your pick

http://www.recipesource.com/desserts/frosting/indexall.html

8

Seeing as how I’m overseas, my recipe archive files are not accessible right now. Please click on the word “recipes” in my sig line and you will be taken to several cake recipes that have some interesting candidates.

Either that, or hang around and wait for JavaMaven to spot this thread. She’ll have a winner I’m sure.