How to Make Homemade Buttercream Icing

How to make Homemade Buttercream Icing - Have you ever wondered how a professional cake maker makes that great tasting Buttercream icing? Yeah, you know which icing I'm talking about, that one that feels like you will gain about ten pounds while looking at it, but can't help yourself from gorging on that one slice of birthday cake (shh.... we will look away while you sneak that second piece).

Or maybe you're like me and are an aspiring cake decorator just starting out on how to make all those beautiful cakes hoping that you will be the next Duff Goldman!! I love his cakes!

Before you can be the all time great cake decorator of the world (nice to dream..), you have to know how to make the most important part of the cake! The icing to me is the most important part because it's what tastes the best, of course!! Oh yeah, and of course it's what will hold your decorations and your fondant on and what will make your cake look so awesome. But like I said, it's all about the taste!!

Every cake I make, I use this same recipe and I have never had any complaints about it!! Well, ok, maybe one or two from my brother-in-law on how sweet it is but seriously, that's just weird, so I say he doesn't count!!

So, here is a recipe for Buttercream icing:

½ cup of solid vegetable shortening
½ cup of butter or margarine (I always preferred the stick kind)
1 teaspoon of Wilton clear vanilla extract (any vanilla extract will do)
4 cups of sifted confectioners' sugar, approx. 1 lb ( yes, it's a pain to sift, but it's a very important step)
2 tablespoons of milk
Yield: 3 cups (enough to decorate 1 regular cake)

Cream butter and shortening with mixer. Add vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. ( I tried to add all of the sugar at once to make it go faster, TRUST ME, DON'T DO IT!!! unless you like cleaning up powdered sugar off of every surface you see, including yourself and your 4 year old daughter that happened to walk in at the wrong time.) Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add the milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep icing covered with a damp cloth until ready to use. Can be stored in refrigerator for 2 weeks in an airtight container. Rewhip when ready to use.

And there you have it, a delicious icing that will have all your friends begging you to make their next cake for that special occasion, or for you to just show that annoying neighbor of yours that you're better than her 'cause all she knows how to use is a store bought container of icing!! (Sorry to you all that are the 'neighbor'!!)