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Before we start decorating-- and I know you're excited to get
started--
we need to talk about the medium.
And the medium is buttercream icing.
There's lots of recipes out there
that you're going to want to try,
and I encourage you to experiment.
But the Wilton buttercream icing is great for beginners
because, number one, it's delicious,
and it's also versatile.
You can adjust the consistency's for piping and also for icing
cakes.
Making icing is simple, so let's get started.
I am going to put a 1/2 a cup of solid vegetable
shortening in my bowl and also a 1/2 a cup of butter.
The first thing we're going to do is cream the butter
and the shortening on medium speed.
I'm using a paddle attachment.
And if you're using a hand mixer, use beaters.
We're using pure white vegetable shortening
because it gives the icing structure,
and it makes it nice and fluffy.
So we're going to go ahead and mix this up
on kind of a low speed until it's all incorporated.
We need to beat the butter and the shortening
until it's light and fluffy, and I think it looks pretty good.
Now, I'm going to go ahead and add a teaspoon of pure vanilla
extract.
Now turn it back on, and we're going
to go ahead and incorporate this in.
I think I need to scrape the mold on a little bit again.
I just want to make sure that the flavoring is well mixed in.
In case I haven't mentioned it, we're
using medium speed to mix this together.
OK, one more whirl, and then we're
going to start adding our confectioner's sugar.
So I'm going to start adding the confectioner's sugar,
or also known as powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time.
Here, I have 4 cups of confectioner's sugar.
You do want to start this slowly because the powdered sugar can
kind of pop up at you, and go ahead and turn this speed up
a little bit.
OK, I'm going to add another cup.
I think need to lift up my mixer here a little bit.
Again, slow.
You'll have powdered sugar all over your kitchen
if you don't start this slowly.
I think it's time to scrape down the bowl a little bit
to make sure that everything is incorporated nicely
because I have some powdered sugar that's
sort of working itself up.
And sometimes the powdered sugar will also
sit on the bottom of the bowl.
So you want to make sure that as you're scraping it down
that you're making sure that there's nothing just sitting
down there.
We're going to add our last cup of powdered sugar.
I have a little bit more in here that I can't get out
with my measuring cup, so I'm just going to pour it in.
Now you're going to notice that this icing gets pretty stiff,
but don't worry about it.
Because when we add the liquid, it's
going to fluff up really nicely.
I'm going to stir it down one more time
before we start adding the liquid.
OK, one more little spin here because I just
want to make sure the powdered sugar on the bottom of the bowl
is mixed in with the shortening and the butter.
And I think it looks pretty good.
It looks like I have a few scoops
of maybe like a tablespoon of powdered sugar here yet.
So I am going to just add it in.
You want make sure that you don't waste anything.
And besides that, just a little bit of powdered sugar
can make a difference in the consistency of your icing.
We'll talk about that in just a little bit.
All right, so it's time to add the liquid.
I have 2 tablespoons of milk here,
which I'll be adding to my recipe.
But I'm going to add it in a little bit at a time
because it's possible I'm not going to need at all.
Turn it up to medium speed so it's nice and fluffy.
See how it's whipping up and looking really good?
You can also use water as your liquid, but milk has more fat.
So it makes it more flavorful and creamy.
I'm going to add a little bit more.
I think I'm going to scrape down my bowl.
I want to make sure that it's getting mixed in well.
And also this is going to give me an opportunity
to check the consistency.
And I'm thinking that it's about right.
I may not need to use all that liquid.
I think this buttercream's done, but there's one more thing
I wanted to tell you about.
If you are using a hand mixer, you
may want to add your liquid a little bit sooner.
Because the icing's pretty stiff,
and it could exhaust your mixer.
And we don't want that to happen.
So as you are mixing up the icing--
a combination of your butter, and your shortening,
in your powdered sugars--
if you notice that your mixer is starting
to run a little bit slower or sound like it's struggling,
you might want to go ahead and start
adding your liquid a little bit at a time at that point.
Just realize that after you've made the icing
it might be just a little bit thin
and you might have to add a little bit more powdered sugar
to stiffen it up.
So I think this icing looks really great.
It looks like about 2 and 1/4 cups
of stiff consistency icing, which is great for piping.
And I think I got that all out there.
But if you plan on piping, say like stars,
or dots, or rosettes, you're probably
going to need to thin it down a little bit.
We'll learn more about that in the buttercream icing
consistency video.
Since we used butter and pure vanilla extract,
you can see that this icing is just a little bit yellow.
If you want to make pure white icing,
that's really easy to do.
All you have to do is substitute the 1/2 a cup of butter
with the pure white vegetable shortening.
You can add the butter flavor back
in by using a half a teaspoon of clear butter flavor.
You'll also want to use a teaspoon
of clear vanilla flavor versus the pure vanilla
extract if you want a nice brilliant white icing.
Just a few other things to keep in mind.
Depending on the weather, you're icing could actually like,
crust over a little bit.
So you'll always want to keep it covered with plastic wrap
when you're not using it.
Depending on the humidity or the climate in your area,
you might need to adjust the consistency of your icing.
If it seems a little bit stiff, you can add 1/4 to 1/2
teaspoon additional liquid.
If it's kind of thin, you can add
1 tablespoon of powdered sugar, but just
add a little bit at a time.
If you like an all-butter recipe,
that's really easy to do too.
You just substitute 1/2 a cup of butter for that
1/2 a cup of shortening.
It's a really yummy icing, but just keep in mind
that it's softer and more fragile.
And if you have hot hands, it might melt a little bit
as you're piping.
And it also could soften up and melt a little bit more
if you're in a warm room.
If you think the buttercream icing is just a little bit too
sweet, you can add a pinch of salt to your liquid
and make sure you let it dissolve
before adding it to your powdered sugar/shortening
mixture.
You can also use salted butter as part
of your butter to cut the sweetness a little bit.
Some decorators use popcorn salt because it's very fine granule,
and you can actually just put it directly
into your buttercream icing.
Whatever you do, just make sure you're
adding a small amount of salt at a time.
Let's talk about flavorings.
If you want to go beyond vanilla,
this recipe is a perfect base for your favorite extracts
or flavorings.
Add flavorings to taste, but be mindful that it might thin down
the consistency of your icing.
So you could substitute some of your liquid
with your flavoring.
So you have a few flavor options.
You can use the clear flavorings which don't
add in coloring to your icing.
And then there are extracts, which are really concentrated
and taste really great.
And then there's the Treatology flavors, which you only
need a few drops of, and you can actually
combine the flavors to make new flavors.
If you have leftover icing after you've completed your project,
you just need to use an airtight container
to put it in prior to refrigerating it or freezing
it.
You can freeze it for up to six weeks.
All you have to do is bring it back to room temperature,
and put it back in your mixer with your paddle attachment,
and whip it back up to the appropriate consistency.
I think we got it all in there.
Seal it up, and we're ready to go.
While this buttercream icing is perfect for icing cakes
and piping, you're going to want to try other icing recipes as
well like Swiss meringue buttercream, chocolate
buttercream, peanut butter frosting, and even cream cheese
icing.
You can find those recipes and others on wilton.com.
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