Weddingbee boards

This buttercream recipe holds up very well when sitting out & it isn't too sweet because of the mix of salted & unsalted butter! A lot of "house" bakeries & powdered sugar frostings taste too sweet to adults, but this one always gets rave reviews!

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup salted butter
1 cup shortening
2lbs powdered sugar
3tsp flavored extract
4-6 tbsp milk (depending on how stiff you want the icing)

Makes 4 cups

1. Bring butter to room temperature.
2. Cream the butter, shortening & extract together w/ a mixer.
3. Slowly add the powdered sugar (about 1/4 at a time) & alternate with a tbsp of milk in between.
4. Continue to add milk until you get the desired stiffness of your icing.

This is a really easy buttercream frosting:

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/basic-buttercream

If you want a chocolate buttercream, I like this. It's a little more complicated, because you have to make a meringue first, but it's pretty light.  I made it with white chocolate for my mom's birthday over the summer.:

http://www.marthastewartweddings.com/recipe/white-chocolate-and-chocolate-buttercreams?autonomy_kw=white%20chocolate%20buttercream

Admittedly, I bake a lot, but I have never had a problem making buttercream frostings.  They're pretty easy.  I think the key to making it smooth is making sure that your butter is at room temperature when you start.  I take it out of the fridge for several hours, or even over night before I bake.