by: Michael Leembruggen

Recipe 1

1 ½ cups of different types of vegetable shortenings

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons flavors (colorless)

2 pounds of confectioner's sugar

¼ to ½ cup of water or milk (water is a good choice, but milk goes well with lavender color)

Combine all the shortenings, flavorings, and salts thoroughly. Add the powdered sugar. Slowly add water and gently mix all the ingredients until well blended. You will notice that after 2-3 minutes, the mixture will become creamy.

Notes:

a) Try to keep the amount in exactly the same quantity as mentioned above. If you introduce lots of variations, you may not get the desired butter cream icing.

b) If you want to make your icing thin, add three to four big spoonfuls of corn syrup.

c) If you want to make chocolate butter cream, all you need to do is add ¾ cup of cocoa powder or three one ounce chocolate squares, mixed with one to two tablespoons of milk, to the other ingredients and proceed to mix well.

Recipe 2

½ cup vegetable shortening

½ cup of soft butter (you can add margarine also)

4 cups of confectioner's sugar

2 tablespoons water (milk)

½ teaspoon almond, for flavor

A dash of salt

Mix the shortening, butter, and almond. Add confectioner's sugar and gently mix by hand. Continue to add other ingredients and mix quickly, for six to seven minutes.

Here, too, you can add ¼ or 1/3 cup of cocoa powder to make chocolate butter cream.

If the icing is quite thin, you may add more powdered sugar, and in case you find it stiff, put a few drops of water or milk into it.

Recipe 3

Butter cream icing, which has a snow-white appearance as well as a yummy taste, is the best choice for frosting a cake. This so-called "snow white butter cream" is mostly used for decorating wedding cakes or any flat-surfaced cake and for making nail flowers. Remember to dry the flowers uncovered for at least a day. Flowers like apple blossoms or drop flowers are ready for use after four to five hours of air drying.

The good thing about snow-white butter cream is that it does not need refrigeration to become consistent and boasts a delicious taste as well. Here's a recipe for this delicious icing:

2/3 cup of water

4 tablespoons of meringue powder

12 cups confectioner's sugar

1 ¼ cups vegetable shortening

¾ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon almond (for flavor)

½ teaspoon vanilla (for flavor)

¼ teaspoon butter (for flavor)

Combine water and meringue powder in a bowl and mix it fast. Next, add four cups of confectioner's sugar, one at a time. Mix the sugar at fast speed and lower the speed with each addition. Add the shortening, remaining sugar, salt, almond, vanilla, and butter, and mix them gently.

Note: All of the above butter cream icings are easy to make and yummy to taste, you can make all of them at one time and determine which one best suits the different designs on your cake.