Does anyone know a recipe or even what flavor they use for their frosting? I love its wonderful taste and I would like something similar for my cakes.

When I used to work there, we just mixed butter with a block of shortening, that I believe was pre-sweetened. I'm not sure what it was called though.

Some Publix bakeries will sell you the buttercream. You should inquire. They do the edible image sheets too.

There was a thread that told that name of the frosting they use...I think "Brill"...will see if I find it.

It was Brill....here's the thread with the info...
http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-685792-publix.html+brill

Okay, I did a little check on the Brill website that was referred to on the above link. The bc icing comes in base mix, bc (I am assuming already mixed), and smooth bc? Does anyone know which one is used or will they all taste the same? Are there any copycat recipes?

Prterrell, a member of this forum, created a recipe similar to Publix. From a 2007 thread:




Just heat equal parts water and sugar (by weight) until it boils and the sugar has completely dissolved. Let it cool and then you can use it. Store it in the fridge.

This aerating business doesn't work with just any buttercream recipe, though. Really what's going on is they make the buttercream unfinished and when you add the simple syrup and aerate it, you are finishing the process of making the buttercream.

I wanted a buttecream I could use at home that was at least as good as what they make. So I did some experimenting and came up with a recipe that is BETTER!. Oh, and when you're done with the last step, you're done - you don't need to add simple syrup and aerate it - it is the perfect consistency and thickness and lightness when you are done.

I've posted it on here before, but for your convenience, I'll post it again:

Buttercream

Note: This is my own personal recipe that I developed. Please credit me if sharing with others. Thanks, Promise Whitley

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons Wilton meringue powder
1/2 cup cold water
2 cups granulated sugar
¼ cup corn syrup
1/2 cup warm water
4 sticks (1 pound) unsalted butter, just at room temp (50-60 deg Fahrenheit is ideal)
1 stick (1 cup) of Crisco
1 teaspoon extract/flavoring: vanilla, lemon, orange, almond, mint, or crème bouquet

Directions:
Wipe a large mixing bowl and beaters with a paper towel dampened with white vinegar, let air dry.
Once dried, in this mixing bowl and using these beaters, whip 3 tablespoons of Wilton meringue powder and 1/2 cup of cold water to stiff peaks.
While you are whipping this up, in a saucepan over medium, heat 2 cups granulated sugar, ¼ cup corn syrup and 1/2 cup warm water to 250 deg F then immediately transfer to a heatproof measuring cup and cool to 240 deg F.
Slowly add the syrup to the whipped meringue. To insure that the syrup does not crystallize from hitting the beaters, pour in a little at a time (about ¼ cup) and whip it in completely before adding more, but this all has to be added in before the syrup cools too much and starts to harden.
Once the syrup is all added, beat on high for 3 minutes until the meringue is very stiff and shiny.
Then place the bowl of meringue in an ice water bath and continue to beat on high for another 3 minutes.
Beat in the stick of Crisco until it is completely incorporated.
Then beat in 1 stick of butter at a time, completely incorporating each stick before adding the next one.
Add 1 teaspoons of extract or flavoring of you choice (vanilla extract, lemon extract, orange extract, almond extract, mint extract, or crème bouquet) and then whip on high for 3-7 more minutes (approx) until the fats and liquids are completely emulsified.

May be stored in on counter for up to 3 days as long as temp in house is 70 deg F or less or store in the fridge for up to 1 week. Allow to come to room temp and then rewhip on high for 3 to 5 minutes before using. Freeze up to 3 months. Thaw in fridge and then follow refrigerated directions.

Wow, thanks AnnieCahill How much does this recipe yield?

The yield I'm unsure. You may want to PM prterrell and ask her, since she is the creator of this recipe.

How much corn syrup is that?...I get a weird symbol. This doesn't crust...does it?

One Fourth of a cup of corn syrup.

They did use to make it from scratch probably around 15 years ago before they switched over to the base. Apparently the recipe now is just a simplified version of this. I can't guarantee the accuracy of the measurements, but it's something like this.

50 lbs of confectioner's sugar
30 lbs of cake shortening(I'm assuming this is Sweetex repackaged under a different name)
10 lbs of butter
3, maybe 6 lbs of fine ground dry milk powder(publix brand on the shelf doesn't have lumps so it's probably best. Note that if you substitute water for milk in this recipe it will be the same thing, but Publix icing is not meant to be refrigerated.)
3, maybe 6 lbs of pasteurized egg whites. (Note that the pasteurized egg whites they use can actually be made into a decent meringue, as opposed to egg beaters stuff. So maybe pasteurized whole egg whites would work better?)
vanilla(I don't know how much)
salt(I don't know how much)

-Mix butter with some water(I don't know how much)
-Add dry milk powder.
-Add confectioner's sugar gradually
-Add cake shortening and blend.
-Add 2 and 1/4 lbs of water and mix for 12 minutes on medium speed.
-Add 5 lbs of water, egg whites, and vanilla(now that I think about it, the 2 and 1/4 lbs might be added in the first step, and the 5 lbs after the cake shortening.
-Mix for 12 more minutes on medium speed
-Switch to whisk attachments, mix on medium speed for 10 more minutes and thin out with simple syrup(any recipe will probably work)

*also, at one point salt is added to this recipe, no idea when. I would just add it at the beginning.

Scale it down to whatever you need to. Note that this has way more volume than normal icing.

From what I'm told, the scratch recipe tastes almost identical to the recipe made with the base. Just use what I wrote and mess around with it a bit and you should get very close.