Hi, I would first like to introduce myself and thank everyone for this really insightful place. I'm a novice cake decorator who just likes to make nice things for my family and friends to enjoy, however on occasion I have done a requested cake for someone other than a relative or close acquantance. You know how it is when someone sees a cake or something they like, then they want one, too. I'm always happy to oblidge and it's a very nice compliment for someone like myself who bakes strictly out of enjoyment. Anyways, my question was "How long do you beat the frosting?", I can't say I have ever made a crusting buttercream before (crazy, huh - everyone is thinking "how can you decorate and not use crusted buttercream?") - well I haven't and was wondering if someone could please direct me about this whole process. I'm going to try the 1/2 butter, 1/2 crisco recipe - that seems to be a fairly basic one to start off with.

More questions: will it be fluffy? smooth? how long does it take to crust? & of course: how long do I beat it?

Sorry for the numerous inquiries

Thanks for your time!!

Welcome to our big CC family!

Beat your frosting until combined. If you beat to much, air starts getting more incorporated and when you smooth on a cake, you will see little "craters" (shallow and eay to get rid of). If should be fairly fluffy, and to crust on a cake, maybe about 20 minutes, of couse depending on humidity.

Welcome to CC jellybean_queen! I always use the recipe on this site, "Butter Cream (with real butter for decorators)". You'll find it in the recipe section. Anyway, it's really easy to work with and not too sweet. I've tested others, but everyone seems to love that one the best. I take my time when making the icing. When it says "cream butter, shortening, sugar...etc", I take that literally! I'll throw it in my KA and let it go for 10 minutes or so sometimes. When it looks creamy and fluffy, I'll proceed from there! This recipe will have a light crust after a few minutes. If you want to use the paper towel method, I sometimes let it sit in the fridge for about 5 minutes.
HTH!!

Welcome! This site is addicting. I am also new to this. I used the crusted buttercream viva method and it was great. It crusted in about 15 min. Although, I have heard to not overbeat the icing because of air bubbles or something like that. They say to beat on low speed. It was fluffy and smooth tasting. Hope this helps alittle. If not hopefully someone else will clarify this for you.