I bought some hi ratio shortening after reading some rave reviews on here about how good the icing comes out with it.

I did a search in the forums on hi ratio shortening and found some conflicting information about how to use it. I currently use the wilton bc recipe with 1/2 crisco and 1/2 butter. Can I just use the same quantity of hi ratio that I currently use for crisco? Does it work the same?

Thanks!

I would really like to know this too. I just purchased some also.

Ok Here is my recipe for icing:

1 Cup Hi Ratio Shortening
4 TBL White Icing Base
7 cups 6x Powder Sugar
1/2 cup water
1 tsp or to taste what ever flavor you want. You can use extracts or louann flavored oils but use less of the oil flavoring because it is strong. I use my own flavoring mixture that gives me a unique great tasting icing.
You use 1/3 less hi ratio than crisco because it holds liquid better and does not break down. with my recipe above you would use 1 1/2 cups crisco.

Ingredients
2 lb bag of powdered sugar,sift for decorating
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter,not margarine,room temp
1/2 cup hi-ratio or icing shortening- not Crisco.
1/2 cup milk-minus 2 T in the summer
1 teaspoon clear vanilla
1/4 teaspoon creme bouquet or almond flavoring
1/8 teaspoon salt (cuts the sweet)

Cocoa for Chocolate


Preparation
Cream butter and shortening together until fluffy,with mixer on low,add the milk (-2T),1/2 the bag of sugar slowly,the flavorings and salt. Mix until creamy,slowly add the remaining sugar. If the icing is too stiff, add remaining milk. In the summer leave out the extra 2 T.
Scrape the sides of the bowl. Turn mixer on high and beat for 6-10 min until icing has doubled in volume. Keep covered while working. Store in a tightly covered container (odor-free) in the refrigerator for up to 4 weeks or freeze for 6 months. Thaw to room temp and re-whip.

For Hi-Humidity Frosting:
Use all shortening and no butter. Change the amount of shortening to 1 cup and omit the butter. Use hi-ratio shortening instead of Crisco or frying shortening. It is digestible and made for eating,it will whip up fluffy. Crisco is made for frying.It is heavy and will be greasy on the tongue.

Chocolate Buttercream:
make the regular buttercream as above. Add cocoa (start with 1/2-3/4c or more) and milk (1 T at a time) to thin. Add a Pinch of salt to help bring out the flavor. This icing will thicken as it sits. It should be made ahead and rewhipped to the right consistency . More cocoa to make darker and richer and milk to keep from being too thick.

[quote="ceculsk"]
4 TBL White Icing Base
quote]

Sorry to intrude, but what is this Icing base??

Thanks,

Julia

It is added with the hi ratio to create a fluffy light base to the icing you are making with some flavor.

meringue powder?