What is the recipe that give you the best, smoothest finish. Is it a crusting recipe or non-crusting recipe best.

I like a crusting recipe myself; but I think it comes down to personal preference.

There are a lot of members who find the American b/c's too sweet, so they use meringue b/c's (which don't crust) - and get terrifically smooth finishes!

Can't wait to see more opinions.

I also like a crusting bc recipe, the viva towel method works excellent for me. Like Jan said tho, it's all personal preference.....

Hi Brickflor and JanH,

Can I ask which recipe you use for a crusting recipe? I really haven't tried to do this very often and there are so many different recipes it would be nice to use one that someone else has faith in.
Karen

I pm'ed you Karenelli with the recipe I use

I get the smoothest BC with the almost non-existant bubbles this way:
I use about 3/4 butter to 1/4 crisco....blend them on the lowest setting until they are smoooooooooooth. Add 1 tsp vanilla extract....keeping it on the lowest setting. Start adding powdered sugar, a little at a time until it's almost the consistency you like. Add about 1/2 cup of heavy cream....keep on blending on low....
continue to add sugar until it is the consistency you like it.
It's so creamy this way for me....and it goes on beautifully....crusts to the touch, but not as hard as a recipe with more crisco, I think.

That's almost the same as mine, I use 2/3 butter, 1/3 crisco and half and half. That extra fat from the cream makes a whole lot of difference too I think.

Thank you so much, Irene and Brickflor, for the recipes. I will be trying them out shortly. I really appreciate the feedback. Like anything else, using the right tools, even icing consistency, makes all the difference.
Again, thank you,
Karen

Irene, and Brickflor, I forgot to ask if using the butter, changes the icing color. Maybe yellowing it?

I suppose if you had the butter/crisco recipe alongside an all-crisco batch, then you could tell the difference, but I'm happy with the whiteness of the butter recipe.

adven68--it seems that with that much cream you would need about 4# of PS; is that what you use? Also, how long does this stay good (on the cake) without refrigeration?

If you look at the cakes in my gallery, all of the white ones are done with the butter/crisco. Well, really all of them are the same recipe except the chocolate ones. Anyway, you can see it's not pure white, but I think it's close enough.
You do not need to refrigerate these cakes, the fat/sugar ratio keeps them from going bad.

Brickflor:

Does your white buttercream crust well. Can you PM the recipe and a good chocolate one if you don't mind.

Yes, if you look in my gallery you can see how smooth I can get it with the viva towel method. I wait about 10-15 mins. My regular bc is listed but I'll pm you both anyway

I'm a vote for IMBC. The finish can be beautifully smooth but the biggest difference to me (other than taste) is just how sharp you can get the edges. I love those sharp edges so I don't have to put a top border.

If you look in my photos, the beehive baby shower cake was my very first attempt with IMBC and I got really sharp corners.

Thank you all for the great information.

A

AHi, just found this site, desperate after failing with two different yellow cake recipes, neither of which rose. Used fresh ingredients, measured and mixed as directed, baked until toothpick came clean. Where can I find your recipe for no fail yellow cake? Thanks much!