I love it and it works for me!! Everyone has their own tastes..so it's based on you like vs what other's do.

I use hi-ratio shorting and good quality butter and it tastes great, no greasy taste.

Sorry, Indy, I make your recipe with butter and shortening and the addition of wedding bouquet flavoring with 1-2 T vanilla extract, yummmo! I combine methods of Indy with Sharon Zambito. I love exploring new ways until I find a recipe that works for me.

I made it once. I (and those that tasted the cake) did not care for the Dream Whip in the recipe. Did not seem that hard to work with. Have found the butter/shortening recipes hold up as well as ones that are 100% shortening. Now that is in a location where the temps range no higher than upper 80s and maybe the occassional low 90s. May not be the case in places where the temp runs in triple digits.

I haven't read the answers, so if I'm repeating anything - i apologize. If I don't need white icing, I use butter flavored crisco and if I do need white icing, I use clear butter as well as a good clear vanilla....good luck

What I am going for is achieving a cupcake that tastes like pina colada...I could really care less if it had any actual alcohol in it, but we have some coconut rum on hand, and I am trying to keep costs down...I was going to toast coconut and add it with a chunk of pineapple on top of the frosting. I am thinking though, that I may need to look into expanding beyond vanilla extract. This is all VERY new to me...I love baking, but I've never improvised.

I am really interested in that Extra Special Buttercream being talked about though. Is it in the recipe section?

I made a coconut rum cake recently and used coconut milk in place of the water in the recipe...it was really good. If you haven't made your cupcakes yet, you might try it. It was the coconut milk that Walmart carries in the Asian food section.

If you have a Ross store near you, they have a little gourmet food section, in the same aisle with the tablecloths and aprons. They usually have the Lorann emulsions there for $2.99. I'm not a fan of their butter-vanilla or princess flavors, but their other flavors are pretty good. You can also find them at Hobby Lobby but they want $5.99 for the same bottle.

Make your own vanilla...it is fabulous!

I have found that the vanilla you buy does not compare to the vanilla I make...buy some really good bourbon and put lots of vanilla beans in it...EVERYONE wants to know why my icing tastes different...my vanilla is the tops! I should bottle it and sell it LOL It is much, much cheaper than buying the 'name brand' vanillas...and much, much, much, much better than any out there...the requests for my special icing is all they want. (I do use different flavorings with the vanilla, depending upon the cake ordered).

Now, if I can figure out how to make real almond extract, I will be in 7th Heaven...

Indy's BC recipe is perfect!...so is the Extra Special BC...etc. It is all a matter of taste...we all change recipes...that is why we all share here, in order to get ideas for new changes...if you are not able to change a recipe, then how will you find the 'right' one?

I made it a few weeks ago for the first time on some cupcakes. I didn't care for it. For some reason I could really taste the Crisco in it and it left a greasy feeling in my mouth. I was so disapointed. But....big but.....everyone at the party raved about them and the 48 cupcakes disapeared in a flash. My sisters told me it was wonderful and they are my toughest critics. So, I think it really is just a matter of indivudual taste.

Hmm....now I have a question....what is hi-ratio shorting??

Nope.

I'm stunned by this thread. Indydebi has contributed so much good information to this site. I'm not saying anyone has to like her icing - but where is a sense of decorum? And what about some gratitude for her generosity.

I'll sure think twice about submitting a recipe.

Thanks for the question about the butter. I would like to request from all recipe submitters to be as specific as possible about the ingredients....salted or unsalted butter, what kind of milk, heavy or regular whipping cream, the kind of chocolate, etc. After a trip to the grocery store today and seeing higher prices again, I would like to have success the first time with a recipe and not find out later I should have used a different kind of ingredient and have to start all over.

http://cakecentral.com/gallery/2097708

Yay! My first cc pic of my first pina colada cupcakes. I added not quite a stick of butter and about 2 Tbsp of the coconut rum to the bc. The crisco taste is gone but it is still VERY sweet for my taste. Could be all the coconut on top too... I don't think it crusts anymore, but I am up in Illinois and they will be inside nice airconditioned buildings Can't wait to try some of the very helpfull suggestions given to me, but first I have to figure out what I am going to do with these. Trying not to gain a million pounds as I go on my cupcake adventures.

mena2002...I don't make it with butter, I use all Crisco.

I made two batches of it yesterday. My DH who does not like sweets that much thought the icing was wonderful and that it tasted better than the other one I make. So I agree that it does depend on a make of taste.

You dont have to defend your self. Im sure she hadnt taken any offense to your not liking her buttercream. If you dont like it dont use it! This only has great suggestions. Beware of CC police! haha They like to turn a thread just for the sake of argument.

Well, out of the four of us that had it yesterday, before I made my adjustments, I am the only one who wasn't overly excited about it, so it has got to be a taste thing. My husband kept stealing the frosting bag and saying thinks like, where is that tube of crack. lol

Yeah I think it's being blown way out of proportion (as usual). I don't think it's rude at all-it's the title of the recipe. I have seen a million threads where people are like "Am I the only one who doesn't like WASC or IMBC or whatever?" Indy didn't create the recipe, it was given to her a zillion years ago by someone she knew. I don't think she gives two craps who likes it and who doesn't. To each his/her own.

With that said, I have made her recipe several times with several variations. I have made it with half butter/half Crisco, and I have even made it with high ratio shortening which I think was kind of heavy tasting (someone said a while back...like drinking heavy cream when you were expecting skim milk). That was before I realized that high ratio needs to be scaled down a bit when you are using it as a replacement.

I do think it is very sweet and sugary, which is why I add A LOT of popcorn salt. I'm talking like almost a tablespoon. I also juice a lemon and throw that in there to cut the sweetness a bit (a tip I learned from one of Toba's books). I also add some almond extract and a bit of butter extract (if I'm using all shortening).

One thing that helps with the grit is to dissolve the Dream Whip in your hot liquid.

One thing I found interesting was that I made a birthday cake with that icing, and one of the people who was at the party said he wanted me to make that "buttery icing" for his daughter's birthday cake. I used all Crisco! So it is still a crowd-pleaser even with all shortening.

The only thing that bugs me about the recipe is that it always crusts for me way too fast, even if I add extra shortening or liquid.