I recently purchased sharon zambito's "perfecting the art of buttercream" DVD and her buttercream recipe calls for the hi-ratio shortening. Does anyone know if this recipe works if you use regular crisco instead? Thanks in advance

I use Crisco. I started off using hi-ratio for quite a while, mainly because it holds up better in the heat: But I had to find ways to lower my costs - Crisco has been just fine.

thanks MacsMom, that's great to hear! I am also trying to find ways to lower my costs... I'm going to try a batch right now

i haven't had much luck getting the same quality out of Crisco from a hi-ratio recipe. I can get a nice flavor, but it doesn't have the same mouth feel and the smoothness as hi-ration. So can you do it? yes. Will it be the same end product, no.

FWIW, if you can order hi-ratio from a distributer your price for it may be lower than Crisco out of the supermarket. You might get a local restaurant to order it for you if you check around. I get a 50# box for $78, which puts it at $1.56/lb. Crisco at my Safeway in the 3 lb tub goes for $2.63/lb. I know that paying that much at once doesn't seem like a cost savings, but if you can split it with a friend or two, or even keep it in a cool place (you can deep freeze it too, i think i read), it will last you for a good, long time.

If you do use it in the SugarShack recipe, be careful with adding as much liquid as it states. The HR is denser and requires more liquid, the Crisco less.

I can't get hi-ratio shortening where I live (not even online), but I just started using the SugarShack recipe with regular shortening. The difference between that recipe and any other one I've ever used is amazing and I'm never going back, even if I can't make it with hi-ratio! It's much creamier and solved all my air bubble problems.

If I'm not mistaken, the reason Sharon urgers the use of Hi-Ratio shortening is because of the needed trans-fat. Some time back, Crisco removed the trans fat from their recipe so the consistency will not be the same...Hi-Ratio will hold up and crust better. Because it can be costly, I've started to use my local store brand of shortening, but always making sure the label doesn't say "No Trans Fat". My 'norm' now is to mix the two. I do not make as big of a batch as Sharon does (I don't make that many cakes and don't need that big of a batch) so I use half regular shortening and half hi-ratio. Because I've halved her recipe, I don't have my icing completely covering the paddle and I have to work a little harder to get some of the air bubbles out, but I just don't want to make way more than I need.

I used to half mine all the time I would use 1/2 high ratio and 1/2 food lion brand shortening and it was still awesome. but now food lion's shortening no longer has trans fat . So i just use all high ratio until I can find another store brand with trans fat in it!!!!!

thanks for the input everyone! i just made a batch using regular crisco and it worked very well. Her buttercream crusted faster than any recipe I've ever used, but I was still able to smooth it out even after it crusted. The only problem I encountered was making as big of a batch as she does. I have the same size mixer she uses (5 quart KA artisan) but couldn't get all 5 lbs of powdered sugar in.. it was a disaster. I ended up having to scoop a third of the mixture out & beat in a little at a time. Next time I will cut down the recipe a little. I still noticed some air bubbles but much better than normal!

I've.used the new transfat free Crisco with horrid results - it's just too loose and droopy. They say to try adding a heaping tablespoon full of white flour to each batch and some say this works like a charm