Crusting Buttercreme Frosting

I just got back from my sisters house in Boise, Idaho. I had a great time. My sister Laura decided she was going to make the 3 tiered  cake for my sisters wedding. (She is good at saying...I'm going to do this or that then goes out and does it.) She had never made a wedding cake before. I became the assistant to the cake baker. We made a couple of gluten free cakes, a marble cake, a spice cake, and one regular carrot cake. For the gluten free cakes we used 1 2 3 Gluten Free poundcake mix for the marble (chocolate and regular) and for the spice we used the regular and added pumpkin spice to it. ..delicious! http://www.shop.123glutenfree.com/product.sc;jsessionid=76D07295373C22B9AEF809DFD2459879.m1plqscsfapp05?productId=23&categoryId=

Now it's time to whip out the frosting.. we found a wonderful frosting that was already made (5 gallon size) that worked out fine. We did the crumb coat. Then she frosted it plain. We took it to the site and finished it off there. It turned out wonderful. She used a star shaped tip and did a seashell edging all around the cake, applied the tiers, and finished it off with fresh flowers. It looked simple and elegant and tasted fantastic. No one knew it was gluten free except the gf people. There wasn't much left afterwards either. I did my share of 2 pieces at the wedding and a boat load afterwards. I highly recommend this cake mix as everyone was surprised by the quality in the taste of this product.

We had so much fun doing it that we played with the rest of the icing. We both practiced our skills on plastic cutting-boards and developed our own styles. DO NOT BE AFRAID to try this. It is so much fun. I had it up my arm, on my face and in my hair. I even smelled sweet. I will be posting some ICING recipes so you have the best to go to for your cake. I know the holidays are coming up so try these out before the big day and use your favorite. Today I am going to give you Crusting Butter Cream Frosting. This is what you want if you want to make flowers. It holds up really well.

Crusting Butter Cream Frosting

 Ingredients:

• 1 stick  (1/2 cup) salted butter
• 1 1/2    cup vegetable shortening (Crisco or wall-mart brand) apparently Crisco changed their
              recipe
• 8-9       cups sifted powdered sugar ( if corn free make your own)
• 3          teaspoons GF Vanilla
• 1/2       teaspoons Almond extract
• 4-6      Tablespoons room temperature water

Directions:

1. In a deep bowl add butter,  Crisco,  vanilla and mix well until combined. Add sugar a little at a time (about a quarter of a cup adding water a tiny bit at a time) and mix until fluffy.
2. If it seems dry add a little tiny bit of water and mix well. 
3. It should be smooth and creamy. Frost cake. 
4. Keep this covered while not in use as it will crust up. If you have to, mix it again until blended.