Buttercream Icing (Wilton's Recipe)

1/2 cup Crisco shortening

1/2 cup softened butter

4 cups powdered sugar

2 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla (or other flavoring)

Beat the softened butter and crisco until creamy.  Add the powdered sugar, milk, and flavoring.  Mix well but not too quickly.  The less air you incorporate, the better.  This icing needs no refridgeration and a cake frosted with it can stay on the counter for 3-4 days.  It can be made ahead and kept in the refridgerator for up to two weeks.

Royal Icing (Wilton's recipe)

3 Tablespoons Wilton Meringue Powder

1 pound (4 cups) powdered sugar

6 Tablespoons warm water*

Beat all ingrediants on lowest speed until icing forms peaks.  The less air incorporated into the icing the better.  This takes about 10 minutes with a heavy duty stand mixer.  Just let it go.  If you are using a hand mixer, you will need a higher speed and it will take 12-14 minutes.  This recipe makes 3 cups.

Keep all utensils completely grease free or this will impair the royal icing recipe. 

Most importantly, have a clean damp cloth standing by to cover the icing when you remove the beaters.  Keep it covered at all times to avoid it drying out.  Also, when you are using the icing, keep the decorating bags covered too.  The icing in the tip will dry out very quickly.  A toothpick can help loosen the clog.

This icing needs no refrideration and will dry hard.  It is not normally applied as the main coating on a cake.  It does work well as a cake board covering.  You can easily achieve a coordinating color with this icing.  The beach cake I did for Abbi, posted under cakes, has a royal icing covered board.

*To use this icing to flood cookies, thin it with water by drops til you achieve a consistency similar to paint or glue.  Color the icing after you've thinned it. 

I bought a bunch of bowls that I can "palm".  They hold about a cup and a half of icing and are much easier to hold while stirring than a larger bowl.  You'll work on some muscles in this effort!  I love those bowls.  They are perfect for this.  Finding the right equipment that works for you will make the job all the easier.