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From: Tami Smith
Remote Name: 66.109.233.59
Date: 08/03/02
Time: 08:51 PM
Well...first congratulations on completing your first class! With practice you are on your way to making a huge array of cakes! My buttercream is the perfect all around icing for just about any cake. It took me several years to formulate my recipe, and it was a fluke when I finally perfected it....with the addition of heavy cream. Milk tends to make the icing crust over, and water makes it downright crunchy. Heavy cream helps to cut the sweetness from the powdered sugar, keeps it creamy and adds flavor. You control the consistency with the heavy cream, hold back 2 Tablespoons for more stiff, add 2 extra for a medium. I really don't like thin icing for anything and I rarely make it. In a beginner class it is easy to teach the three consistency rule, but in the real world cake decorators work with one....maybe two consistencies of icing. Over time you will develop a like for a certain icing. It will feel good in your hand, smooth nicely on the cake, and you will be comfortable decorating with it. Yes, perfect leaves are made with a thinner icing, and perfect roses are made with very stiff icing. But when you are making a cake and piping 200+ roses your arm will begin to SCREAM and your hand will want to fall off from the stiff icing. And if you make a big batch of thin icing, you won't be able to do much of anything with it. In the beginning-----learning how to tell the perfect consistency----you can make a stiff version of icing and pull about 2 cups out, then thin the rest to a more medium/stiff. That way you have the stiffer for roses, and the rest for the rest of your decorating. All in all.....it comes down to practice. My icing recipe is great, it ices over the cake nicely, it tastes great, it smooths evenly, and it does just about all decorating (except strings) without messing with it. Try the recipe as is and you should be fine!! Good Luck!! If you have any other questions just ask!!!! :) Tami