Never made buttercream....

[LadyDZA]

I've never ever made any. I've always used store-bought icing. (Which I like, so it's not a big deal)...I was just thinking that for the cupcakes for my son's preschool class birthday party, I might try to do buttercream. Would you suggest I do that, or is buttercream not the ideal choice for a bunch of 3-year olds who are used to Duncan Hines??

My 3 year old asked me for homemade strawberry cupcakes with lemon frosting... (My kids are going to be such foodies, it's funny!... They also love hummus and chicken saltimbocca and stuff that just amazes his teacher LOL) ...I do have a Martha Stewarts baking handbook that I could try something out of.

On a totally different note, I cant believe my little man is going to be 4.

[2sdae]

make a simple butter cream with added lemon juice or lemon extract or then add lemon curd to your butter cream for a delicious lemon taste.

[2sdae]

They do grow fast, my 2, 3 & 15 year olds remind me every day!

[Amanda]

I think no type of icing is ideal for 4 year olds....unless you can give it to them and then unleash them on someone else. Then I'd say whatever has the most sugar!!! tee hee....
I'd say if you want to try some bc, have at it! It's a perfect excuse to try it out. But, if you aren't sure of the results, or just don't really want to mess with it, use the other stuff. 4 year olds will just be happy to lick off the icing no matter what type it is.

[LadyDZA]

Yum, that sounds fabulous.... you wouldn't happen to have a good buttercream recipe you'd want to share do you?? I don't have a stand mixer, just a hand mixer---do you have to have one of those to do it?

[2sdae]

nope, I know several people who make their butter creams with a hand mixer!
The butter cream dream recipe I have in my blog is fabulous and tastes wonderful as a lemon butter cream.

[2sdae]

here it is
http://forum.intotheoven.com/blogs/2...am-recipe.html

[Amanda]

I don't know why you couldn't just take any recipe and cut it down to make it easier to do with a hand mixer. All I use is the sugarshack one (which is posted in our new recipe section!! Yay!!), but there are quite a few others as well. I hope you find one that you like!

[LadyDZA]

Thanks I'm excited... the only time I've ever had real buttercream was on my wedding cake, and it was divine. I don't even know what kind it was, but my husband raves about it 5 years later.

[LadyDZA]

One last question--- what kind of shortening? Does it matter?