Butter cream Frosting recipe?

Which is better to use in a buttercream frosting? Butter or Shortening? or a little bit of both...i want a smooth , not overly sweet frosting that can be piped onto cakes or cupcakes and not wilt. Serious Answers only!Butter cream Frosting recipe?
I just created a tutorial for buttercream icing... complete with pics and recipe...





http://therepressedpastrychef.blogspot.c鈥?/a>





Hope that helps!!Butter cream Frosting recipe?
Buttercream is a misnomer - professionally used for cake decorating, you would be hard pressed to find one with butter in it!





If you are planning on piping the buttercream - I would highly recommend using all shortening or, at the least, a higher percentage of shortening over butter.





Butter has a lower melting point than shortening, therefore, somthing as simple as the heat of your hands holding the piping bag will cause you grief when piping - and if you do a mix of shortening and butter, you run the risk of your icing separating.





On top of that, you will get a pure white icing using shortening over butter - this is optimal for getting the colour you want when tinting your icing. (Though, if you beat your butter, by itself, for around 10 minutes, it will lighten considerably and not affect the tinting as much.)





You will find that the non-hydrogenated solid vegetable shortenings have the same heat tolerance drawback as butter. That is not to say that you shouldn't use them at all, just be aware that they don't have the exact same properties as shortening.





As horrible as shortening is for you, there is a very good reason why it is used for cake decorating in buttercream. And, I will be the first person to say that all butter icing tastes 100% better!





Consider what and how you are piping (delicacy, pressure needed, temperature of the room you will be working in, length of time the piping bag will be in your hands, etc...) and decide how you want to make your buttercream.





Another thing to think about is that icing isn't necessarily meant to be eaten - it is mainly there for esthetics (and to seal the moisture into the cake). I won't eat hydrogenated fats, let alone those dyed with coal tar derived colourings - and, I recommend the same to anyone I sell a cake decorated in buttercream! Plus, the sweetness of buttercream can ruin the overall flavour of the cake. Put your focus into the taste and texture of the cake and filling and no one will feel the need to eat the icing!





http://www.wilton.com/recipes/recipesand鈥?/a>





Wilton has a very good buttercream recipe, appropriate for piping and decorating.
1 c. (2 sticks) softened butter


1 tsp. vanilla


4 c. sifted powdered sugar


approx. 2 tsp. milk





Cream butter with mixer. Add vanilla %26amp; mix well. Slowly add sugar (1/2 c - 1 c at a time), mixing well between each addition. When all sugar has been added, mix in enough milk to make frosting spreadable consistency.
Butter!