Rolled buttercream icing

Posted on 03/26/2006 by _aasshhlleeyy_
A few people have asked for the rolled buttercream recipe I use. It is much like fondant (you roll it out and cut shapes out of it) but tastes WAYYYYY better.
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1 cup shortening
1 cup clear corn syrup
1/2 tsp. fine salt
1 tsp. clear vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. of your favorite flavor extract (I use butter)
2 lb (8 cups) confectioner's sugar

Cream first 4 ingredients together. Add confectioner's sugar cup by cup. The "dough" will seem really, really dry. Just keep kneading the remaining confectioners sugar in until you have a nice ball.

Roll it out as thin as possible (sprinkle some icing sugar on the counter so it doesn't stick!) Use the cookie cutters you used for your cookies to "cut-out" icing shapes. Place the icing on the cookie. if it doesn't fit perfect (usually cookies expand a bit when they bake), the icing is very pliable and can be stretched a little to fit the cookie perfectly. Just press it down lightly and it will stick to the cookie no-problem.

This recipe makes bright white icing. If you want the icing to be colored you can add colors, and I'm sure you could subsitute the clear vanilla and corn syrup for regular (the only reason they are clear is so that they don't turn the white icing a yellow/brownish color!)

The icing does not dry hard, but does stiffen up a little bit. Also, it is VERY sweet, so try to roll it out as thin as possible or the sweetness will overwhelm your cookies! It can be kept in an air-tight container for weeks (at room temperature).
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l_money 26th-Mar-2006 10:44 pm (UTC)
Have you ever put you cutouts on cakes?
I think that would be a neat way to decorate on top of frosting, but does it stick well?
_aasshhlleeyy_ 26th-Mar-2006 10:52 pm (UTC)
I've used it to cover cakes but never to cut shapes out of and then stick the shapes to the cake. If you wanted to try that you could always brush a little corn syrup on the back of the cutouts to make them stick!
_aasshhlleeyy_ 5th-Apr-2006 09:13 pm (UTC)
looks good! i wondered why it looked so thick, until you said there was regular icing underneath it!

brandywine93 5th-Apr-2006 08:58 pm (UTC)
I just tried this to cover my cake - and it worked wonderfully!!! a think layer of canned frosting went underneath... although rolling it out and then moving it to the cake took quite a few tries :-) (pics are here)
kriegspiel 26th-Mar-2006 10:46 pm (UTC)
picture outside of the cut and recipe under please.
_aasshhlleeyy_ 26th-Mar-2006 10:51 pm (UTC)
sorry!
kriegspiel 26th-Mar-2006 11:06 pm (UTC)
nope ! that's fine !
pouffy_ermine 27th-Mar-2006 12:01 am (UTC)
Wow, thats.. wow. Thats so neat, I'll be sure to try it.
chochotte 27th-Mar-2006 12:35 am (UTC)
Ah this sounds amazing, finally a way to neatly cover and decorate a cake without it loosing the taste of buttercream! Thank you so much!
ttoommaa 27th-Mar-2006 12:45 am (UTC)
Is there any substitute to corn syrup that is NOT honey? Trying to avoid the former and allergic to the latter.
_aasshhlleeyy_ 27th-Mar-2006 12:55 am (UTC)
I actually posted on bx3faq a few days ago when I couldn't find clear corn syrup - someone told me you can boil a certain amount of white sugar and water until it turns into a thick syrup? I can't remember exactly how to do it.

You should post at bx3faq... I'm sure you'll get lots of answers there!
lizzymommy 27th-Mar-2006 12:55 am (UTC)
well - if you're okay with coloring the final product (ie, don't need it to be pristinely white) you can use brown rice syrup or barley malt...but they don't have the very neutral flavor that I find from corn syrup, and they're definitely brown, though not as brown as molasses. I adore both of them for other baking uses, I'll say, though!
chochotte 27th-Mar-2006 12:57 am (UTC)
Anyone who has ever been exposed to both know whether you can sub golden syrup for corn syrup? It wouldn't give a perfect white colour I know, but that wouldn't be too bad, as long as the recipe worked.
lizzymommy 27th-Mar-2006 01:06 am (UTC)
Thanks! I knew I'd forgotten one...yes, Golden Syrup should work as well...
_darra_ 28th-Mar-2006 06:59 am (UTC)
i sub golden for corn! apart from the color difference that you mentioned, it works just fine ;)
shortybear84 27th-Mar-2006 12:56 am (UTC)
good job! fondant is so fun to play around with!

those are the type of cookies I want for my wedding favors next year ^_^
thirdbase 27th-Mar-2006 01:09 am (UTC)
I am new to making my own frosting (green frosting disaster as a teen scarred me...) so I have a couple questions:

can this be halved?
can this be made in a kitchenaid? I followed with the creaming, but when you referred to "dough" I wondered if I should switch to a dough hook, or whether I switch to using my hands as soon as I start dumping in the confectioner's sugar.
what is icing sugar?

looks fantastic! I can't wait to try it!
_aasshhlleeyy_ 27th-Mar-2006 01:13 am (UTC)
I have never halved it, but it keeps well for weeks in an air tight container so you can use up the extra at a later time if you make the full batch!

Yes it can be made in a kitchenaid! And yes, as soon as it starts getting hard to mix, switch to the dough hook. I actually recommend you do it in a kitchenaid if you have one... it's sooooo much easier! It takes me about 20 minutes just to blend it all together without one! (It takes tons of kneading to get all the confectioners sugar in!)

Oh, and icing sugar is just another word for confectioner's sugar... might be a Canadian thing. ;)
another_dayxx 27th-Mar-2006 09:08 am (UTC)
We call "confectioners sugar" icing sugar here in the UK. No-one ever calls it confectioners here, so it's not just a Canadian thing :D
_minke_ 27th-Mar-2006 01:39 pm (UTC)
Oh, I really want to try this next time I frost a cake!
shewillbreak 31st-Mar-2006 11:27 pm (UTC)
Thanks for this recipe! I have a question, though -- if you were to want colored icing, when do you think would be the easiest time to work that in?

Thanks again!
margiiee rolled buttercream21st-Mar-2009 08:32 am (UTC)
i followed the recipe but it was really greasy is that how it has to be?
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