Very Easy! Add a little more water to ice the cake and a little less to make the decorations!

Wedding Cake Icing

shortening

salt

vanilla extract

almond extract

water

confectioners' sugar

Mix shortening, water, vanilla, almond extract, and half of the powdered sugar with a mixer for 5-10 minutes.  (it's very important to mix this long)n


Add the rest of the powdered sugar and beat just enough to mix in.n


Add additional water for desired consistency.n


This recipe had lots of *****, but the experienced cooks gave mixed reviews, so I gave it a try.  Didn't change a thing.  I have baked and decorated lots of cakes, and although this icing was pretty, and white/white, it was totally tasteless.  I even added 2x the vanilla after making it, but it didn't help.  I would probably add some butter extract next time. Also, the recipe calls for salt, but doesn't include it in the directions.  Piped well. Not a bad recipe if you're looking for that grocery-store no-taste icing.  Texture is there. I'll stick to buttercream. I find it is way more flavorful and if you add 3Tbls. of Karo clear syrup to a buttercream, it spreads and smoothes better than this.

p.s. Don't overmix the last addition of powdered suger in this recipe or it tends to curdle the satin-smooth consistency a bit. Do just like it says, only mix til blended.

This is the recipe I have been searching for!!  Excellent! I have tried at least 20 other "white icing" recipes-and this one has the best taste, consistency, etc.  If you are looking for that "bakery cake" icing for birthday cakes, middle of sandwich cookies, cupcakes, etc.--try this one!  Couple of notes--Did taste a little "almondy" first time I made it, so reduced the almond to 1/8th tsp. Be SURE to beat it the first time for at least the 5 minutes--that will get rid of the "shortening" feel.  It's a huge recipe-if you aren't frosting and decorating a large sheet cake-you may want to half it.  Also--if you don't want it to taste like a "buttercream" icing (which I did not)--do NOT use any butter or butter flavored shortenings.  Thanks SOOO much Cherie!!

I had been looking for the perfect "wedding cake" icing, and this is it! I've made 3 practice cakes using this icing and they've gone over well! I used water from the water cooler instead of tap water, and the first mixing only took 5 minutes. The second time I made this icing, I added 2 Tablespoons cocoa powder to half the batch for a chocolate cake, and it was great. My family has requested to not have a "Bought" cake anymore! Thank YOU for this recipe! 

We needed a icing that was fast to make and plenty of it. My sister to me to look up a "Wedding Cake Icing". This recipe came up and we tried it.  Let me tell you it was great.  Our family celebrates everyones B-days &amp; Anni. for each month of the year.  So this icing will be used every time we make the Cakes.

I wanted my cake to taste as close to a bakery cake as possible and this icing did the trick.  It was delicious!  Several people asked me where I bought my cake.  I followed the recipe exactly and it turned out perfect.  It also make LOTS of icing.  I was able to ice a 9x13 cake and about 30 cupcakes.  Thanks for the great recipe!

I changed the servings to 8 and it was more than enough for frosting a 9X13 cake. The measurements appeared to be just right as it was the perfect consistency. I did not have to add any additional water to it. I did use all vanilla extract instead of vanilla and almond. It was DELICIOUS!

Ideally I'd rate this 4-1/2 stars, just short of perfect because it's just a little too sweet for me. Generally for this amount of fat, whether it's shortening or butter, I prefer a ratio of 1 cup butter or shortening to four cups of powdered sugar.  This recipe was TWICE that amount of sugar, but I wanted to give it a try. I used an egg white for part of the water called for and eliminated the almond extract just as a matter of preference.  I kept adding the sugar but finally stopped at 7-1/2 cups, thinking "enough is enough."  This frosting is beautiful, fluffy and elegant white and even tho' just a wee bit sweet for my tastes (others, like my husband, would disagree on that point) it tasted pretty darn good too - but keep in mind that when I make any shortening type frosting I use hi-ratio shortening, which makes an incredible difference in taste, mouth feel, consistency and stability.  This is frosting I'd be quite confident to use again, even tho' it's a little different than I'm used to.

Awesome, awesome, awesome!  I've used this recipe for a lot of different baked goods requiring icing.  It has a fantastic texture, is very easy to work with, spreads out to a satiny smoothness with an offset spatula dipped in hot water, and can be very versatile with a few drops of your favorite extract added.  Definitely a keeper!

This recipe is the best i've ever tasted..  It tastes just like professional bakery icing and much better thn store icing. My 4 year old daughter who suprisingly doesn't like sweets was licking the bowl. Delish!!!!

This is truely the best cake icing recipe I've every come across.  It spread easily and tasted good.  I put in mint extract and it was great.

Great frosting!  The almond extract really sets this frosting apart from the others that I have tried.  It worked great for piping and making roses.  I will always use this recipe from now on, love it!

Hands down the best textured and most stable frosting of all the different recipes I've tried from this site! I tried it once as it is written and it was great if you need a pure white and professional tasting icing like for an actual wedding cake.  The second time I made a chocolate version.  I replaced half of the shortening with margarine, eliminated the extracts, and added 1/4 cup cocoa powder.  That was even better!  The margarine made it creamier and more spreadable than the original.  Both were great though and I feel my search is over!

best recipe for cake icing i've made yet. Used real vanilla extract. Very easy to make, tastes great, looks great, and decorates perfectly whether it's for piping rosettes, or even for making roses. Just add more milk for the softer decorations like the piped leaf, and less for the rose.Thank you so much for sharing this recipe, it is what I was looking for!UPDATE-------------It's now been a few years, and I have tried many other icing recipes, and this one is still my favorite. I now use half butter and half shortening and it works perfect! I think that I'll try it with all butter the next time I need it for a serious fancy cake! 

I have made this icing two times now, the first was okay, the second time was perfect!!!  The big difference? The brand of powdered sugar!  The 'okay' batch was store brand and had way too much corn starch; it was all I could taste. With 8 cups of the stuff in this recipe, picking the right powdered sugar is important.

I bake so often that I often rely on other people's reviews of the things I make to help me determine if I should make things again.  My husband's mother and step-mother both said this was the best frosting they'd ever had.  That's a good enough reason for me to use this forever.

Loved it.  I didn't have almond flavoring, so only used vanilla.  But also used butter instead of shortening.  It was perfect and had just the right flavor.

This is my favorite cake icing.  It's the very sweet icing used in bakeries.  My original recipe called for 1/2 t almond and 1 1/4 t white vanilla.  If you like almond flavoring, you might want to make the adjustment.  Also, beat 10  min on high , then 5 min on low.  This makes a LOT of icing, but it keeps for 6-8 weeks in an airtight container at room temperature.

EXCELLENT RECIPE! I cut this in 1/2 all the time to ice a sheet cake (at home).  Anyone that thinks it's greasy-you did not follow instructions.  By beating the shortening, water, flavoring and 1/2 sugar, u are incorporating the water/moisture into the shortening, which lightens it.  If you don't follow that step (yes, mixing about 10 min prior to adding the rest of the sugar) it will leave a film/be heavy tasting.  I did substitute the following:  1/2 C shortening, 1/2 C unsalted butter to my version.  FANTASTIC flavor!  Have a cake baking right now my daughter made just to have the frosting again!

I love this recipe. I have used it a lot and will continue to use it. It gets very still and makes wonderful roses, but do not leave it uncovered for very long. I drape a wet hand towel over what I am not using to keep it moist. It is very sweet, obviously, but I have had no complaints with it. And it is very important that you mix it for the time it says. I, also, suggest investing in a Kitchenaid mixer if you will be using this recipe very much because it does get very hard to mix as you add the powdered sugar.

You know those people who don't follow the recipe but then they review it anyway &amp; maybe give it reduced ratings? Yeah. That's me right now. 

So I was looking for a sugary somewhat stiff frosting/icing for a cake for my boyfriends b-day and this seemed good. BUT a bunch of people were complaining about flavor, consistency &amp; etc. 

So I made the following changes. Color wasn't vital to us since it wasn't for a white wedding. So I used TRIPLE the amount of vanilla extract it called for &amp; put that amount in the 1/2 measuring cup before I put the water in to avoid too much moisture. I used ALL butter &amp; less salt since my butter was salted.  My last change was to omit the almond extract. I used C&amp;H sugar, btw.

I followed the vague instructions. Saying to "mix" but not at what setting &amp; saying to mix for 5-10 minutes but not saying what consistency you're looking for is bad recipe writing, in my opinion. I used what felt like "logic" when deciding how to approach those two vague elements. I started out slow &amp; creamed my butter first, then added the wet and then the dry ingredients and upped the speed to about 4 on my KitchenAid mixer. After several minutes the color got MUCH lighter (butter and dark vanilla extract made it come out a pale ivory in the end, color-wise) &amp; MUCH more volume &amp; fluff to it. I add the other half of powdered sugar but w/ powdered sugar "cups" are flexible so I kind of eyeballed it.

My results: Very flavorful, pale, tasty frosting. He loved it!!

This icing was great, two things though, I think it is important to add a cup of confectioner's sugar at a time to guage how much you want, I was able to ice a whole two layer 9-inch cake with 5 1/3 cup sugar. Also, I subbed shortening with 1/2 crisco butter flavored shortening and 1/2 cup butter.   Lastly, I think it needs a few hours to sit, I don't know if maybe this is because of my alterations to the recipe or what but the icing wasn't that great until I let it sit awhile. A few hours after I made it it was perfect and the taste wasnt as sweet as it was at first.   I also switched the almond/vanilla around and did 1 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract and just 1/4 vanilla as my cake had a vanilla flavor already.

Absolutely fantastic!  I tried it both with regular shortening, and the butter flavored.  The regular gave it that perfect, bakery white icing taste that I was looking for, but the buttercream flavor of the butter one was to die for.  I've used this recipe three times so far, once with my old (dying) mixer, and ten minutes was perfect for beating, but now, with my new (supercharged) mixer, 5 is more than enough.  After that, it starts getting a little grainy.  That, though, is the fault of my mixer.  And a spatula dipped in water and smoothed over the iced cake made it nice and pretty and smooth.

This is an incredible recipe! Received endless compliments....I followed the recipe to a T. No modifications. Decorating with this icing is a snap.

tried recipe as given .... looked nice but had absolutely no taste. this is nothing special i could've done better with my traditonal recipe

Did not turn out good at all, the texture was unappealing, even after I mixed it for 10 mins, and I did not care for the taste. I'm sorry, but I won't make this again.

I make professional cakes and this is my recipe for them and people act like I've made something sooooo wonderful.  The only thing I do different is I use clear butter flavoring instead of almond flavoring.  It gives it a better buttercream flavoring.

Wow! Wow! Wow! This recipe is fantastic! I try to make everything homemade and I never could find a recipe for an icing that I liked. Everthing was too sweet, too runny or tasted like pure sugar. And then... I found this one. I didn't have shortening on hand (nor have any idea what it is) so I used butter instead. What a beautiful buttercream icing!!!! The only advice I can give is refrigerate the cake and just chill the icing for a little while. For me, it prevented alot of crumbling. Thank you so much. I have hope for recipes to come knowing that I have a a@# kicking (I can't find a phrase that is remotely close to how I feel) icing to put on top. THANK-YOU!!!

Great recipe---taste just like the professionals!

I usually have Creme Bouquet Flavoring on hand, and use that instead of almond or clear vanilla extract.  It gives it a super-creamy taste, and kills some of the sweetness!  But I have used this recipe for YEARS, and it is THE BEST!  Works great for any type of cake decorating.

Glorious! Be sure to mix for the minimum time recommended in the recipe -- this is the only way to get the fluffiness you want. :0)

I really like the taste of this icing, it does taste professional. Here's where I made changes, I didn't add the salt and where it calls for additional water I added a little pineapple juice at a time to get the desired taste. After I let the icing set in the fridge I put it on a pineapple cake mix (not pineapple upside down mix). It tasted like the cakes this cake baker we know used to make for our family. Also I gave it 4 stars and not 5 because I tried food coloring on some of the icing and it didn't mix well no matter how long it was mixed. Also I agree with the others that say it does taste greasy while preparing, but once it's set in the fridge, been put on the cake and your eating, it will not feel or taste that way.  

Excellent frosting!  I have never made a frosting that had such a great consistency.  It melts in your mouth.  So good!!

This was perfect! I needed a thick, rich frosting for a friend who is allergic to dairy. I used butter flavored crisco and almond milk instead of water. Thanks for the instructions to mix for 5-10 mins. The consistancy was perfect!

5+ stars, excellent, make sure to beat for at least 5 minutes, keep the almond for a true treat. I had to add 1 T water extra

This recipe was great for a wedding cake I did.  Had great flavor at first but tended to loose it after being refigerated but it stood up to the heat (over 95 degrees).  All of the quests thought that it was bakery made.

Yum!  I made this with butter, and it was just lovely.  Creamy and tasty.

Excellent! Taste was much better than the basic butter cream recipe given at cake class. The texture was great for decorating, though I did also use it to frost the cake with a little extra water. This will definitely be my staple recipe. Thanks so much for sharing!

I followed the ingredients and instructions exactly and got a stiff consistency icing. It does not taste like a wedding cake icing like those delicious wedding cakes that you ate at a wedding. It taste very sweet and plain. Disappointing! It is a good icing if you like a very sweet icing for a birthday cake or other occasion. Not for wedding. It was hard for us to finish our cakes because we are not used to very, very sweet food. (we do not eat sugary food very much, so that was why we were not used to the sweetness of the icing.)

this frosting was really like wedding cake icing. i loved the texture and the taste and it was perfect for piping. i didnt have to add any more water to the recipe. thank you so much!!!!

YUM!  I cut the recipe in 1/2, swapped the almond extract for Coconut Extract.  I think it's great.  I used it to frost a chocolate pound cake, and the coconut was subtle, but pleasant.  I'll make it again, a full batch for a 2 layer round cake.

I am making my third wedding cake right now, and OMG! I wish I had found this recipe for the first two...  spreads so smooth, it's wonderful!  I used butter flavoring instead of vanilla as I did not have clear vanilla and I wanted the frosting to stay snow white, tastes great!!

This recipe is WONDERFUL!!! I've been trying to find the magical white wedding cake icing recipe....... This is it...look no futher!!! Follow directions... I mix mine 10 mintues...more whippin' more fluffin'

Best homemade icing!! This recipe's consistency is very easily changed with adding more confectioner's sugar. However, I found it challenging to spread onto the sides of the cake. The flavor is amazing and all of my friends loved it!

Great recipe! I loved it! Better than the cupcakes I made! ;)

The recipe doesn't tell you what speed to "mix" it on so I'm not sure mine came out right/wrong.  The icing was okay; a little to sweet even for my taste and I usually like sweet icing.  I will try it again with a few changes to see if I get the same results.  Thanks for sharing though...

This is a very tasty recipe. I've used this for each one of my kids birthday cakes and it's always a hit. It's light, fluffy and sweet! 

Excellent. I was a little skeptical because I have always used butter over shortening but after making this I have finally realized the difference between buttercream and white frosting. I definitely prefer the latter. This was a wonderful recipe that went over well with all ages of the family. We made Valentine Cupcakes (tint of pink of course) and they were superb! Thank you!

I didn't have almond extract and used regular vanilla and this turned out perfect.  Such an easy recipe.  I mixed for 5 minutes.  I'm using this for the filling of my chocolate chip double doozies.  Yum!

I used this icing to frost and decorate my cousins wedding cake. It worked SO well and I had SO many compiments this is the only icing I use now!

I did not like this icing at all. I followed the directions exactly, mixing very little after adding the remaining powdered sugar. The only additional mixing I did was when I stirred in some color. The icing was not stable at all and started separating, and it did not taste good either. Even my 9 and 5 year old boys, who love icing, did not eat this. At the time, it was easier for me to check online than hunting through my recipes for my usual icing, but from now on I will take the time!  

The almond taste is really strong.  So, if you don't like almonds, don't use that much extract.

This is a great healthy and very light icing and just enough sweetness to want more.

This was the perfect frosting! I did not have butter and some other ingredients a lot of the other frosting recipes called for. I left out the almond extract, used real vanilla extract and it came out sweet and tasty. My daughter did over mix it the second time so it was as "fluffy" as it could have been. But a keeper for sure. No reason to ever buy store bought cakes or frosting ever again.

not sure if it was me or not...I'm usually a pretty good cook...but one cup of shortening..with 8 cups of powder sugar...was a bad bad combo...first...way way way toooo sweet, second..too crumbly, I ended throwing the whole thing out, as all I could taste was powdered sugar. and instead I took 1 cup of butter flavor shortening, 1 cup of regular shortening, 6cups of powdered sugar, eyeballed some almond extract, and about 6oz of whipping cream...yummoooo :) and it set beautifully. but this was just too sweet, and hardened to much.

Perfect..the first time i tried it..The second batch i used regular vanilla and cut the sugar in half and used milk instead off water... it was awesome, everyone loved it... 

Made exactly as recipe, everyone loved it. Great taste, texture. We stuck some leftover cake in frig and frosting stayed soft and wonderful days later.

easy to make but I have a problem coloring the icing don't know why, but I will figure it out next time.

Good! I only used vanilla just because that's the flavor I needed to ice my cupcakes, but I'll definitely try this again using the almond too. I'd never made an icing using water before; turned out pretty well. Thanks!

I rated this as it's written because I was looking for a more classic almond wedding cake frosting and this just tasted like sugar. After I added nearly a Tbs (possibly more) almond extract it became a 6-star at least.  My husband practically swooned over it.  I can see it being easily modified to other flavors. It's a keeper

This turned out great! I love the flavor that the almond extract gives it.  The one thing I can't seem to get rid of in my homemade frostings are the "crunchiness" that the sugar gives it.  Somehow, I can't seem to get my sugar to ever blend in perfectly for that "smooth" taste.  If anyone has any secrets for that smooth texture, please share!

This turned out perfect!  It was very smooth and had a great flavor.

Very Good &amp; Allergy Friendly recipe, as well!

Yum - delicious - easy to make - everyone liked it - tastes just like the frosting from the bakery - if you've every bought a birthday cake from the bakery - that's what this tastes like - i will definitely use this icing recipe again and again!

Be careful to use only 2 Tablespoons water if using margarine. Add additional water drop by drop. Margarine has a lot of water in it. We made the recipe for a wedding cake and used margarine. The result was an icing the consistency of pancake batter. We had to add another 6 cups of sugar to thicken it. It would be better to add only a little water if using margarine and then adding additional water only a drop at a time.

This is the recipe I have been searching for!!!!  I tried it and my whole family loved it.  Thank you soooo much

This icing is nice and white, but I wouldn't use it to ice a wedding cake.  It hold shape well, and the piping worked well, but I wasn't happy with how it spread.  But most importantly, the taste was not pleasant.  Just another greasy icing that coats the roof of your mouth and no one enjoys eating.

The icing was stiff enough that it didn't slide off the sides of the three dimensional baseball cake I made for my nephew's birthday.  The sweetness, however was overpowering.  I tasted the icing before I added the second bag of confectioner's suger and it was really good.  I wish I'd stopped there actually.  I ended up having to add a good deal of milk to thin it out.  So, it decorates well but the suger will make your teeth hurt.  Three and a half stars.

Excellent frosting.  Half the recipe made just enough to frost the top of a 9x13" cake - without piping any decorations.  Light and fluffy, not too sweet, a big hit with everyone here.

recipe was great, totally worked for me. i took the advice of most reviews (about it needing more flavour) swapped the amount of almond and vanilla - more almond less vanilla and it turned out well. used it for  my son's backyardigans cake and needed different colours/consistency and the recipe worked for switching consistency.  i'm giving it a great rating because it was 1. delicious 2. easy to work with and 3. EASY!!! thanks for sharing this recipe!

This is very good, and was fairly easy to work with. I used butter flavor Crisco sticks for the shortening.  Do make sure you beat it the 5-10 minutes that it calls for. Had a tad bit of shortening taste is the only reason I gave it 4 instead of 5 stars. Everyone thought it was very ood though.

This was my first pick of a frosting recipe and I'm glad I chose it! The absolute BEST EVER!

Followed the recipe as written. I found this icing very time consuming and had diffuculty getting it to the right consistency. Very disappointed in the results. Could not get the icing smooth on my cake, and I have done that before easily with other frostings. Tasted all right, but not great.  I will be a bit embarrassed by the way my cake looks, but I don'[t have time to redo it. Will never use again and don't recommend it.

The first time I made this it was with vegetable shortening...wasn't happy with the result. Then, I gave it another try with butter shortening and it was perfect. Exactly the icing we were looking for.

I rarely rate things this low, but I found this icing to be inedible. I followed the recipe exactly; it was painfully sweet with little flavor.

This icing was excellent. Turned out perfectly white and worked well for decorating. The only thing I changed was to substitute butter flavoring for the almond extract, otherwise it is perfect as-is!

Very tasty!  I had to use butter flavor Crisco since it was all I had on hand and it still tasted great, although it was no longer a "white" icing, which was OK since I was coloring the icing anyway.  Will definitely use again!

Amazing! Halved the recipe for two 10 inch round pans. I used butter instead of shortening and it turned out great. I did add a bit extra vanilla since i had no almond extract at hand but it would have been fine without  it.  I'm definitely keeping this recipe for good.

Tried this today...was skeptical about adding half the sugar and mixing for 5-10 minutes, but it made for a very fluffy frosting, but still spreadable.  Sometimes this type icing is hard to spread, but this was great.  I think it has a very good flavor and not greasy.  Looks great on my son's 2-layer birthday cake with plenty to use for piping (used chocolate filling, did not use the wedding cake between layers)!

this recipie for icing held up and it looked very nice on the cake, 

I followed the directions, (only I used dark vanilla) but it came out beautifully, 

This tastes like what you get when you order a cake from the grocery store, which is what I was looking for. I followed the recipe and added a little water to thin it out because it was pretty thick. 

It's not what I was looking for. I thought it left a greasy feeling on the roof of my mouth.

LOVE THIS, THIS IS WHAT I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR...

This is a keeper recipe. My son wanted frosting that tasted like a wedding cake and this is the one I tried. He was happy. Thanks so much

I found this recipe delightful.  I also found that if you add a little touch of butter flavor it gives it that "buttercreme" taste.  Only had to add a smidgeon of water to make spreadable.  My only confusion was the time for mixing.  between 5-10 minutes was pretty vague, but I went with 8 and had the best consistancy.  Yummy!

This is a wonderful icing.  Perfect consitency.

This is the same Recipe that my grandmother passed on to me. I've always considered it to be the best icing/frosting recipe.

I made this for valentines day cup cakes. I used the servings table and typed in 10 servings. Didn't turn out well. Was thick runny even after adding more sugar than called for. Not a good taste either.

I have been baking treats for family and friends for over thirty years and this is the best recipe I have ever tasted, I get so many compliments on my frosting, Everyone who tastes it wants the recipe.

This is the best recipe for icing that I have ever used. MAY WANT TO TRY USING BUTTER CRISCO STICKS INSTEAD OF JUST PLAIN SHORTENING. Thanks for the recipe.

This is a great basic white frosting recipe. It holds up well without refridgeration. It is also good for dairy/egg free allergies and vegetarians. I usually half the recipe for one batch of cupcakes or 9X13 cake.

loved this. just made this tonight for cupcakes for my daughter's 6th bday and her kindergarten class! The only alteration is I did 1/2 cup shortening, and 1/2 cup of butter, and I increased the almond extract to 1/2 tsp.   Super awesome Icing!! You have to try it!

Excellent icing!! Tastes good, but also easy to work with when decorating cakes.  Simple to make too!  Thanks for sharing.

this icing worked great for the birthday cake i made!! i definitely recommend this recipe!

Great recipe..delicious and easy to follow

This was great, but I'd leave out the almond extract. It made it taste almost medicinal. The recipe was great without it. Perfect without it.

wedding cake icing

Servings: 4

Cost: $4.16 /serving

Author : CHAYES100

Ingredients

Instructions

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