Mom's Buttercream Frosting

This is an old chestnut! I've been making this recipe for over 30 years. One ingredient that is missing is salt. You need to add a couple of nice, big pinches in order to counteract the blandness which shortening imparts. Measure flour into your saucepan with the salt, then whisk in the milk, little by little, to banish lumps. After it has been cooked (low heat, whisking constantly) long enough that it starts to boil (this has to be done in order to activate the flour's full thickening power, thereby eliminating an unpleasant "floury" taste) remove from the heat, and press a piece of plastic wrap right onto the surface of your paste. This is the best way to make sure your paste doesn't form a "skin" as the paste cools. The sugar should be added in a very slow, very tiny stream in order to incorporate it sufficiently, then the mixture should be beaten vigorously for 5-10 minutes, depending on the power of your mixer, to eliminate grittiness. Then incorporate your chilled paste. Add your flavoring (I add a dash of lemon and orange extracts to the 2 tsp vanilla for a beautifully complex finish) and beat for another few minutes. Not the heavy texture of your conventional buttercream, but, as others have noted, more of a whipped cream kind of texture. Light, luscious, not too sweet. It's the perfect finish for any cake. Best not to attempt to decorate with it, however, as it's not as sturdy as a conventional decorator buttercream. This is always served to raves.

Loved this recipe! Not too sweet, but just enough. Texture was light and wonderful. I didn't use shortening and did all butter instead. I blended in a spoonful of blueberry jam to give it a hint of something else and omit the vanilla extract. I made the mistake of putting the frosting in the fridge and had a hard time with it the next morning so had to wait for it to reach room temperature and whip it up again in the food mixer until I could put it on cupcakes.

I was intrigued by this icing since it dated back to the 40s - I just love retro recipes! I also used only butter in the recipe and had wonderful results. I only cooled the flour mixture for about 30 mintues and it worked perfectly. I also added a few drops of red food coloring to make a pink icing since I was using this over a rich strawberry cake. Beautiful results (see picture)!!

This frosting is smooth, pretty, easy to work with and most of all delicious! It's not too sweet at all and the consistency is really special. You do have to do it right, make sure that your "paste" is nice and thick and then whip the heck out of it, but it's worth the extra effort.