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I haven't contributed anything lately other than my smart a$$ mouth 
so I thought today I'd share my easy homemade chocolate buttercream icing.
I baked two 1/4 sheet chocolate cakes last night and made the icing this morning. Here's the recipe.
1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening (Crisco is best)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups confectioner's sugar
3-4 tablespoons milk
For the two 1/4 sheet cakes, I made 3 batches of the above recipe and it was plenty to ice and decorate the cake. 3 batches is about all that will fit in my mixer at once.
In large bowl, cream shortening and butter with electric mixer. I usually let it mix about 10 minutes, scraping my bowl at least one time and then add cocoa and vanilla. Now you want to gradually add the sugar.
Mixer cam. Dirty dishes in the sink are optional.
Some recipes say to sift the sugar, but I have been making icing and decorating cakes for 20 years and it does not matter if the sugar is sifted or not so I skip that step. I also do not measure the sugar anymore. I buy the 2lb bags, which is about 8 cups so for this batch I used a bag and a half.
My mess in place
And more mess...it's hard to not get sugar every where. You should have seen the floor!
After getting all the sugar in, make sure you scrape your bowl a few times and let it all mix together for a few minutes then add your milk. Add less for thicker icing and more for thinner icing. For this batch I added 6 tablespoons and it was the right consistency for icing and decorating.
After adding the milk, l let it mix for about 10 more minutes and then it's ready! This icing can keep in your fridge in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. If you do make it in advance, you'll want to let it come to room temp and re-whip before using.
Once I got the icing done, it only took me 10 minutes to ice and decorate the cake.
First layer
Top that with second layer and mush it down some to level it.
Then I take icing in a decorators bag and fill all around the layers to get the icing in gaps.
My finished cake.
Close up of my roses
We ordered out for lunch today for her birthday and then chowed down on the cake. Whew!! I am STUFFED and don't see how I'll get any work done this afternoon.
Thanks for checking out my icing! It is MUCH better than what you buy at the store!
so I thought today I'd share my easy homemade chocolate buttercream icing. I baked two 1/4 sheet chocolate cakes last night and made the icing this morning. Here's the recipe.
1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening (Crisco is best)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups confectioner's sugar
3-4 tablespoons milk
For the two 1/4 sheet cakes, I made 3 batches of the above recipe and it was plenty to ice and decorate the cake. 3 batches is about all that will fit in my mixer at once.
In large bowl, cream shortening and butter with electric mixer. I usually let it mix about 10 minutes, scraping my bowl at least one time and then add cocoa and vanilla. Now you want to gradually add the sugar.
Mixer cam. Dirty dishes in the sink are optional.
Some recipes say to sift the sugar, but I have been making icing and decorating cakes for 20 years and it does not matter if the sugar is sifted or not so I skip that step. I also do not measure the sugar anymore. I buy the 2lb bags, which is about 8 cups so for this batch I used a bag and a half.
My mess in place
And more mess...it's hard to not get sugar every where. You should have seen the floor!
After getting all the sugar in, make sure you scrape your bowl a few times and let it all mix together for a few minutes then add your milk. Add less for thicker icing and more for thinner icing. For this batch I added 6 tablespoons and it was the right consistency for icing and decorating.
After adding the milk, l let it mix for about 10 more minutes and then it's ready! This icing can keep in your fridge in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. If you do make it in advance, you'll want to let it come to room temp and re-whip before using.
Once I got the icing done, it only took me 10 minutes to ice and decorate the cake.
First layer
Top that with second layer and mush it down some to level it.
Then I take icing in a decorators bag and fill all around the layers to get the icing in gaps.
My finished cake.
Close up of my roses
We ordered out for lunch today for her birthday and then chowed down on the cake. Whew!! I am STUFFED and don't see how I'll get any work done this afternoon.
Thanks for checking out my icing! It is MUCH better than what you buy at the store!
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Pretty sure it's EVOO 'cause I can't do Jager...it makes me 
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