Basic Icing

• Basic buttercream icing uses a 1-to-5 ratio of unsalted butter to confectioner’s sugar. Additional ingredients include vanilla extract and a small amount of milk, to get the frosting to the right consistency. More sugar produces a thicker frosting, while more milk produces a thinner, runnier frosting. Frosting can be made in advance, and then stored at room temperature, covered with plastic wrap until ready to use.

Using Margarine

• Margarine can be used in place of butter in a 1-to-1 ratio. It produces a frosting that is most like butter in terms of texture and color, but the flavor, depending on the richness of margarine, may be different. If you're using a lower-fat margarine, you may want to add a small amount of meringue powder in to stiffen it. This is especially important if you'll be piping the icing to make decorative borders or flowers.

Shortening Frosting

• Vegetable shortening, such as Crisco, can be used in place of butter in frosting in a 1-to-1 ratio. While still rich tasting, buttercream icing prepared with shortening will lack some depth in flavor, but the color will be a pure, snowy white. As with margarine frosting, you can add a small amount of meringue powder to the frosting to give it better holding power.

Cream Cheese Options

• Cream cheese can replace some or all of the butter for a frosting, although it will significantly affect the taste and texture. Cream cheese frosting made with no butter will be snow white, while a cheese and butter blend will have a pale beige tint from the butter. Use a 1-to-2-to-4 ratio of cream cheese, to butter to confectioners sugar to make cream cheese and butter frosting, blending until smooth. For pure cream cheese frosting, use a 1-to-1-to-2 ratio of cream cheese to whipped cream to confectioners sugar. This no-butter cream cheese frosting will be much lighter than the butter and cream cheese blend, especially if you use low or non-fat cream cheese.

Using Coconut Oil

• At just below room temperature, coconut oil solidifies, making it a good choice to use in place of shortening or margarine. However, it will give your icing a light coconut flavor, and is prone to separating if it is not made correctly or if it is stored at too warm a temperature. Solidify coconut oil by placing it in the fridge, and use it in place of all butter for a buttercream frosting. Because the icing is sensitive to heat, cool the cake completely before icing, and once iced, store the cake in the fridge until ready to serve.