This high ratio frosting recipe is a great option to have in your recipe file of favorites! It is light, fluffy, and has a wonderful flavor.

If you are unfamiliar with high ratio shortening, it is a popular choice because it contains emulsifiers which allow it to absorb more sugar and liquid than regular shortening.

You'll love the creamy consistency that high ratio shortening lends to this frosting, and there is no greasy aftertaste. There are many different brands of high ratio frosting, but Sweetex is what we use most often.

Table of Contents

Advantages of Shortening Based Frostings

Probably the biggest advantage of shortening based frostings is that they hold up nicely in warmer weather. Although it isn't heat proof (no frosting is), shortening-based frostings hold up much better in warm conditions than butter based frostings.

Another bonus to shortening based frostings is the white color. Butter-based frostings have a slight yellow tint, and if natural vanilla flavoring is used rather than clear vanilla, it is more of an ivory shade. If a stark white frosting is what your design (or customer) calls for, this frosting is a great choice.

More Extracts may be Needed in shortening-Based Frostings...

Due to the absence of butter in this recipe, we have to rely more heavily on extracts to make this frosting flavorful. There is a lot of wiggle room here and so don't hesitate to do a little experimenting! We hope that you enjoy the recipe!

Have Gritty Buttercream? It Could be Your Powdered Sugar...

** We've had great results with Domino's confectioners sugar and US Sugar (we buy ours from Costco). Some brands of confectioners sugar don't work as well with buttercream frosting recipes.

If a package doesn't say pure cane sugar, it contains beet sugar which is more likely to give you a grainy outcome. In addition to that, we've noticed that even some brands that say "Pure Cane Sugar" will give a grainy consistency.

One example is Dixie Crystals (although it used to work great for us a few years ago.) Something has changed...it's a mystery. Anyway, this recipe should not be grainy, and so if it is, experiment with a different brand of confectioners sugar.

High Ratio Frosting

This easy high ratio frosting pipes perfectly and is a good choice for higher temperatures as it is more heat resistant than butter-based frosting.

Ingredients

*This Recipe makes a lot of frosting. It can be halved!
2 cups (386 g) high ratio shortening (We use Sweetex and CK brands)
2 Tablespoons (24 g) clear vanilla extract
½ teaspoon (2 g) butter flavoring
½ teaspoon (2 g) lemon or almond flavoring
4 lbs. (1820 g) confectioners’ sugar
1 cup (238 g) or more if needed - milk or heavy cream (you get a softer crust using heavy cream)
½ to 1 teaspoon (2g to 4g ) salt ( I use popcorn salt because of its fine grain or let your regular salt dissolve in the milk) This will cut the sweetness.

Instructions

Cream the shortening and flavorings .
Add the confectioners’ sugar and cream, mixing slowing and gradually increasing speed .
Mix approx. 8 min. until creamy and smooth, DURING THE LAST 2 TO 3 MINUTES OF MIXING SLOW DOWN THE SPEED TO VERY SLOW THIS WILL ELIMINATE MOST OF THE AIR BUBBLES THAT OCCUR.
If you are still seeing what looks like bubbles that have burst (small holes) in your buttercream, continue to add milk a teaspoon at a time until most of them disappear.
This is still sweet though the salt cuts some of the sweetness.

Makes approximately 11 ½ cups

Notes

***We slightly altered this recipe from our previous version, which had 2 lbs (910g) confectioner’s sugar. We still really like the previous version, but it has a much lighter and softer consistency and while it crusted, it didn’t crust quite as firm. Using the Viva paper towel method of smoothing is easier with the updated version.

191 Comments

hello i i live in NC and get very hot in the summer i have my icing recipe all just love it has 2 stick butter and 1 cup shorting. but need somthing that will stand up in the heat so i made it and just chaned butter to shorting and added butter flavor and my 2 pounds sugar but not as sweet as my icing woil useing more sugar help with that?

Hi Sarah, did you know that Melissa and I are in NC ? Are you using high ratio shortening? You will notice that in the high ratio recipe we have used 4 lbs. powered sugar to the 2 cups shortening. Yes, you can add more sugar to your recipe to increase the sweetness. Note that as you increase the ratio of sugar to shortening the faster the frosting will crust .

no i did not know that i am in hickory NC i am going to try it at the 4 pounds liked the tast but was not sweet like mine is with the 2 pounds and just used 2 with yours going to try the 4

i am working on getting the high ratio shortening from a cheff i know

That would be great to get it through a friend. Hope all goes well with your next batch of frosting.

ya will try with 4 pounds of sugar just was not sweet enof with 2.5 pounds

i am using this for a wedding cake but need to put fondant on it how do i get the fondant to stick to it as it dose crust ? shorting?

Hi Sarah-- You can adhere thin fondant pieces to crusted buttercream by just piping a few dots of fresh buttercream onto the back. This is what I usually do, although with very thinly rolled decorations you can simply dampen the back with a little water.

I got my high ratio shortening at a Gordon Food Services (GFS) store. They are located in several states here in the U.S. They only sell it in a 50 lb block but it comes out to only about $1 a pound. They don't stock it in the store, but you can order it from them. Took about 2 weeks for them to get it in and then I picked it up. Great deal.

Hi my favorite butter cream is hi ratio shortening and butter to 1 c butter and 1 cup HRS just like other person said. hope you try. love this cake school. Melissa your mom seems so nice, and helpful. pat

I always hear on lot of tutorials people use meringue pd in there butter cream to make it more fluffy. Have ever tried it? Maybe sometime i will try. Pat

Hi, sometimes I make my buttercream with meringue powder and sometimes I make it with coffee creamer and sour cream. Once you added the MP, you will have to work fast as it crust pretty fast. I switched out using Crisco a while back because I find it too greasy particularly if I have to attach a ribbon to the cake and the grease just show thru. There is no greasy situation with hi ration shortening. You can order HRS from CK but I get it thru a friend who is also a cake decorator. Hope this helps.