The Best Vanilla Butter Cream Frosting. Ever.

Last week, I was making a birthday cake for my mother-in-law - - a 4-layer white cake with lemon curd filling - - and I knew I needed a good butter cream frosting for it. As a cake decorator, I have a standard icing recipe that I've always used. It is the recipe that my mother has always used in her cake decorating, too. The base of that frosting is shortening, which makes the perfect consistency for decorating (plus, it tastes soooo good). However, when I'm making a cake with filling, I like to experiment with different frostings, particularly, butter creams.

So, when making this lemon cake, I simply relied on Google to help me out. I've made plenty of butter creams before, but I've never really found just the right one. The first recipe that popped up came from My Sweet Saucy, and I do believe it is now the only vanilla butter cream recipe I'll ever use. The search is officially over! I think what drew me to it was the fact that it calls for kosher salt. I love using kosher salt in baked goods, but just could not grasp how it would taste in butter cream frosting. It really does add an extra pizazz that I can't describe, other than to say that it really amplifies flavor. Just trust me, it is fabulous. Oh, and please - - use real butter. No butter substitue allowed!

*Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of the cake, so I had to rely on some cupcake clip art!