buttercream icing - HOW MUCH??!!

[milkmoustache]

Have made 12 cupcakes following a Hummingbird Bakery recipe, and it advises making buttercream icing with 500g of icing sugar (160 g butter and 50 ml tea-infused milk) - that sounds like a HUGE amount to me and I am considering starting with half quantities. I don't usually use buttercream, so please reassure me that half a kilo of icing sugar is a normal amount...

Personally I think you can never have too much but, if you did, would it freeze until you make another batch sometime? I think I have frozen the buttercream topping for my ginger cake before.

I use half the icing when I make hummingbird recipes. They make cupcakes for shop windows which are piled high with icing. Far too much for us

it does seem a lot, but it's usually twice the sugar to the butter so it ought to be 250g butter

soooooo am guessing that because of less butter and the milk you will end up with less icing?

Also it depends if you are piping or spreading...def go the whole amount if you are piping you always need more.

th hummingbord recipes end up being half cake and half icing, mind you they are very yummy.

I am not up to piping, so maybe I can do two thirds of the suggested amount instead. It just feels a bit excessive to use half a pound of icing sugar for 12 fairly modest little cakes!

I'd halve it. You'll have masses of the stuff and end up eating it by the spoonful, then all your clothes will suddenly shrink.

Thanks very much for confirming my gut instinct! Now, about those bun tins...

I piped buttercream onto 12 cupcakes yesterday and used 3oz butter, 6oz icing sugar and a little milk. There was plenty.

If you are following the Hummingbird recipe , then you only need half the amount of the buttercream recipe for 12 cupcakes, ie 250g icing sugar etc.

The recipe using 500g of icing sugar is for 24 cupcakes.

I do have to say that having made buttercream icing for many years, I've never come across a better recipe that the Hummingbird one. It does involve quite a lot of icing sugar, but you're using far less butter than conventional icing recipes. Also, if you use water instead of milk in the the recipe, it will keep for ages in the fridge.