Is "ick" a word?

Today we made a buttercream frosting for our Yellow Butter Cake.  Buttercream is an interesting mix of butter (duh) and a Swiss Meringue.  There is one ingredient that we used in our recipe called Emulsified Shortening.  We have all had buttercream frosting.  If you have ever attended a wedding or some sort of celebratory event, chances are the cake you ate had buttercream frosting.  You first go, Yum.  Sugar, butter and eggs are all good.  A few minutes after eating the cake you notice a greasy film like substance that coats your mouth.  You then go, ick!
That's Emulsified Shortening.


Trying not to eat the buttercream while frosting the cake is nearly impossible. Chefs really frown on this. "No eating while at your station!" they bark at us.  But you see students sneaking licks, and fingers picking up drops of spilled buttercream.  After about 30 minutes of this, you see students looking for something to cut that grease.  There isn't anything in class, so you have to wait.  Hot coffee, acid, tooth paste, anything to get rid of that greasy coating.

I will say that cake decorating is truly an art form.  Our friend Darlene is a fabulous cake maker and decorator.  She made Chris and my 25th Anniversary Cake.  It was really good.  No ick in that cake.  I need to seek her out and see how she did that.