"Modern" Buttercream Frosting

My sister, LynnEl, told me last week about craftsy.com. Specifically, she told me about a tutorial that would calm all my fears about making my niece's wedding cake. I spent the next hour watching one lesson after another until I felt like I had learned what I needed to know. Then my daughter, Laura, watched the same tutorial so she could know everything too.

What I was most pleased with was the buttercream recipe they gave for working with the outside of the cake. It was smooth enough to get the crisp lines I needed and firm enough to do the piping work on the middle layers. A bonus was that it tasted quite good (it wasn't sickly sweet), and you never get that when you have to use all shortening because you have to have white frosting- like for a wedding cake. I haven't yet tried the recipe using butter (which is why it's called buttercream), and hope I get a chance to test it in the near future.
I'm going to give you the recipe (mostly so I can find it easily when I need it again).

Modern Buttercream with Joshua John Russell
8 egg whites (about 1 cup)
1 cup granulated sugar
6 sticks (3 cups) butter, at room temperature
1 cup confectioner's sugar (powdered sugar), sifted
pinch salt
2 T vanilla extract (use clear, if needed)
Over a double boiler (I used my Kitchen Aid bowl and set it over a small pan of boiling water so I wouldn't have to transfer the mixture), heat the whites and granulated sugar and salt, whisking constantly, until all the sugar is dissolved. Heat this slowly! You don't want scrambled eggs (as soon as I put the bowl over the pan, I reduced my heat to low). This step only takes about 3-4 minutes. You will test it to see if the sugar is dissolved by rubbing some of the mixture between your thumb and finger.
Place the mixture in a stand mixer (been there, done that!) and whip on high until a peak forms and the mixture is cool, about 5 minutes.
Turn the mixer to medium speed and add the softened butter a little at a time (this is where you can either add butter or shortening, depending on your needs. If you're using shortening, it will be three cups, added about one cup at a time).
Add the sifted powdered sugar and the vanilla extract. Whip until firm.
In warmer weather, you will want to change the amount of butter to 4 sticks (2 cups) and also add 1 1/2 cups of shortening to stabilize it (you don't want to frost your cake just to have it all slide off if/when it gets too warm outside. I think you can see my project on craftsy.com if you click here.