Everything you ever wanted to know about buttercream - Page 37

For Italian buttercream you can actually use a ratio of 2:1 sugar to egg whites, 3:1butter to sugar, and 3:1 sugar to water. And for every white you used add a 1/8 tsp of cream of Tartar. But if you wanted to make a Swiss buttercream then change the butter to sugar ratio from 3:1 to 2:1 instead.

To: toottifruitti~ Make sure you are using PURE CANE CONFECTIONERS' SUGAR like C & H). If not, your icing will be more watery and grainy as it is probably pressed from beets. Also you might need to beat it longer. Beat 3 min. taste; if it still feels grainy, beat a little longer and repeat.
I have been decorating cakes for over 25 years and NEVER get air bubbles in my icing. Be sure to do the following: Use paddle attachment on K.Aid Mixers and beat at #4 setting; cream shortening, water, and flavoring for a few minutes, then add the P.S. slowly to incorporate. Beat less than 4 minutes.
Icing Too Sweet !
Add popcorn salt to the water and let set while you measure out other ingred.
Add 1/2 teaspoons of pure lemon extract. This also helps to cutback the sweetness and give a nice flavor along with your flavoring or choice.
Hope this info is helpful.

Hi Margann Thank you for the tip. I'm in Australia and don't have the brand that you mentioned. We have two powder sugar (we call it icing sugar) here, icing sugar mixture (has some cornflour in it) and pure icing sugar. So I gather you are suggesting the pure icing sugar.

great sticky very informative thanks guys

I was wondering if somebody could explain to me, why when I was making buttercream it turned out looking like scrambled egg, I've only ever taught myself to bake and decorate so am sure there's all sorts of basic things like this I don't know. I've made it a lot before but this has never happened.

I threw it away and started again, this happened twice before I got a perfect batch. I am from the UK so all I use is icing sugar and butter.

i.e. 100g butter to 200g icing sugar.

Was it possibly the heat? It was quite warm in my kitchen as had been baking all day.

What a good Topic? Many thanks for that and I am looking forward to see what others have to say.

By the way can someone explain Viva Method? pls

This is really good post of my interest. I like Chocolate Buttercream Cake. I am complete foodie person. I love scrapbooking too.

Thanks
http://www.alacraft.com.au/scrapbooking-cat10

I have someone who requested SMB on her birthday cake. She also wants these fondant diamond pieces along the side of the cake. I've only used SMB to ice cupcakes and I'm not sure if the fondant pieces will slide of the side with the SMB. Can someone help me with the decorating issues of using Swiss Meringue? She is also picking up the cake on a Thursday evening but the event is not until Friday laste afternoon. She would need to refrigerate the cake but will the icing hold together that long. I've never had to refrigerate because mu cupcakes would be eaten within a few hours.
Please help!!

Hi all,
I like WBH house buttercream because it has less sweet. But I don't like the mouth feel of shortening. Is there a way to reduce ( or eliminate) shortening and add butter instead?

Here is my problem with Italian Buttercream, when I add the hot syrup to the whisked egg whites no matter what I do most of the syrup gets clogged around the whisk I usually use a very fast speed on the mixer (I have a Kenwood one) when I'm adding the hot syrup, should I being doing it slower or at the maximum speed to try and stop this from happening?? I've tried pouring it down the side of the metal bowl but then it begins to solidify on the way down... boooo I'm determined to master this technique as I so much prefer the taske of the Italian Buttercream.

Also can this be given to pregnant women & children or is the traditional (non-egg) buttercream a safer bet?

Kindest Regards

Kylia

Here's a few tips and tricks I've learned along the way for our American Buttercream which we use to ice and prep our cakes for fondant (ours is a sweetex/butter mix):
- we use a butter / shortening blend which works well for us in our climate (the northeast) Climate & humidity will dictate how to make your buttercream. If you live in a hot/humid climate an all shortening buttercream may be the best option. We use a 2:1 (shortening to butter) split.
- use a paddle attachment to soften the sweetex/shortening for a few minutes prior to adding the butter
- melt or warm up the butter prior to adding it to the sweetex, doing so will make the mixture creamy and help the sugar disolve and reduce grit. DO NOT MELT THE SHORTENING - tried this twice, it ended in disaster! HA! Blend the butter and shortening on med speed for at least 5 minutes until it's creamy
- add powdered sugar slowly, too much at once will result in gritty buttercream
- instead of water or milk use powdered milk/water mixture
- use the whip attachment to make the buttercream fluffy and soft
- use a hot or warm/wet spatula when you second coat to make it perfectly smooth. When we have a ton of buttercream cakes going out we put a pot of water on an electric burner and simmer it, this is what we dip our spackle tool in. After you dip it wipe on a towel, you don't want too much water to end up on the cake
- we use stainless steel spackle tools to smooth our buttercrean cakes
- use the upside method for the easiest way to get 90 degree corners and level tops to your cakes
- fill the cake, freeze to set the filling, ice it, then freeze to set the icing, then 2nd coat
- let buttercream cakes set for a day before covering in fondant

If I think of anything else i'll be sure to post! Happy caking!

I think it would be helpful to have tips on how to get buttercream really smooth, not just smoothing on the cake but the frosting itself.

I m sorry if this question has been asked before.. But.. I wanna .. How to thin Swiss meringue buttercream.. Since we don't use any water or milk?...