I have never tried Italian meringue butter cream or swiss meringue butter cream (martha's recipes) but am thinking of trying them for a cake this weekend. I plan to do a fbct(my first ever) and would appreciate any advice on the smoothness, consistency etc. and which do you prefer. Can you store these butter creams? I plan to do the buttercream tonight and decorate the cake tomorrow evening. Also what purpose does the cream of tartar serve in IMBC?

Well, I don't think that I can answer all your questions, but I have tried both the Swiss and Italian Meringue and I personally prefer the Italian.

Its more thick and better to smooth I think.

I sometimes make it and freeze it for future use because making it a bit troublesome but the taste and texture are wonderful.

To defrost you take it from freezer to fridge and let it sit there overnight. Then take it out, bring to room temp and then rewhip to get the cosistency back.

How long can you keep it frozen?

Thank you maria I'm going to try it.

The cream of tartar stabilizes the egg whites... makes it much harder to overbeat them! I wouldn't skip it.

Thankyou everybody. you guys are a regular encylopedia! I will try the IMBC this weekend!