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Coloring Italian Meringue Buttercream

post #1 of 10
6/6/05 at 2:51pm
Thread Starter 
Hello everyone,

I just made some italian meringue buttercream and will be using it to decorate some cupcakes, but I was wondering if it takes coloring well? And if I can color it, will it bleed? Thanks for all your help and advice.

AuPekkle
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post #2 of 10
6/8/05 at 2:14pm
Thread Starter 
Hello everyone,

Well, since no one answered my question I'll just post what I've done with the Italian Meringue Buttercream and how it holds up.

I made the buttercream with Kahlua so the base color was tan, but I was able to still get some good color into it. They're not as vibrant, but it still worked really well. I decorated cupcakes with it and so far they've been in the refrigerator overnight without any bleeding of colors, so they are holding up fairly well so far.

The cupcakes are for a party that my karate group is having for the end of the school year. I had to stick the cupcakes in a community refrigerator in the graduate lounge at school and I wasn't happy to find that the administration staff put leftover spicy wings in there. I'm currently worried about the transfer of smell to my cupcakes. Hopefully it won't be too bad.

Well I hope that this helps anyone else who is planning on using the Italian Meringue Buttercream. Thanks and you can see the cupcakes in my photos. icon_biggrin.gif
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post #3 of 10
6/8/05 at 2:29pm
Apparently Italian buttercream is one of the most stable real buttercreams you can make.

I love your cupcakes and the colours you have usedicon_smile.gif looks very elegant!icon_smile.gif Personally, I think subtle colours look much more appealing than in your face colours.icon_smile.gif

If you are ever worried that your cakes will be in a hot room, you can replace about 10% of the butter with crisco.icon_smile.gif

I did an experiment with my Italian buttercream and decorated a cupcake and left it in our very hot computer room. It got very soft but it did not lose any of the detail of the flowers I piped.

Sorry no one answeredicon_sad.gif I didnt see your post as I have a very hard time with keeping up with the forums once the post falls off the first bunch on the home pageicon_sad.gif
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post #4 of 10
6/9/05 at 9:18am
Those cupcakes are wonderful!! I love the color. What tip did you use for the big flowers?
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post #5 of 10
6/9/05 at 10:05am
Thread Starter 
Hi, msumissa,

The sunflowers were made with the leaf tip #352 with #18 star tip in the center. With the other large flowers, I was aiming for a Gerbera Daisy look, so I used the #104 tip.

My Wilton instructor taught me a different way to do daisies versus the fan out way described in the Wilton course book. We did those by facing the wide end of the #104 tip away from us and while putting the tip a little bit above your flower nail, you squeeze out some icing then pull the tip back towards the center to form the petal. You keep doing this as you go around the tip. This was the same technique I used for the larger flowers. I hope this made sense. If not, I'll try to explain it better. Thanks for all your comments and keep on baking!
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post #6 of 10
6/9/05 at 9:07pm
Sorry, if I had seen your question earlier, I would have responded.

This type of BC is so slick that the gel colors don't end up being as bright or dark as they would with regular BC. I use the ital. meringue all the time! Even though the colors never bleed for me, I find that if you use too much coloring, it "stains" your mouth that color! LOL icon_razz.gif So true though. Everytime I make it, I always try different methods of coloring...I've used powders, liquid, liquid-gel, and gel...still have not found that magical technque to make the food coloring brighter without it coloring my lips or tongue! Do let me know if you figure something out.
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post #7 of 10
6/9/05 at 10:32pm
Thread Starter 
No worries, cupcakequeen! icon_razz.gif I know that it's sometimes hard to keep up with all the questions that get asked on CC. Thank you for letting me know about your experiences with the coloring. I'll keep what you said in mind the next time I make the Italian Buttercream. Happy Baking! icon_biggrin.gif
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post #8 of 10
6/10/05 at 5:44am
I only make Italian Meringue Buttercream and I use the paste colours. They take to it beautifully!
www.marmaladecakecompany.com

How do I decorate cookies?
http://www.cakecentral.com/article54-How-To-Bake--Decorate-Cookies.html
How do I build a square cupcake stand?
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-22674-stand.html
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www.marmaladecakecompany.com

How do I decorate cookies?
http://www.cakecentral.com/article54-How-To-Bake--Decorate-Cookies.html
How do I build a square cupcake stand?
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-22674-stand.html
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post #9 of 10
6/10/05 at 8:41am
do you mind sharing your recipe? Maybe it's the one that I use...I find, it does take the color, but not as vibrant as I want it to be. IF I add too much to get a specific color, it stains lips and mouths!
The recipe I use is the one from Whimsicalbakehouse.
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post #10 of 10
6/11/05 at 7:41pm
The recipe I use is...

12 egg whites at room temp.
1/2 tsp cream of tartar

2 2/3 cups of granulated sugar
1 1/3 cups of water

2 lbs. unsalted butter, room temp. but not soft & runny
1-2 T of extract or vanilla or liquor


-boil sugar & water until reached 240 degrees on candy thermometer
(about 10-15 min.)

-whip egg whites until frothy, add cream of tartar & whip until thick but NOT dry (less than 1 minute in mixer)

-while mixing on high, slowly pour in boiling sugar. Beat 10 minutes or so to encourage it to mix thoroughly & to cool down. When mixing bowl is room temp, turn mixer back on and incorporate butter 1/4 cup at a time

-add flavouring
www.marmaladecakecompany.com

How do I decorate cookies?
http://www.cakecentral.com/article54-How-To-Bake--Decorate-Cookies.html
How do I build a square cupcake stand?
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-22674-stand.html
Reply
www.marmaladecakecompany.com

How do I decorate cookies?
http://www.cakecentral.com/article54-How-To-Bake--Decorate-Cookies.html
How do I build a square cupcake stand?
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-22674-stand.html
Reply
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