I've never tried it but I'd be surprised if you couldn't ice a CCC with IMBC. I mean it's soft, but it's not squishy soft like whipping cream. It hardens up in the fridge solid as a rock, too.

As for the room-temp shelf life, I don't know if there is a definitive answer for that. Theoretically it should be the same as if using fresh egg whites...based on the assumption that the bacteria in fresh ew are killed anyway during the sugar syrup process. That said, I only use pasteurized ew so I never worry about leaving it out. I have no concerns for my cake sitting out 5-8 hrs (but I do refrigerate leftovers). I think this has been said before but many who use MBC's swear by leaving it room temp for 2-3 days, and I am quite certain that a lot of those are using fresh ew. Still, I prefer to err on the side of cautioun so it's pasteurized ew and refrigerate to store, for me.

OK, can someone tell me what happened??

Tried to make IMBC today...Shirley's method....

Mixed sugar, water, and a bit of cream of tartar....bringing it to 240 degrees.....before it got to that temp it began to turn brown, smoke, and was smelling horribly....freaked me out and dumped the whole thing...I mean, lots of smoke....

Anxious to try again but what happened??? The temp was only at 200 degrees......

Have you tested your thermometer to make sure it is correct?

I hate to offer up a silly possibilty, but you might want to test your thermometer to see if it's working properly? Either that or perhaps it's the cream of tartar in the water? The recipe I use has the COT in the whipped egg whites, not in the sugar syrup.

The thermometer is new but I am open to testing it...how would I, though?
What would I compare it to?...get a second thermometer?

I think my response sounds really stupid...but I mean it, how do I test it? >>>feeling clueless<<<

Sorry if someone already answered this (I keep having a problem where the prior answer doesn't appear til after I post!) but I don't think the ? is stupid, although the answer definitely gave me a DOH! head slap - I saw it while shopping for a new digi thermometer the other day: Boil some water! Water boils at 212º so once it's boiling, see if the therm registers correctly. 208º if you are at altitude btw.

Also - you may have been looking at celsius instead of fahrenheit?

Every cake in my photos is done with IMBC except the wedding dummy cake which is done in RI.

LOL. IMGC is IMBC when you don't check your post for typos

Thanks for the info!