Imbc Or Smbc That Doesn't Taste Straight Up Like Butter?

Baking By gimmesugar Updated 20 Nov 2009 , 2:20am by TamathaV

gimmesugar Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
gimmesugar Posted 10 Nov 2009 , 6:18pm
post #1 of 42

Does anyone have a tried and true IMBC or SMBC recipe that doesn't taste like you're eating a block of butter? I've heard of some using shortening and butter to cut back on the buttery taste but I can't find any recipes.

Thanks!

41 replies
__Jamie__ Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
__Jamie__ Posted 10 Nov 2009 , 6:40pm
post #2 of 42

I use the Well Dressed Cake SMBC recipe, in the section here....I don't think it is crazy buttery, but then again, I like a buttery "buttercream". The colder a meringue BC is, the more pronounced the butter taste though....I think it's a matter of personal preference.

JanH Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
ApplegumKitchen Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
ApplegumKitchen Posted 11 Nov 2009 , 5:54am
post #4 of 42

Butter taste OR shortening taste??? mmmmm??

NOW thats where we differ ..... GIVE ME ... butter anyday!!

IMBC or SMBC - silky smooth


CRISCO??? gag!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FromScratch Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
FromScratch Posted 11 Nov 2009 , 6:43am
post #5 of 42

Did you use salted butter? If you use salted butter, your IMBC/SMBC will taste horridly like butter. I use all unsalted and wouldn't say that my SMBC tastes like a stick of sweetened butter at all. The key is to use unsalted butter and plenty of real vanilla extract. Powdered sugar based icings have a TON more sugar in them than the meringue based icings so they can handle (and often need) the salt to cut through their cloying sweetness. Adding the salt via salted butter to a meringue based icing... well you might as well just butter some biscuits/scones with it rather than use it on your cakes. And as Jamie said... if your IMBC/SMBC is cold... it will have the texture of a stick of butter, so be sure to serve it at room temp. The Well Dressed Cake recipe is mine... I use it all the time and have never had anyone say it tasted like a stick of butter. Shirley's recipe uses 1/2 salted and 1/2 unsalted and it was still too stick-o-buttery for my tastes and I found the addition of the orange extract off putting (but that's just my personal taste)... I haven't tried the Very Vanilla recipe, but it uses 1/2 & 1/2 too, though with the amount of extract it calls for it might be enough to cut the buttery flavor.

Now if you did use unsalted butter and plenty of vanilla then I'm afraid that IMBC/SMBC just isn't going to be something you love. Everyone is different. I have heard that people have luck sub'ing high ratio shortening for some or even all of the butter with good results, but I can't stand the flavor that shortening imparts on anything so I stay away from it.

ApplegumKitchen Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
ApplegumKitchen Posted 11 Nov 2009 , 6:48am
post #6 of 42

Oh yes... all BUTTER isn't the same

Agree on unsalted butter (use that in all my cooking) and European style butter even better!!

Not sure what brands you have over there but LURPAK is good here...
oh and we don't need to go down the MARGARINE path .... do we??? thumbsdown.gif

FromScratch Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
FromScratch Posted 11 Nov 2009 , 7:02am
post #7 of 42

I wish the European style butter was cheaper over here. We can get it, but at $4 and up per 1/2 pound... it's just not economical. The higher fat content would be very nice.

Margarine... *bleck* Gimme da buttah!!!!!! icon_lol.gif


(must say Pam... I just love your sig line icon_wink.gif)

ApplegumKitchen Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
ApplegumKitchen Posted 11 Nov 2009 , 7:18am
post #8 of 42

$4 A POUND...................... icon_eek.gificon_eek.gificon_eek.gif

I WISH !! jellyfish !

We are paying $7 for a HALF A POUND - and thats wholesale and on special!!

You guys over there might be interested to hear that AUSTRALIA pays the highest prices for groceries in the developed world!!
We only have 2 major supermarkets chains and they just keep those prices UP THERE!!

They just had a story on one of our Current Affairs programs where they had a selection of groceries and compared prices - what would cost people in the UK $70 we paid well over $150 and the same good would only cost $50 in the USA. (they had already done the currency conversion - so they were comparing apples with apples)

FromScratch Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
FromScratch Posted 11 Nov 2009 , 9:02am
post #9 of 42

DAMN girl!! That's frackin' pricey... regular butter is $3.50-ish USD per pound and if you go with the store brand and/or buy in bulk it can be under $2. Never again will I complain about the cost of groceries.

and that was $4 per HALF pound... but that's still better than what you pay.

ZlatkaT Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
ZlatkaT Posted 11 Nov 2009 , 1:02pm
post #10 of 42

I have tried both IMBC and SMBC, but I did not like it when the cake was served cold. Then I came across a Czech BC recipe, and I will stick with that, when I am in mood for something different than regular BC. This Czech BC is silky, less sweet, and doesn't crust, and it is preferred served cold. If you are interested in this recipe, PM me, I would be happy to share.

leah_s Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
leah_s Posted 11 Nov 2009 , 1:33pm
post #11 of 42

Actually I'm not a fan of IMBC/SMBC either. Too buttery. We made it in school, but once out here in the real world, not for me.

SandiOh Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
SandiOh Posted 11 Nov 2009 , 2:15pm
post #12 of 42

i had asked this question earlier, but noone answered. so maybe you guys can help. how much liquid can a batch of SMBC support? my recipe is 5 egg whites, 1 1/4 cup sugar 1/4 tsp cream of tarter and 3 sticks US butter. I see in the "Well Dressed" recipe, you can add up to 1/3 cup fruit puree, is that about the limit?

sadsmile Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
sadsmile Posted 11 Nov 2009 , 2:33pm
post #13 of 42

You can sub out 1/3 or 1/2 a cup of butter for high ratio shortening and it will not only taste less buttery but will be more sturdy. It does reduce the lightness of it a little so it is by preference. Play with it till you find what you like and are comfortable with.

FromScratch Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
FromScratch Posted 11 Nov 2009 , 3:55pm
post #14 of 42

It can handle a good bit of liquid... much more than I was willing to try in the early days of experimenting with meringue buttercreams. Just keep adding it in until you are happy. Make sure the BC and what you are adding are not cold and beat it in the mixer until smooth. I don't have exact amounts because I just do it to taste.

SandiOh Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
SandiOh Posted 11 Nov 2009 , 3:59pm
post #15 of 42
Quote:
Originally Posted by FromScratch

It can handle a good bit of liquid... much more than I was willing to try in the early days of experimenting with meringue buttercreams. Just keep adding it in until you are happy. Make sure the BC and what you are adding are not cold and beat it in the mixer until smooth. I don't have exact amounts because I just do it to taste.




thank you for replying. I tried adding a little over 1/2 cup of strawberry puree once and it curdled....probably because the liquid was too cold...I've been apprehensive ever since....

Mike1394 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
Mike1394 Posted 11 Nov 2009 , 7:37pm
post #16 of 42

Lemon juice helps cut the butter taste.

Mike

Jaeger Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
Jaeger Posted 11 Nov 2009 , 7:50pm
post #17 of 42

I've added a tiny amount of almond extract (maybe 1/4 tsp. or less to a batch of IMBC) and it seemed to cut the buttery taste without adding almond flavour.

FromScratch Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
FromScratch Posted 11 Nov 2009 , 8:32pm
post #18 of 42

Oh totally... if it's cold, it will curdle and look nasty, but if you let it warm up... it will come back together. I use my culinary torch oon the side of the mixer bowl if I get impatient and add the puree while it's still too cold. Most of the time, if you think you've messed it up betond repair... it's not the case. If it gets soupy... let it cool down before you decide to throw it out, and if it curdles on you... let it warm up before you make the decision that it's ruined. It's pretty sturdy stuff, despite its tempermental reputation. icon_biggrin.gif

SandiOh Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
SandiOh Posted 12 Nov 2009 , 1:45am
post #19 of 42

tonight I made a batch with 1 tsp vanilla and about 1/3 cup of burnt sugar syrup....it was delicious...so light and fluffy and flavorful...my daughter really liked it...my son thought it was sweeter than regular buttercream (which I found kinda funny...but he also said my peanut butter frosting tasted like bananas...????? LOL)...anyways.....I wanted to put more syrup in to see if it would support the extra liquid, but didn't have enough....I quess my point is, it didn't taste like butter.

__Jamie__ Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
__Jamie__ Posted 12 Nov 2009 , 2:53am
post #20 of 42

Try making it with brown sugar sometime. O.M.G.

FromScratch Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
FromScratch Posted 12 Nov 2009 , 6:37am
post #21 of 42

One of my favs to add is Bailey's Irish Cream... in a chocolate cake it is OMG good.

SandiOh Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
SandiOh Posted 12 Nov 2009 , 2:08pm
post #22 of 42

Hey, that's an idea...I have to make a chocolate Baileys frosting, and I had initially tried it with American BC....would you use melted chocolate or cocoa (when I use cocoa, i usually make into a paste first using an equal amount of boiling water and let cool).....what do you guys think?

__Jamie__ Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
__Jamie__ Posted 12 Nov 2009 , 2:25pm
post #23 of 42
Quote:
Originally Posted by SandiOh

Hey, that's an idea...I have to make a chocolate Baileys frosting, and I had initially tried it with American BC....would you use melted chocolate or cocoa (when I use cocoa, i usually make into a paste first using an equal amount of boiling water and let cool).....what do you guys think?




Mmmm, it needs to be melted and cooled chocolate. Need to keep the water content down as much as possible in a fat based icing such as this.

SandiOh Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
SandiOh Posted 12 Nov 2009 , 2:31pm
post #24 of 42

thanks Jamie! that makes sense.

FromScratch Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
FromScratch Posted 12 Nov 2009 , 5:09pm
post #25 of 42

I just use ganache... it's easier than melting and cooling. I always have ganache on hand and you can use pretty much a 1:1 ratio of ganache to SMBC for a really rich chocolate flavor.

icon_smile.gif

snowboarder Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
snowboarder Posted 12 Nov 2009 , 5:48pm
post #26 of 42
Quote:
Originally Posted by __Jamie__

Try making it with brown sugar sometime. O.M.G.




I love it made with brown sugar!

__Jamie__ Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
__Jamie__ Posted 12 Nov 2009 , 5:59pm
post #27 of 42
Quote:
Originally Posted by snowboarder

Quote:
Originally Posted by __Jamie__

Try making it with brown sugar sometime. O.M.G.



I love it made with brown sugar!




Yeah. It defies description. Yummy, delicious, tasty, good...none of those words do it justice, eh? icon_biggrin.gif

SandiOh Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
SandiOh Posted 12 Nov 2009 , 6:14pm
post #28 of 42

Jamie - do you use brown sugar inplace of white when heating up the whites?
I've used a mixture of brown sugar and rum that I flavored it with...that was pretty tasty.

From Scratch - ganache is a brilliant idea! thank you!

__Jamie__ Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
__Jamie__ Posted 12 Nov 2009 , 6:15pm
post #29 of 42

Yep-completely sub out the white sugar for brown sugar. And as always with brown sugar, packed into the measuring cup. Gosh this is making me crave some!

snowboarder Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
snowboarder Posted 12 Nov 2009 , 7:42pm
post #30 of 42
Quote:
Originally Posted by __Jamie__

Quote:
Originally Posted by snowboarder

Quote:
Originally Posted by __Jamie__

Try making it with brown sugar sometime. O.M.G.



I love it made with brown sugar!



Yeah. It defies description. Yummy, delicious, tasty, good...none of those words do it justice, eh? icon_biggrin.gif




True! I especially love it on banana cake. MMMMMM.

Quote by @%username% on %date%

%body%