So I'm really new to cake decorating and am still trying to figure out the 'chemistry' of it all.

I really struggled with my first batch of SMBC, it was in the curdled/soup state forever until I did the long chill/microwave/rewhip thing. Once it was good I iced the whole cake with it, it was good at first but I noticed it had next to no structural integrity. It was fine on it's own but there was no way it was going to hold any decorations aside from them just sitting on top of the cake. I did chill it, it set up nice but after being in the room an hour or two it was super soft again.

So, is it supposed to be REALLY soft and kinda wet. I tried to research it and it seems that it's quite temperamental. How do you store the cake once it's on it? Can you chill it? Will it break down? Cover it? Leave it open to the air? I'm just trying to not make 12 batches before I figure it out hah.

to note I also used butter and some 'smart balance' which I guess is kind of a no no.

Any tips on how you store/handle it would be much appreciated
thanks c:

I usually make 1/2 butter 1/2 shortening frosting, but I would guess that part of your problem was that you need to use all butter. I'm sure the SMBC experts on here will be able to help you more.

Absolutely no smart balance!! Only use pure butter.

Try an IMBC. My thoughts are since your taking the sugar to a softball stage it gives a lil more stability. SMBC your only taking the sugar to approx. 160, or so.

You also might have to try a different recipe. Yeah lose the smart balance.

Mike

The reason why you should NOT use Smart Balance is because it is basically an oil and butter emulsion. Combine the slightly warm meringue with the mixing process, and that emulsion is probably getting broken, leaving you with a goopy mess

Using part butter and part high-ratio shortening is great if you are using the buttercream for piping or in warmer conditions. However, using all butter (unsalted, of course) will give you exceptional flavor. Just make sure your butter is not too soft; you want it to have some body.

Because the syrup as well as the egg white proteins are brought to a higher temp in IMBC, it is much more sturdier than SMBC. It is trickier to make, though. What temp are you bringing your egg whites to in your SMBC recipe?

Thanks for the responses, I suspected after watching some Alton Brown spiel that good high fat butter was the way to go.

So what would you experienced minds say is the consistency of Meringue Buttercream (ideally), does it hold up at room temp, and is it okay to chill it say, overnight? (my bowl of it needed rewhipped after a night of chilling, it completely seperated). Do you find it is strong enough to hold decorations on the side of a cake? I tried some royal icing and it was sort or working... sort of.

SMBC tastes great and is fabulous as a filling so I want to keep using it, but I'm just wondering how flexible it is for decorating. Since I've never had anyone else's I'm not sure what the 'ideal consistency' is.

The reason to lose the Smart Balance is taste LOLOL. If someone is worried about thier heart, let them eat a rice cake.

Mike

I made some SMBC and it was light and delish but temperamental temperature wise. It was almost soupy at room temp which is generally 75° in my house. So that cake stayed int he fridge. It was a dream to smooth.

I am going to try IMBC next to see if the sugar at softball stage does it for me.


Any ideas on adding per say a modified food starch made for whipped icing stabilization...?

I've never had a problem with it. Did you whip it up enough? Sometimes if you don't whip it enough it gets really soft. Otherwise it works very well. I like it. Tip....only use unsalted

Yeah, it was a nice consistency when I put it outside (it's cold here in NE Ohio c: ) but I would worry that if I put anything on the cake that wasn't sitting on the top that it would fall off after being in room temp air fairly quickly.

When i first got it in a good state (I swear I was going to whip it into oblivion) it was well whipped and stable, it just seemed to break down a bit (hence while I chilled it). It's been sitting covered, inside for about a day now and it's holding up okay, it's really soft but it's at least staying-put on the cake and not 'melting off'.

Maybe I'll just absorb this info and remember which icings are best for what in regards to what I'm trying to accomplish. SMBC is certainly my favorite to eat so far c;

Someone told me to try using some hi-rat instead of all butter... i may just try that.

I was thinking the stabilizer would work because butter is pretty close to the fat that is in whipping cream, I thought the protein from the eggs might make it not work though. Scientifically or chemically I can't figure it out because I don't have that kind of training. So if you guys don't know then maybe one day I will experiment with it.

I think y'all adding Smart Balance, margarine, powdered sugar, or shortening of any kind to a good classic SMBC recipe, need to come up with a new name for it. Like: "sort of SMBC" or, "not really SMBC anymore" or "SMBC with all the good stuff covered up with a grease slick"...I dunno. But it ain't SMBC anymore.

For those with issues with SMBC, try the Well Dressed Cake recipe found within this site....it's great. Also, pay attention to your bowl temp, your butter temp, and really get to know what the stages look like, and what to expect your SMBC to do in X,Y, and Z situations.

@ you Jamie!

At least my vegan butter is better then Smart Balance. But it does make issues. Thus my continued quest to find something that works to make the ever sough after SMBC or IMBC, because ABC just isn't cutting it anymore.

Nyah! Lol....DON'T agitate a wet kitty!!

Seriously though...next time, put butter straight from the fridge in, chunked real small. I started doing this awhile back, takes longer to incorporate, but it does eventually, and it's super stiff throughout the icing and smoothing process.

I did use cold "ehem" butter, but if the cake sat out longer then 20 minutes the icing started to slide right down off the cake ad bunch up around the base. Not stable at all. Delicious and nice to use till it was out to long.

So this vegan butter...doesn't contain milk fat, right?

These are the ingredients I find for a popular vegan butter:

ingredients: expeller pressed natural oil blend (soybean palm fruit, canola and olive), filtered water, pure salt, natural flavor (derived from corn, no MSG, no alcohol, no gluten), soy protein, soy lecithin, lactic acid (non-dairy, derived from sugar beets), and beta-carotene color (from natural source).

I can't imagine this possibly making a good meringue icing.

I only use IMBC and my partner uses SMBC.....but our cakes both stay out at room temp at weddings for up to 12 hours, summer or winter, no problems.

Both chill really well in the fridge/freezer on cakes. Yes, either will need to be brought to room temp/re-whipped before you use them again.

If it's actually falling off your cake, I think something went wrong with the icing during production. That just shouldn't happen....and yes, margarine is a no-no for these two recipes.


Have you seen these step-by-step photo articles?

http://www.cakescanada.com/HowTo/IMBC2.pdf
http://www.cakescanada.com/HowTo/how-to-SMBC.pdf


IMBC should be the consistency of whipped cream as you ice a cake. It's glorious! You should easily be able to pipe detailing, borders, flowers, etc with it too.

Yeah Jamie that's the stuff.

But I promise it tastes so good! It cooks and works in every other recipe just like real butter. We are in love with the flavor if the SMBC I made. If it was more soupy and we had to we prolly would have spooned it up- it was that yummy.
It has 11g Fat per 1TBSP So it has fat just not as much as butter, but then what else does. LOL
I am thinking I am going to have to experiment first with IMBC and doing part Hi-rat and then maybe adding in some modified food starch stabilizer(the kind that instantly works)

Oh geez...more cats. Ok, I'll be back.

Yeah whipping won't be an issue any more now that I have mez a KA!

It doesn't say what size the bowl is but I am guesing it's a 6...?

I like Colette Peters recipe for SMBC.

jamie, you are crazy. I love my little cat snowball, she is afraid to get on the internet. I'm going to try the suggest SMBC recipes