What does Swiss Meringue Buttercream taste like? - Page 2

I just copied these from the baking911 website. Hope this helps

Everyone's tastes are different. I tried swiss meringue buttercream because I kept hearing rave reviews and people saying things like "Once you try SMBC, you'll never go back to nasty powdered sugar buttercreams!" I hated it. It tasted like mildly sweetened butter and felt like an oil slick in my mouth. When I made the batch and kept adding ANOTHER stick of butter, then ANOTHER stick of butter, I just thought...oh man, for the sake of my waistline I hope I don't like this! And I didn't.

This is the recipe I use off this site (altered slightly) I use it ALL the time with different variations: eg. add rasp, choc (white or reg). at the very end. It is the best frosting according to EVERYONE I know!! I find it refrigerates great and softens up within half an hour to an hour without affecting the taste. Sometimes I add more then the recipe calls for for flavor maybe 1 tbsp instead it is great either way. Sometimes the mixing seems tedious but with a stand mixer it really is no big deal I usually have something I could be doing anyway. I have never over or under mixed(egg whites and sugar) and I vary my mixing times and I just wait till it is like a meringue.

Sinful Swiss Meringue Butter Cream
Ingredients

* 1/2 cup (4 oz) of egg whites
1 cup (8 oz) of granulated sugar
1 1/2 (12 oz) cup butter
1 tsp of flavoring (I use 3/4 tsp van & 1/4 tsp almond)

Instructions

Put eggs and sugar in your mixing bowl and beat with whisk until well combined. Put bowl over a hot bath on stove top and KEEP mixing until mixture is no longer grainy to the touch (approx 3 min). When thats done, take bowl to mixer using the balloon whisk on medium speed until a meringue like texture is achieved may take up to 10 min(but worth it if you want a slightly stiffer frosting). Replace balloon whisk for paddle. Slowly add your room temp butter in pieces and mix until smooth. Now add your extracts and (color optional-pref gel). You will notice it curd a bit approx. 3 min into mixing, keep it on medium for another 3-4 min and it will be smooth & silky. Dont get impatient it will turn out so good! Hope you enjoy.

Sorry so long I am REALLY passionate about SMBC!

Very good description Me too. It only taste like a stick of butter if you don't add flavoring.

To me, it tastes silky, smooth and mildly sweet. When flavored correctly, it is the best buttercream imho. It doesn't have the clawing sweetness of american buttercream.

SMBC is my favorite. I agree with kassie11, when flavored correctly it tastes amazing. I'd much prefer eating butter, egg whites and sugar to a bunch of fat and powdered sugar.

To the OP: you should make a batch of SMBC and see for yourself!

mamawrobin! Forgive me, I just realized I told you wrong. I didn't use the entire egg, I only used egg yolks. This was referred to as Swiss Butter Meringue Buttercream or Neoclassic Buttercream by Rose Levy's Cake Bible.
It used egg yolks, sugar, lt. corn syrup and butter with flavoring.
So sorry for the misinformation!
I was trying to use up my leftover egg yolks when making a huge wedding cake needing all egg whites. I had a ton of them left over! So I tried this. It was good!

I'd love to have the receipe whenever you have the time to pm it to me. I am always looking for ways to use the egg yolks rather than throw them out. I see how you were confused as the name is so similar.

I use dede wilson's recipe for using the yolk only with this meringue buttercream.It is delicious.

when I make my SMBC, I use a little less butter than typically called for - my recipe is
4 large egg whites
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tarter
3 sticks unsalted butter
1/2 cup flavoring....such as puree, liqueors, etc

I know Martha Stewart's recipe for SMBC also suggests cooking the egg white and sugar until it feels slippery, and not grainy to the touch. My concern is that this happens much sooner than it reaches 160 degrees, which is when the salmonella is killed off. So, for those that don't use a thermometer, are they risking making people sick? I'm no expert, but I just wasn't sure why Martha was recommending this?

I personally love SMBC and so do all the people I make it for. I recently made a homemade strawberry glace to mix in with it and it was heavenly. It certainly does need strong flavors because on its own it is too buttery. Chocolate, mocha, vanilla, coconut, brown sugar vanilla, strawberry - all delightful. It is the texture that really makes it.

Enjoy!

My receipe has only 3 sticks of butter as well. The only difference in yours and mine is that I use 5 egg whites and no cream of tarter.

I don't recommend making SMBC without a thermometer. I paid about $4.00 for mine so there's no excuse not to have one.



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Yes, mamawrobin, this is my feeling exactly. I just think that we need to be safety conscious with perishable food items. My understanding is that SMBC shouldn't be out of the fridge for more than 5 hours, especially on a warm day. It sounds like other people leave it out for longer, but isn't there a risk of food poisoning?

Some say yes...others say no.. I use the pasturized egg whites because they are safer for this very reason. I've also heard that if the whites are heated to 160 degrees it kills the bacteria so that makes it ok to sit out for a day or two. I just don't know. Mine never last long enough to worry about it sitting out.