Ok, y'all... I'm sorry, I was really tired when I wrote that post and I now see my mistakes!!

1. I'm sorry if it looked like I was saying replace butter with Half & Half. I totally meant half salted and half unsalted. I think once you read the recipe that is made a little clearer, but still a tiny bit ambiguous. MY BAD!! It's all butter, just not all unsalted butter.

2. I said one cup of liquid egg whites or 4 egg whites. DUH ME! I'm sorry. I was doubling the reciep from 1/2 cup to 1 cup, but in my translation, didn't double the number of eggs it takes if you use whole eggs and separate them. It would take more like 8 egg whites. Sorry for being a spaz!!

3. IMBC or SMBC??? Ok, honestly I don't know which is which. I know with one you heat the syrup and pour into egg whites, the other you heat the whites themselves with the sugar. I like this way, it seems easier, it tastes fantastic. If I'm saying Italian but it SHOULD BE Swiss, I'm super sorry. I tried it the other way a long while back (the hot syrup method) and found it was more tedious and I wasn't crazy about it. This way, heating the whites, was faster and tasted FA-BOO!!! I just went back and looked, and the YouTube video sure does say SWISS! I am a spaz, I'm sorry! (Some of you know i've been on meds for these dang kidney stones and occasionally they make me forgetful or loopy!!)

I think those are the things I screwed up on!! Hope I didn't make anyone's brain catch on fire!

Oh, KerrieD I almost forgot to answer your question. I'll be honest, when I can go with generics, I DO it. Since I was just trying this and wasn't sure it would work, I bought the cheaper WalMart brand. I didn't see anything on that package that said not to use it for meringue. I think the only difference between this and separated eggs is that this is pastuerized already. When you first measure it out it looks different from the sort of snotty look of whites from the shell. It looks... well... already liquidy and uniform. Once you mix it up with the sugar in the pan and it starts warming up, it looks exactly the same as the egg whites from a shell once they are warmed up and mixed. From that point on, it works exactly as whites from the shell do in MY experience, you wouldn't know a BIT of difference. They are, after all, real egg whites. This is not like an EggBeaters egg substitute. Those would NOT work!

Sorry again about the SMBC/IMBC confusion to anyone whose world I just screwed up. I'm a little embarrassed about that, but at least I only MBC in the thread title, right? Hehehehe.

Thanks for the update and your enthusiasm to share this with us! We've all had these moments but you were excited to find out something cool and give us that information. Thanks so much!

I will not buy Walmart generic sugar anymore. I found so many black specks in it. Threw it out! Don't even want to think what was in it.

I use the generic butters alot, both salted and unsalted.

Ewwwww... gross! I don't even want to know!

I use lots of different store brands but there are a few things I HAVE to get the 'name brand' with. Like powdered sugar. I use C&H and only C&H just because of the results I've gotten with every other brand I've tried. There are just a few things I'm willing to pay more for. You know how that goes.

Melvira
I just might try it the way you made it. I did have success with IMBC, but SMBC seems less messy. Oh, and so sorry to hear about your stones. The pain must be horrible. I'm on pain meds because of all the metal I have in my back, so I know what you mean by being forgetful. I call that Brain Farts! Hope you feel better.

Oh, one other question. Did you use regular sugar or superfine sugar? In the IMBC recipe I used, you had to use superfine.
Thanks
Kathy

SMBC is easy and less messy unless you are like me and spill half a bowl of your heated sugar/eggwhite mix on the burner when you try to remove it from the water bath to add to the mixer. They puff up an blacken and smell very much like burnt marshmallows and they are just about as sticky to clean up too. LOL. That was my one and only experience making it so far. I do have plans to try it again sometime though.

So, it doesn't taste like whipped butter? I'm going to have to go to CakeLove so I can taste the BC cuz every time I make it, it taste like pure butter.

I finally tried SMBC this spring and fell in love with it, so easy, light and tasty! Unfortunately I don't have A/C so using it in the summer is not an option.

I'll have to try your 1/2 and 1/2 butter trick, I used all salted, which to me was fantastic.

Oh cake-angel... that is AWFUL! What a MESS! I do not envy you in that situation ONE BIT!

iluvpeeks, I'm glad you can relate, it is really not fun. My doc has me on several different meds for an accident I had at a store, and when pain from that kicks in high gear, the stress triggers my stones I guess and I end up in major-severe pain. (As opposed to super-severe, right??) That's when I have to take the stronger pain meds and get a little loopy.

Also, I just used regular cane sugar, no superfine needed because you are dissolving the sugar in the egg whites. There is no grit or graininess at all. Period!

kger - yes, it CAN taste like whipped butter, and that's what I didn't like before when I made it. BUT, the secret is to add lots of GOOD flavorings. Like I said, I use a whole little bottle of LorAnn, or quite a bit of other flavoring, depending on what flavor I'm making. But, also, flavors that are complemented by the buttery flavor are the best. For example, the first time I made it (this time, not when I did the IMBC before and didn't really like it) I was making maple pancake cupcakes. So, buttery icing with maple flavoring in it... GAH! AMAZING! And last night, butter rum... well shoot, butter is right in the name, so you KNOW it was good. (Seriously, if someone doesn't put a lock on the fridge we're in trouble here!) The lemon was perfect. I have no idea WHY lemon and butter set each other off so well, but they sure did! (Hey, it works on fish, why not cupcakes, right?) But I think if you start with flavors that naturally go well with butter, you will fall in love with it, and from there you can do any flavor. I guess I just had to get used to the texture.

A customer had one of the pancake cupcakes with the maple SMBC on it, (she is in LOVE with my ABC) she took a bite and I was scared at first. She was very quiet. Then she said, "What is this icing called again?" I told her, and she kept slowly eating. I just knew this was going to be bad... like she was trying to find a nice way to tell me to NEVER put this in front of her again. Then she said through a mouthful of frosting, "Ohhhh... this is SO buttery and SOOO good! I LIKE this!" When one of my diehard ABC fans likes it, that is a real victory. Of course, I have one customer I won't even try it with... she is addicted to that stuff and won't even let me tell her about other things! I made the mistake of putting Bettercreme on an order of cupcakes for her, because that is my standard for cuppies and this was the first time she had ordered them, so I didn't think of it, and she didn't know to say anything. I almost lost an arm.

I have been wanting to make the SMBC for a long time, but never got around to it. So today I did it after reading this post.! Yummy! (not without a few problems...like 4 egg whites and 2 c. sugar (wish I'd have seen your recent post Melvira before I did it But after I made the first grainy meringue, I dumped it, measured the egg whites and adapted the recipe accordingly...

It is probably my new favorite icing for taste...but you can't beat the IndyDebi recipe for ease in decorating. Now I have two favorites...thanks Melvira for sharing!

[quote="Melvira"]Oh cake-angel... that is AWFUL! What a MESS! I do not envy you in that situation ONE BIT!

LOL. It is alright. I still plan to try making it again sometime and hopefully not spill again.

Hi Mel
I hope you are getting relief. Mine was a rear end accident. I was stopped at a red light. Lucky to be alive. Anyway, you are a riot! Pancake cupcakes? Believe it or not, IMBC was the first icing I made.(Real icing) Everyone loved it. I am afraid to make it for my Grandson's Christening in August, because it will still be hot as you know what! So, I am going to use Chocolate Bettercreme on the cupcakes, and Indydebi's Buttercream on the cakes. Will the bettercreme be good to add Nutella to as the filling? Or will it get too mushy?

I agree, Melvira. Cartoned egg whites are the way to go.

I use one full carton (8 egg whites) 2 c. sugar, About 3/4 TB cream of tartar... 2 TSP vanilla and almost ALWAYS 12 ounces of melted and cooled white chocolate. (Unless chocolate, then I usually use a variation of very dark and milk choco) and 1 3/4 to 2 pds UNSALTED butter. This is my "Standard icing".

Here is a thread I posted the other day with pics of the cartoned egg whites and the brand I use.

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-688611-.html

O.k., Melvira, thanks for the tips! But inquiring minds want to know....what is the fabulous American Buttercream recipe??

Love, love, love MBCs!!!! I've made both IMBC and SMBC and find the SMBC easier. In hot weather, I use it as filling and still use ABC for covering and decorating. MBCs are just delicious!!!!!

I use the container of egg whites all the time, it was someone on here that suggested it to me. I will definately give this recipe a try. YEAH !!! I get to play in the kitchen !!

PJ37, I am so, so, so, SO sorry about that!!! What a waste of your ingredients. I feel like a total @ss now!! (This is where you see the donkey head on my body going 'heeeee-haawwww'!) I wish I could go back and fix that first recipe post before someone else stops reading at that point and goes to make it!!! I feel awful about that!!

Pancake cupcakes. 'Yellow' cake with buttermilk and maple flavoring, maple chips stirred in. filled with maple flavored bettercreme. Used to be iced with the maple Bettercreme, but now with maple SMBC. SO good!! I also do a breakfast muffin variation that leaves out the filling, but you stir in cooked crumbled bacon or sausage before baking, then drizzle with maple glaze instead of icing. Breakfast on the go. Has been very popular since its inception last summer. It surprises people.

ABC recipe is nothing all that different than anyone else does sweetie-mama, except I use hi-ratio shortening, only C&H powdered sugar for quality reasons, LOTS of extra flavoring to give it an amazing smell and taste, and I whip the snot out of it for like ten minutes to make it super light and fluffy. No one around here makes it like I do.

M, how much does that batch make? How big of a cake will it ice?

The one I posted is technically a 'double batch' compared to the recipe on YouTube, but it is neccessary if you want to ice a whole batch of cupcakes. (As in two dozen) You'll have a little left after that, but if you do only the single batch you will not be able to ice 24 cupcakes. I'm not sure how far it will go on cake because I haven't used it on a cake for a while. I know I was able to ice and decorate an 8" cake with the single batch, but don't remember how much was left. I'm SO dang helpful, aren't I?

I love IMBC I make it all the time! Are you sure about the amount of Egg whites in this recipe? 4 Large egg whites are a cup? Seems like not enough to me. You would know better since you make it. But it doesn't seem like enough whites.

Thank you!!

Melvira,

I did miss that, I"m sorry!!!

I am DYING to try this recipe....but I don't have a kitchenaid. Can you make this with a regular stand mixer? I think mine is a sunbeam. I also have a hand mixer with a whip attachment. Would either work, do you think?

After reading this thread, I MUST try this icing! Just one question...do you let your butter soften before adding it, or do you take it out of the fridge, slice into pats, and plop it in cold? Lots of good info in this thread...

Thanks!

Thanks! Now I am excited...I know what I am doing tomorrow!!!

Sassy, kind of halfway between. I don't want it totally soft like if it's in a warm room, but you don't want it hard from the fridge either. I let it sit out (separate the sticks but leave wrapped) while I do everything else, then I let the egg mixture sit in an ice bath while I slice up the butter. Then, once the whites are whipped to the right point, the butter is usually soft enough. Except the time I totally forgot to get it out of the freezer. Thought I had more in the fridge, but I was wrong. Thank goodness for the defrost setting on the microwave!

Thanks for this! I will try it!