It seems like no matter what recipe i try, it always seems to turn out way too liquidy.

Buttercream:
4 large egg whites, room temperature
1¼ cups sugar
1½ cups unsalted butter, softened, cut into small pieces
1½ cups fresh strawberries, pureed


I even used 4 oz less than what the recipe called for, and i only used 1/2 cup of the strawberry puree!

I think i started getting trouble when i had to add the butter. Maybe i added it too quickly, because the result seemed pretty broken. After i was down to having 1/2 butter left, i skipped adding it and started adding the puree.

Anyways, before i start repeating myself, I basically had to drain a mass amount of liquidfrom underneath the curdled frosting.


For some reason, i am just NOT good at frostings. Is there a site with pictures that shows step by step, so maybe i can understand this better?


I also had trouble making merenguw. 3 egg whites, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 tsp cream of tartar. I couldnt get it to have a stiff enough peak. I even added an extra 1/2 cup of sugar and extra pinch of tartar, which helped, but it wasnt where i needed it to be.

you tube is great for walking you through both recipes, good luck

Don't know if there is a specific kind of buttercream you are looking for. I've never had any problems with mine, but I don't use egg whites and such. It's pretty basic but it's delicious and was the reason most people came to the bakery I worked for. So, if you just want to try it, it's this:

One 8 ounce box of cream cheese
Two sticks of real butter (8 ounces)
Two pounds of powdered sugar.

Blend softened cream cheese and butter until well blended and creamy, then slowly add powdered sugar.
That's it. It's a great consistency, it crusts wonderfully and it tastes great. It may have cream cheese in it, but it's not a cream cheese frosting per se.
I use it on all my cakes. (well the ones that call for plain BC). I dress it up every now and then and add strawberries to make a filling and most any kind of fruit preserve works well with it. Put lemon or orange zest in it too.

In regards to making meringue...is everything at room temp? Because it needs to be. And make sure your bowl, paddle...everything is free from any speck of fat. Also, I assume you're using your whisk attachment...so just keep whipping it. Let it run for a while. Sometimes it takes longer than you'd think it would. HTH!

[quote="carmijok"]Don't know if there is a specific kind of buttercream you are looking for. I've never had any problems with mine, but I don't use egg whites and such. It's pretty basic but it's delicious and was the reason most people came to the bakery I worked for. So, if you just want to try it, it's this:

One 8 ounce box of cream cheese
Two sticks of real butter (8 ounces)
Two pounds of powdered sugar.

Blend softened cream cheese and butter until well blended and creamy, then slowly add powdered sugar.
That's it. It's a great consistency, it crusts wonderfully and it tastes great. It may have cream cheese in it, but it's not a cream cheese frosting per se.
I use it on all my cakes. (well the ones that call for plain BC). I dress it up every now and then and add strawberries to make a filling and most any kind of fruit preserve works well with it. Put lemon or orange zest in it too.




Iwould like to try this. Does this frosting need refrigeration or no?

how big should the bits of butter be when adding it?

Joycesdaughter...Yes, this frosting needs to be refrigerated. I fill and crumbcoat and let it cool and harden in the fridge then smooth more layers on, refrigerating between each one until I don't see cake anymore. Makes a nice base and you don't have to worry about cake pulling up.

I deliver my cakes cold an hour or two before events. They come to room temp slowly and are good for hours. I do NOT put this kind of BC outside ever! You can see in my photos what extreme heat can do to this kind of cake.(the crashed topsy turvy).

And Stormyhaze: I just dump the butter in the bowl. It should be softened (room temp soft...not melty soft) so there is no reason to cut it into pieces. Just make sure you blend the butter and cream cheese well. It should look light and fluffy.

I meant for the other type of frosting, when adding butter to a eggs/sugar mixture.

I can recommend two recipes:

this one I've tried:
http://cakecentral.com/recipes/18502/all-butter-american-buttercream

and this one I want to try, but maybe you can get to it before I can find the time to. She does a wonderful video where she explains how quickly to add the butter, etc:

http://www.crumbboss.com/?p=39 - watch her vids on YouTube, but be warned, they're addictive!

I am assuming you put the egg whites in the mixer, boil sugar and water, add to egg whites...basically IMBC...right?

If the recipe is basically IMBC, how long are you mixing it? When I make IMBC it takes about 40 minutes of mixing on high (kitchen aid table mixer) before the melted "soup" of butter, egg whites and sugar water becomes icing.

Here is the recipe I use:
http://cakecentral.com/recipes/16223/italian-butter-cream-try-it-youll-never-go-back-to-basic-buttercream

Some people let the egg white and sugar water mixture cool, others pack frozen bags of veggies around the mixing bowl to help cool the icing. I just keep mixing and mixing and mixing. I have never had the recipe fail, but it takes a long time to make it correct.

I have never added any time of puree to the icing. That may be messing it up. I would suggest making the icing without the puree. Then add the puree at the end. That way you know the consistancy of the icing and how much extra liquid it will be able to handle.

Have you tried adding the strawberry filling from a sleeve to the icing (once again, fter the icing is made)? That is what I do. This doesn't really add any extra liquid.