I now have powdered egg whites - this will be my first time trying this frosting so I do not know a thing about how they behave. Which would you suggest I try - which is easiest, especially being that I will be using the powdered whites?

Is there much difference in recipes or should I just pick a good rated one and go for it?

Ok, I think I found a IMBC I will try. But I do have another question - if these bc's don't crust, do you only use them under fondant? I'm wondering if they are as practical as abc?

I will be making a wedding cake in January and will be using bc (no fondant). There will be some piping and bc flowers on it. Will I need to just use abc then?

Ok, feel free to ignore my first post question , but I really want to know about how to actually use the mbc's - are they ever used without fondant? Can you get them smooth like regular bc? Are there any recipes that actually crust? And if I want flowers or piping, should I use the same or would it be easier to make a regular bc for those?

MBCs don't crust. You just have to do a good job of smoothing them the first time around - but they are much softer to work with than ABC and don't pull as much, it's the only thing I use. And yes, you can do most flowers and piping with it too, just watch out for overheating it in your hands as it's very temperature sensitive. And I think SMBC is easier to make but I have never made any with powdered whites so I can't help you on how that will turn out.

This cake is all SMBC

http://www.spdak.com/web%20galleries/wedding/wgc_media/source/Dotted%20Scrolls%201.jpg

KoryAK, that cake is absolutely beautiful!! It is perfectly smooth too. I guess I will just have to play with it and see. I really wanted to know what to expect though. (thank you!)

I am wondering though, with abc, if you touch it after it crusts, no big deal. What about this? Is it super easy to ruin the smoothness, piping, roses if it accidentally gets touched? That scares me. I'd so rather go with this though.

I definitely suggest trying it on a non-important cake first. Don't wait for the wedding cake. Like Kory said, MBC is very temperature sensitive. I have seen it on a wedding cake that was at an outdoor reception and the cake was melting before it was cut. Personally, I prefer IMBC, but probably just because I've made it a million times. I've seen people make scrambled eggs when trying to make SMBC, but I've also seen rock hard sugar chunks in IMBC. I've never made either with powdered egg whites. My suggestion would be to try a small batch of both, see what you like.

Wildgirl, could you please share the recipe for smbc or imbc, using the pasteurized egg whites. I make both, but with pasteurized liquid egg whites. tia

Yes, if the cake is room temp it is far easier to damage. But if you keep it chilled the icing will be hard and much easier to decorate on.

Icer, I'm not exactly sure yet which recipe(s) I will try. Sorry - I can't tell you yet! I have read somewhere on here that they do work, but take longer to whip up. I hope anyway.

The wedding isn't until the end of January - and at least it's super cold here at that time! Just warm inside the reception hall... but I will most definitely be trying them out first. I was hoping to get to one tonight even. I'm so anxious to get all of the recipes figured out so I can be ready when we get closer to the wedding.

Thanks KoryAK, it's good to know that it will get firm if it's chilled anyway!

Thanks Wildgirl, i understand. I have printed some in the past. I will look them up and try too. Good luck with yours.

I have made IMBC with powdered and fresh egg whites, the fresh egg whites gave me much more volume. That is the only real difference I have noticed.


The recipe I use calls for 5 egg whites, my powdered egg white comes in sachets and each sachet has the equivalent of 2 egg whites. I just use 3 packs and make up per the instructions. It hasn't failed me yet.


Always seive powdered egg whites after making it up as it tends to have some lumps that are impossible to get rid of. (well I always seem to have lumps!)

The recipe I use is as follows, probably a standard recipe though.

5 egg whites
10 oz caster sugar
1/4 cup of water
16oz of butter ( although I don't always add all the butter, it depends on the flavour)
1tsp of vanilla extract.

Thanks Justliloleme, I wrote down your recipe.

I love the idea of a less sweet bc, but honestly, it just scares me. I picture the roses "melting" and the piping falling off. I will give it a try though!

I make SMBC simply because I like knowing the egg whites have been heated up past the salmonella point. I'm also a little freaked out about boiling sugar, but that's beside the point . However, you don't have to worry about the eggs if you're using powdered egg whites. I've never used them so I don't know how they will turn out. I have made it with pasturized egg white from a carton, and like Justliloleme it worked but had less volume.

I recommend checking out FromScratchSF's blog. http://fromscratchsf.wordpress.com/2011/03/08/tutorial-swiss-meringue-buttercream/ She has an awesome post about making SMBC that really helped me, because it goes through some weird stages that make you think it's not going to work!

I've found that for 99% of my baking I now use SMBC. The only time I would go with ABC is if you know there's a chance things will be touching the cake and might mar the finish. For me that's just cupcake bouquets. I haven't figured out how to make the SMBC work with that yet, but I'm still trying because I love it! Good luck!