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Swiss Meringue Buttercream

post #1 of 14
10/16/12 at 2:00pm
Thread Starter 
Hi everyone,

I'm new here and i wonder if someone out there can help me.
I'm a beginner in baking and just made Martha Stewart's Swiss Meringue Buttercream with strawberry puree a while ago. I am really disappointed that the frosting turned out to have a very strong buttery taste despite me adding plenty of strawberry puree.
I stayed away from buttercream frosting because I am afraid it will be grainy and buttery but it seem Swiss meringue is not the kind of frosting I'm looking for either.

I'm looking for the smooth fluffy type of frosting without any buttery taste that some bakeries have on their cupcakes, but i have no idea what type of frosting they are. There's no cream taste taste to it so I'm pretty sure they are not cream cheese frosting. icon_sad.gif I thought of baking some cupcakes for my boyfriend's birthday but it seem this is not as easy as it seem. And I thought baking cupcakes is easier than cake. icon_cry.gif

Do buttercream and swiss meringue frosting have strong buttery taste?

Frosting on Sprinkles and Magnolia cupcakes are called buttercream frosting? Boyfriend is not a fan of their frosting because they are pretty grainy.

Help please!
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post #2 of 14
10/16/12 at 3:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by snowy88

I'm looking for the smooth fluffy type of frosting without any buttery taste that some bakeries have on their cupcakes, but i have no idea what type of frosting they are. There's no cream taste taste to it so I'm pretty sure they are not cream cheese frosting.



The frosting without any buttery taste has been made with white vegetable shortening.

The best kind that you can make at home uses milk and cornstarch cooked together. That is then whipped into the shortening with sugar.

This is the recipe that I like, it comes from Jeanne's which is a very famous bakery. It is smooth and tasty. The other recipe is also very good (Safeway). OK so the Jeanne recipe here has flour, I use the same amount of cornstarch because it is easier to cook:

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/food/spread-the-word-icing-a-smooth-treat-164550696.html
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post #3 of 14
10/16/12 at 4:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BakingIrene


This is the recipe that I like, it comes from Jeanne's which is a very famous bakery.



Thanks for sharing this, BakingIrene. Do you ever use all butter instead of half shortening / half butter for this recipe? I wanted to try it that way but thought I'd check to see if you knew the results.
Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.
-Scott Adams
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Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.
-Scott Adams
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post #4 of 14
10/16/12 at 6:33pm
If you want a really good SMBC try FromScratchhSF's.

http://fromscratchsf.wordpress.com/2011/03/08/tutorial-swiss-meringue-buttercream/
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post #5 of 14
10/16/12 at 6:53pm
Did you use unsalted butter? That is what I always use.
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post #6 of 14
10/16/12 at 7:22pm
Yes I do use all butter for this creamy frosting.

I use unsalted butter for this icing, but I use very little salt in general. You can try unsalted butter. Taste with no salt, then add a 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Then add more salt ONLY if it needs it.

When I bake a cake with salted butter, I do not add any salt at all and it tastes right.
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post #7 of 14
10/16/12 at 11:07pm
You can always add more sugar when you make SMBC to sweeten it more. But also, if you are just tasting it straight from the bowl and you are used to very sweet American icing you may not like SMBC at first... You need to put it on a cake.

As a happy medium you could also make "whipped buttercream"' which is essentially 1/2 SMBC and 1/2 American buttercream. Despite me only ever making SM, my husband hates it and will only eat one of my cakes if I do the hybrid.

Last, yeah, everyone says "buttercream" even if their icing has zero butter in it. I equate it to people calling all tissue "Kleenex" or all brown soda "Coke". Just one of those things.
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post #8 of 14
10/17/12 at 5:43am
When I make swiss buttercream I always use about half of the amount of butter. I think the butter is too overpowering when you use the full amount. Just going from memory I think I do...

5 egg whites
1 cup + 2 Tbs sugar
2 sticks of butter (I use salted)
1 tsp. vanilla

I also like this frosting a lot. It's very close to a whipped icing. http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/desserts/thate28099s-the-best-frosting-ie28099ve-ever-had/
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post #9 of 14
10/17/12 at 6:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by BakingIrene

Yes I do use all butter for this creamy frosting.

I use unsalted butter for this icing, but I use very little salt in general. You can try unsalted butter. Taste with no salt, then add a 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Then add more salt ONLY if it needs it.

When I bake a cake with salted butter, I do not add any salt at all and it tastes right.



Thank you! icon_smile.gif
Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.
-Scott Adams
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Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.
-Scott Adams
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post #10 of 14
10/17/12 at 10:55am
And then there's this response. I made this the other day out of a frustration I was having with someone clearly used to ABC. icon_rolleyes.gif

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post #11 of 14
10/20/12 at 12:35am
icon_lol.gificon_lol.gif We NEED a 'like' button.
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post #12 of 14
10/20/12 at 1:57am
Lol, love it AZCouture!

I want to see one that says "It's cake. It's MEANT to be rich!"
Life's too short to make cake pops.
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www.facebook.com/sweetperfectioncakes (come visit sometime!)
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Life's too short to make cake pops.
___________________________________
www.sweetperfection.com.au
www.facebook.com/sweetperfectioncakes (come visit sometime!)
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post #13 of 14
11/2/12 at 9:14pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by BakingIrene View Post




The frosting without any buttery taste has been made with white vegetable shortening.

The best kind that you can make at home uses milk and cornstarch cooked together. That is then whipped into the shortening with sugar.

This is the recipe that I like, it comes from Jeanne's which is a very famous bakery. It is smooth and tasty. The other recipe is also very good (Safeway). OK so the Jeanne recipe here has flour, I use the same amount of cornstarch because it is easier to cook:

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/food/spread-the-word-icing-a-smooth-treat-164550696.html



Sorry for my super late reply. Thank you so much for the info BakingIrene! Now I know why there's no buttery taste in those butter cream frosting!!
I will surely try the recipe you have recommended but out of desperation I opted for cream cheese frosting I got from allrecipe.com for my bf's cupcakes. They don't frost well (sort of melted) but they taste good. icon_smile.gif

Thanks again!

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post #14 of 14
11/2/12 at 9:19pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by FromScratchSF View Post

You can always add more sugar when you make SMBC to sweeten it more. But also, if you are just tasting it straight from the bowl and you are used to very sweet American icing you may not like SMBC at first... You need to put it on a cake.

As a happy medium you could also make "whipped buttercream"' which is essentially 1/2 SMBC and 1/2 American buttercream. Despite me only ever making SM, my husband hates it and will only eat one of my cakes if I do the hybrid.

Last, yeah, everyone says "buttercream" even if their icing has zero butter in it. I equate it to people calling all tissue "Kleenex" or all brown soda "Coke". Just one of those things.


Thank you FromScratchSF for your info!

 

How do you do the hybrid "whipped buttercream"? Make 1/2 SMBC and 1/2 American buttercream and mix?

icon_confused.gif

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