Hi Ratio Shortening illegal in CA -- ANY IDEAS???? - Page 2

Thank you, everyone, for the clarification.  Thank you OP for asking the question.  For about a year I've been telling people that HRS is illegal in California since 2011.  My apologies!  Since I hobby bake, it is nice to know that I can still use HRS if I wish.  I will immediately cease and desist from spreading incorrect information!

 

I'm amazed that this is the first time I'm hearing about the exception for home use. 

I was wondering what is a good smooth icing i can use when i start a business in 2013.

I am in california and the cottage food law will start then, and since i cannot use hi ratio, i am trying to find a good crusting buttercream that can get really smooth. I love sugarshacks recipe and i would love to find out if there is a way i can do it without hi ratio, and if anyone has ever done that recipe without hi ratio.

Thanks, sorry if it sounds confusing

I'll second what "carmijok" and "FromScratchSF" said about not using shortening: where I come from, it isn't buttercream if it isn't made with butter (ALL butter).

 

(I also assert that it isn't vanilla unless it came from vanilla beans. Fake vanilla is a caricature of the real stuff.)

 

But back to the matter of crusting buttercream, I seem to recall another thread on the subject of whether a truly crusting buttercream can be made with all butter, and I'm pretty sure several recipes were given. As I recall, I mentioned that I'm not sure whether mine truly crusts or not (it's quite dense).

Just out of curiosity, what does the hi-ratio shortening do that butter can't?  I have a few different buttercreams that I make with all butter, and a couple of them crust.  Is it just a different kind of crust with hi-ratio?

 

Thanks.

They say that hi- ratio shortening is smoother and holds up better because of the extra fat.

And i have noticed it as well.

I have been looking all day and night for a good crusting smooth buttercream solution to this problem, but nobody seems to have an answer.

It's either that you have hi-ratio and your good, or you have crisco and your out of luck with horrible icing.

So I guess california has got it pretty bad.

I was really excited to open a home bakery in january, but now i am questioning it, since a beautiful smooth cake will not be possible since there are no ideas on how to fix this.

So to the OP, I do not think anyone has any ideas for us:(

Sweetex Z is still hi-ratio even though it doesn't have more than the max legal level of trans fat per serving. A shortening is considered high ratio if it allows the final product to hold more sugar and liquid than standard shortening, and that does not necessarily require a significant level of trans fats.

Thanks for the info jason.

Would you say that sweetex z is better than crisco?

Absolutely.

I do not speak in practice, but from what I studied -  the purpose of using hi-ratio is because it holds a lot more sugar but still stays soft enough to pipe and smooth.  And because you add so much sugar you don't taste shortening, only sweet sweet sweet.  If you used just Crisco with the same amount of sugar it would be crumbly and dry to work with - and you can still taste Crisco.

 

But a common misunderstanding:  shortening does not make icing crust.  The corn starch in the powdered sugar is what makes icing crust.  So it stands to reason if you are able to add more powdered sugar (which contains corn starch) into hi ratio shortening it will crust more, thus making it win=win when using it.  If you make an icing with all butter and powdered sugar you will get a very thin crust, if you use Crisco you get a little more crust, if you use high ratio you get a heavier crust.  I have read that you can get a better crust using 100% butter if you sift in more corn starch into your powdered sugar, but I've personally never done it.

When I have needed a traditional BC, I use butter and pure icing sugar (no corn starch) and it still forms a fine crust (enough to use a foam roller on). I try to avoid icing sugar mixture (confestioner's sugar + corn starch) as I don't like the chalky taste it adds.

 

I hate shortening with a passion and its a key distinction between mass-produced supermarket cakes and custom (home-made-tasting) cakes here. Shortening just leaves a horrible residue in your mouth.

 

I really only use this sort of BC on request for some cupcake orders and some birthday cakes, the rest are ganache+fondant, or IMBC or SMBC.

Also, keep in mind that (at least so far as I'm aware) the health concerns, and the laws, don't apply to trans-fats that occur in nature (of which there are, I understand, several edible examples), only to those that can only be produced artificially.