Hi guys,

So I normally make a crusting buttercream, but I just watched Joshua John Russell's free Craftsy class ("Modern Buttercream") so I decided to try his Swiss meringue buttercream.

It went together beautifully, but it tastes too buttery for my liking. I usually make all butter, buttercreams so I'm not sure why this one bothered me a bit. I used pasturized egg whites, like he does, could this be the culprit? Should I separate my own eggs and pasturize them myself next time? Should I maybe do 75% butter and 25% shortening next time?

Also, all of my buttercreams are a bit salty for my liking. I'm thinking it's because I can't buy pure confectioner's sugar here. I only have access to "icing sugar."

Here's the recipe:

8 egg whites (1 cupt)

1 cup granulated sugar

3 cups butter

1 cup confectioner's sugar

pinch salt

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

What do you guys think?

AHahaha ApplegumPam! While I live in Oz and married an Aussie, I'm American so shortening in icing doesn't bother me. I do use unsalted butter, so I'm not sure why my icings keep tasting salty. Maybe it's a hormonal thing (I just stopped breast feeding my baby) nobody else seems to think it's too salty. So I should be using extra caster sugar instead of icing sugar? Thanks so much for your help! Over the next month I want to try a bunch of different I buttercream recipes so that I can pick my fav and stuck with it :)

ASwiss or Italian meringue buttercreams don't have icing sugar.

http://fromscratchsf.wordpress.com/2011/03/08/tutorial-swiss-meringue-buttercream/

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IxWmiHRTMz8&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DIxWmiHRTMz8

AMustangmollie meringue butter creams are really buttery, if you don't like the taste of butter it might not be for you. The usual way to mask the taste is adding more flavor, that's the best advice I've got!

Seriously though, my husband just doesn't like meringue buttercream no matter how much flavor I put in, it's just too buttery for him. He is an ABC man plain and simple. If you want a really sweet buttercream then meringue isn't the way to go.

AThAnks for pointing that out! I LOVE ABC (though I cut the sweetness a bit). I wanted to try Swiss merengue bc because it sounds fancy, it's pretty good.m I. Writing a summary of the u

I use more sugar than called for - 1.5 cups in the syrup, plus the 1/4 cup in with the egg whites.  Helps it taste a bit sweeter.  No confectioners sugar in meringue buttercreams, and I use the Italian method.

Liz

AHere's a link to a CC thread with the same kind of trouble you might have had.

http://cakecentral.com/t/725411/imbc-not-so-good

I love IMBC. It's the only one I make.

ASorry about the gobulty gook in my last post, I fell asleep while typing. I'm trying a number of buttercream recipes to decide for sure what my go to recipe is. Thanks so much for your help everyone!!!

I make a modified version of this recipe, that my awesomely awesome friend Jeanne developed: http://cakecentral.com/a/the-well-dressed-cake-swiss-meringue-buttercream-with-variations

I always make a quadruple batch in my 6qt KA. I add a cup more sugar (remember I quadruple the recipe)...that's it. Not that different, but it does make it a bit firmer, and a tad sweeter. Might give this one a try and add more vanilla. 

Also, and this s BIG....the closer it is to room temp, the better it tastes. I like it straight out tha' fridge myself, but that's me.

AThanks AZCouture, I'll give that recipe a go :)

AWhen I quadruple that recipe, I use 5 cups of sugar total.

AIt's just in my head after so many years now. 21 eggs, 5 cups sugar, 3 pounds buttah'. Thank God for the pound bricks of butter too, unwrapping many sticks of butter is sooooo annoying.

coming in late...

adding a bit more vanilla can make it taste sweeter and you might find it more to your liking.

AHahaha!

AAre there any good recipes with icing sugar? Unfortunately, I bought tons of it and I'd like to use it up.

Buttercream Dream, crusting cream cheese, MMF

AThanks :)

About 23 cups. Give or take a few.

Ah, actually about 20, closer to that.

So, I took over an existing cake shop that used ABC, but I love the SMBC.  The Swiss was not sweet enough for some of my customers, but I couldn't bear the ABC.....(.it's harder to get smooth too)  What I ended up doing is making the SMBC then adding sifted powdered sugar to it to sweeten it up a little more.  It ended up pleasing most everyone.  Give that a try and see if that doesn't cut some of that extreme butter taste.  I also add more vanilla to cut some of that too.

AZ, do you make that in one mixer? If so what size is the bowl?

Thank you Pam. I was just curious because mine is 5 liters and would like to make bigger batches. But it seems it mixes all the way to the top and was concerned. Of course when I scrape it all down into the bowl I have plenty of room. I will try a double batch with the lid next time.

I wanted to post an update ... The SMBC has totally grown on me and I really like it now.

On a whim last night I decided to experiment a bit by combining frosting recipes and the result was the best frosting I've ever had. Buttercream dream combined with the modified SMBC (that I started this thread about) is AMAZING!!!! Just wanted to share in case anyone else is looking for a good BC recipe :)