Anyone out there have experience with this? I tried it today for the first time and had to whip it about 3 times longer than they say just to get it out of liquid form???? I must be doing something wrong. Do you use this to pipe with or do you just cover a cake with this then pipe on top with buttercream? Any help greatly appreciated. Oh also, what should it look like once iced on the cake? My seems too much like taffy, if that makes sense

Sue

I use the ready made Rich's Bettercreme. I have never used the kind you have to whip. The kind that's ready made is the consistency of a slightly frozen cool whip topping. I don't think it should be like taffy.

Another suggestion, don't mix BETTERcreme with BUTTERcreme, it will taste nasty, use one or the other but don't mix on the same cake. I pipe, make roses, etc. with bettercreme. I don't have any pictures in my gallery, because they are the cakes I make at work. The ones in my gallery are my at home cakes (my hobby cakes)

One of these days I will take a picture of my work cakes.

I use it all the time but I prefer the prewhipped stuff. It needs to be cold before you whip it, and it whips up to the consistency of stiff whipped cream. once it's whipped you can pipe it, make roses and great borders with it. You can color it and add different flavors to it. If you color it after it's whipped, make sure you kinda fold the color in. I find if you mix the stuff up to much, it gets a rough unmanagable texture that doesn't revert back.

To smooth it, use a slighty wet offset spatula and lightly go over it. It will not get as smooth as buttercream and doesn't crust at all. It's very important to make sure it stays cold, you may have to put your piping bag in the fridge to cool it off so it doesn't a weird texture

HTH

-Rezzy
p.s. here are a couple of cakes that I did with Rich's

http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=coppermine&file=displayimage&meta=allby&uname=rezzycakes&cat=0&pos=17
http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=coppermine&file=displayimage&meta=allby&uname=rezzycakes&cat=0&pos=32
http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=coppermine&file=displayimage&meta=allby&uname=rezzycakes&cat=0&pos=15

I also used the pre-whipped. My best advice is to keep the stuff cold. Ice a cold cake, dip your spatula in ice water, if you need to color it, put the bowl you're mixing the color and icing in into a bigger bowl with ice water. It works like a charm as long as it's kept cold. Once you're done decorating, you don't have to keep it cold.

rezzycakes is right, it does get rough if you mix it too much but always keep some of the liquid on hand to add to it if it gets that rough, it helps.
The weird texture is the icing seperating and firming because of the warmth of your hands, not fun when it does that!

I find also that if you whip it until just before the stiff whipped cream stage, it's much easier to spread smoothly on cakes.

I have never used this one. I buy the non-diary whip cream to frost my cakes and decorate it with it too. It is in a blue can. I liked this one and was easy to whip up and not that long. You can also add flavor to it if you want.

I have used this - but only as a filling, so I haven't tried icing or decorating a cake with it. It can be used as a great mousse-type filling by adding a box of pudding to it while you whip it up. Plus it doesn't need to be refrigerated - so I love using it!

You need to keep it really cold for it to whip up. I put my KA bowl in the freezer for about 30 minutes before I whip it and it whips up great. Here's a really good site with some tips about Bettercreame/Pastry Pride...


http://www.doitwithicing.com/recipeDetail.asp?id=6