Do You Have A "signature" Buttercream?
Decorating By projectqueen Updated 29 Aug 2006 , 7:12pm by cakefairy18
What do you do with the 10 egg yolks left??
I heard long time ago thatif you mix egg yolks with olive oil it makes a real good hair treatment!!
I use as follows:
1 C Sweetex or Crisco
1 C Butter or White Marg.
1 teaspoon Pure Mexican Madascar Rum Vanilla (Clear)
1 teaspoon Butter Extract
4 Tablespoons Water (So it does not have to say cold)
a pinch of salt disolved in the vanilla and butter extracts.
Mix well for about 10 mins.
Everyone goes crazy over this frosting, most say they like it, cause its not too sweet. But I always try different recipes and always go back to this one.
I would say it's not too sweet. It doesn't have any sugar in it, lol.
I've been seeing this mentioned in some of your posts....but
I don't have a CLUE
what it is LOL!I always use Crisco in my Icing.....
Maybe I'm missing out?
Somebody fill me in!
Thanks
Kaye
Kaye, I don't think you are missing anything...
I have used an all-crisco buttercream recipe for years and years. It has equal parts of almond, butter and vanilla flavorings in it. It smells great and tastes delicious. The one time I tried to change it and used something different, my regular clients were very unhappy and did not hesitate to tell me.
My mother used to say, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." (oops! my southern is showing 
)
So I am sticking with what works for me.
Hello all, Vicki ,with the egg yolks you can make lemon curd, freeze it until needed. I just made the crusting BC for the Viva method that is posted on this site yesterday. Wow it is great, wish I had found it earlier. My question is this. The recipe did not state salted or unsalted for the butter. I used salted and it came out great but what is recommended for this particular recipe?? 
Thanks Cheffie
I use the Wilton buttercream with some variations.
I use 2 lbs of confect sugar, 1 cup of Crisco, 1 tsp of vanilla, 1 tsp of almond extract, 1/2 cup of water, 1/2 tbsp of meringue powder, 1/2 tsp of salt...
Because it has only half the crisco it normally calls for, it dries much faster.
I use this same recipe! I also vary my recipe... I cut back on the Crisco and the salt aswell. I think the recipe calls for 3/4 tsp of salt, and that is entirely too much! And I usually only use the vanilla extract because alot of people I bake for don't like almond or butter flavored icing. But I have added 1 tsp of butter flavoring and its also really good that way!
I use salted butter and leave out the 1/4 tsp of salt- salted butter is much cheaper to buy.
Unless I need a super white icing, I agree that 1/2 butter, 1/2 shortening is best.
I recently found a high-ratio shortening and do prefer the taste of the finished product, but the SM & IM buttercreams have a far superior taste.
How though can you decorate with these icings? They are far too soft for me, and get softer as the cake reaches room temp.
What do you do with the 10 egg yolks left??
Make pastry cream. Or yellow cakes. Or lemon curd (or other fruit curd) or creme brulee or french buttercream. Or just use powdered egg whites for the whites and don't use whole eggs. The other advantage to this is that they're pasturized and you don't have to worry about cooking temps and food safety issues with fresh egg whites.
Okay...I tried to post this earlier but my 2 year old was on my lap and managed to erase it. So I'll try it again.
The Swiss Meringue Buttercream that I use is the recipe found in "Joy of Cooking". I don't want to reprint for fear of copyright infringement. If you don't have this book, I would get it. It's invaluable for so many things. The only thing I alter is at the end of the recipe where it instructs to add 2Tbsp. of liquer I add about 1 Tbsp. of Magic Line Butter Vanilla flavor. This recipe can be kind of intimidating but it's not that hard. Just follow the directions and I think you'll be pleased. It's light and wonderful.
For American style buttercream I use the recipe that follows:
1 cup unsalted butter, room temp.
6 cups unsifted confectioners sugar
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, room temp.
1 tsp. almond extract
1 tsp. Magic Line Butter Vanilla flavor
In your stand mixer beat the butter until smooth. Add half of the sugar and mix until incorporated. Add half of the cream and mix until incorporated. Add remaining sugar, incorporating well. Add cream until desired consistency is reached. Add flavoring and mix until well combined. Now, this seems very simple and it is but there are a few tricks I've learned. First and most importantly....GO SLOW. Don't be revving that KitchenAid up to Ricky Bobby speed- if you do you'll beat a bunch of air in and your frosting won't look smooth. You're going for satiny here. Stop and scrape your bowl down OFTEN. Be sure to use REAL whipping cream. It aids in crusting and lends a wonderful richness to the flavor. It helps to cut the sweet a little bit, too. Use only FRESH, UNSALTED butter. If you like a bit of salt add a pinch yourself. That's it- hope that helps.
me and my mom have a signature recipe...always unless i use fondant, do i use it.
what is Im butter and sm butter?
sm= Swiss Meringue
im = Italian Meringue
Wow thanks to all who are sharing. I'm still trying to figure out my favorite recipe too - I think sometimes the hardest is the chocolate buttercream - b/c of the graininess of the cocoa.... I liked the Hershey syrup recipe on here but I"m sure there are other chocolate buttercream recipes out there that are good too - how do you change the recipe for Italian Meringue or Swiss Meringue to make it chocolate??
I just tried the French Buttercream recipe and everyone loved it - problem was I couldn't get it smooth for anything! Maybe w/a LOT of practice..... of course, I couldn't get my regular crusting buttercream smooth this weekend either - it never crusted in some places (prob. humidity).... but I still heard it tasted good! I used the high-ratio shortening for the crusting buttercream this time and I didn't notice a HUGE difference - but it was maybea little more creamier....
As for the French or Italian or Swiss buttercreams - I do always worry about the eggs in them.... and if you use the powdered egg whites doens't that change the recipe a little? Esp. if there is any heating of the eggs at all? I would assume the egg whites add liquid to the recipe and would wonder what would happen w/ powdered instead.
I tried the Italian once and didn't care for it much - it kinda "disappeared" in your mouth and really didn't add anything to the cake... maybe I did something wrong...
As for piping, I've heard most people say they use all crisco for piping - do you all use something else? Sometimes the 1/2 butter 1/2 Crisco still seems too soft for things like roses....
Anyway that's my 2 cents
Caryl there was no salt in the recipe I used from this site. I used the crusting viva method buttercream. So salted butter is preferred then?? Would it change the taste alot if I used unsalted?? It wouldnt matter on the cost as both salted and unsalted are the same price. Thanks Cheffie
I just tried Martha Stewart's Italian Meringue Buttercream recipe and used the powdered product "Just Whites" and it came out awesome. Better than my fancy bakery down the road. My problem is that I don't really like cold cake - but I love the texture of the icing right out of the refrigerator...
I just followed the instructions on the container - mix with warm water until powder is dissolved, and then followed the recipe for the IMBC. (Its weird, on Martha's site, she has a few different variations of IMBC and they all have differing amts of sugar and water...I don't know why).
mkerton,
Salt is used as a preservative in butter as well as a seasoning and this is one of the reasons that I use unsalted butter. It tends to be fresher because it is rotated faster in the supermarket. I also do most of my grocery shopping in a very busy supermarket here in town. This helps to ensure high product turnover which means fresh product is put out on the shelves more regularly. I also always go by the "sell by" date. If it's past the date I absolutely don't use it- even if it smells okay. I promise you it's so worth it to use real butter. As far as I'm concened Crisco has no place in my frosting.
Cheffie,
I've made the same recipes with salted and with unsalted butter, and honestly cannot taste a difference! Maybe I'm just not salt sensitive!
My hubby HATES anything with the slightest salt flavor- and he can't tell a difference either.
A little salt helps to cut some of the sweet taste. If the recipe does'nt call for salt, I wouldn't add it except in the form of salted butter.
I do agree that the butter must be as fresh as possible!
The meringue buttercreams taste better- if only they crusted better without having to add extra xxx sugar.
I will definitely try the American Buttercream posted by kansasjill.
I'm always looking for that perfect recipe!
I prefer IMB. I recently made Sylvia Weinstock's IMBC but substituted Hi ratio shortening for the butter and I also added some creme bouquet and cut down the amount of vanilla to 2 TBS. I love it! The shortening cut down the too buttery flavor of IMB and I think this is what I'll be using. Oh, and I always use dried egg whites instead of fresh for food safety reasons. I froze my leftovers to see if it still freezes well with the shortening in it.
Jacqui
Ooops, I substitue part of the butter with hi ratio.
i use WBH icing and add 1/2 cup cocoa powder in there, delish and NEVER grainy!
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