Did anyone else see Oprah yesterday?
I was blown away by the liver Dr Oz showed that was bleached out from eating hydrogenated oil (like Crisco).
He called it a fatty liver.
I'm a nurse so I should know better, but....
I had no idea that it would make a liver look like that!
I'm swearing off frosting
Except for a tiny taste.
Yuck!
No wonder I'm getting FAT!

I have seen this before. That is why I use butter because your body knows how to process butter.
There is a email going around about putting margarine or Crisco outside. See how many bugs go to it.

I try to cut back on Hydrogenated oil and High Fructose corn syrup. Another one is Enriched flour.

I did the experiment with Crisco, margarine, and butter in elementary school, and true enough, there were bugs in the butter and none in the crisco and margarine. I've never used it since! (We also did the same experiment with water, but I can't remember what kinds we used ie. filtered, RO, spring)

I make SMBC all the time now. Sure it takes a lot longer, but it's totally worth the taste and it's better for your body.

Oh my gosh. I am horrified and disgusted. I'm done with shortening now, even if the bugs are going to share my butter with me. And I also have a stupid question: what is SMBC? Some sort of butter cream?

I saw the show yesterday, too, and I really like Dr. Oz and the information he provides.......but, here is my take on it. I think we all know that most cake is made from REALLY BAD stuff. REALLY bad for you but it tastes REALLY good. I don't know that there is a way to make a really terrific, great looking cake without somehow using Crisco, butter, powdered sugar, regular sugar, corn syrup.....you get the picture. We all know it's possible to make a cake without this stuff but the reality is it's part of making a cake.

I have come to the conclusion that it's really okay to use this stuff, just don't eat it all the time!! People that buy cakes from us are buying them for a very special occasion and I believe that it's okay to eat ALL THINGS in moderation. Sure, stay away from it 99% of the time, but enjoy yourself the other 1%. My grandma lived to be 98 years old and she ate things like butter, bacon, white bread and other "bad" things her entire life. I think life is too short to NOT enjoy the things we love every so often. I am always on a journey to get more fit and keep my weight at a healthy place but I ain't turnin' down some great cake every now and then !!!

EWW, that's just gross! I made Choc. Bc w/ crisco for the first time the other day, I think I'll stick to my all butter recipes. Or I'll go w/ cmcgarr and try the SMBC. Thanks.

OK, so what do I do? I live in Texas and for about 5-6 months out of the year, if not more, I cannot use all butter frosting. Do any of the other frostings, IMBC or SMbc hold up in the temps, or am I just destined to cause everyone to have fatty livers?


stephanie

My grandkids are homeschooled. That would be a great experiment for them to do.
I assume the bugs won't eat it because it's not really food?
I heard about a healthfood salesman who's taken an unwrapped twinkie with him to every show for 10 yrs and it still doesn't look different.
I should be well preserved! (I love Twinkies)
But truly, I will change my evil ways.
Just thinking about changing my liver to concrete...yuck.

Im so disgusted!!! I probably won't stop using crisco but I will definitely stop eating so many terrible foods. Like auntsushi said, most people only eat these cakes for special occasions, and then if thats the case eating some crisco isnt' too bad right? We cant cut out allllll bad things, thats impossible!

I agree, the people that order cakes only have them a few times a year. We're the only ones that have that fatty mess in our house constantly and year round!

Swiss Meringue Butter Cream
SMBC

SMBC (Swiss Meringue Buttercream).
It uses egg whites, granulated sugar, and butter. I prefer to buy the egg white in the carton because they're pasteurized, and you can't contaminate them with yolk (if you decide to use shelled eggs).

SMBC-swiss meringue buttercream
IMBC-Italian meringue bc

Made with lots of butter and egg whites

I know that people only eat cake on special occasions, but as cake bakers and decorators, we can get into trouble! It's always so tempting to taste and sample your creations. If you have a strong will, I commend you! but I'm gonna stick with my yummy fav SMBC.

saraott & justfrosting

I see that that you haven't been answered yet.

SMBC - is Swill Meringue Butter Cream

and IMBC - is Italian Meringue Butter Cream

You cook a solution of sugar/water is make a simple syrup. This is then poured into whipped eggs or egg whites, depending on which you make. Then the butter is added to the cooled mixture and beaten in.
There is also French Buttercream.

Sorry - typo =
I ment...

SWISS

Back to the crisco butter thing.....

Yesterday I heard a recently released study that mens testostrone level has dropped 15% in 15 years. That is 1% a year.

I heard this morning that Autism is up 60% and that number is not attributed to better reporting.

I have also just recently heard that the human body decomposes more slowly now and it is said it is because of our new chemical compositions.

It is a garbage planet! And I want someone to tell me the one and only good thing left to eat on earth.

A comment on the "eating things that are bad for you" post. Butter is not necessarily the most healthy thing to eat, but at least it is a food item found in nature (comes from milk), and not a chemical creation. You shouldn't eat a stick of butter everyday or anything, but you can easily cut back on the hydrogenated oils, etc. By making cakes and icing without shortening in them, you can substitute butter and although it's still not healthy, at least your body knows what to do with it!

That's why I make everything from scratch. The ONLY ready made things I buy are canned tomatoes.

I only buy organic milk, dairy products and eggs. My meats are also "organic" meaning no growth hormones, etc.

Things taste better too and really, does it cost that much more? Not really! Plus, you feel good when you know that you're giving your family the best.

That's why it KILLS me to use crisco and I've been switching over to butter.

Melissa

I DON'T plan to stop using Crisco.
I just plan to stop tasting and tasting and tasting....my frosting.
I eat LOTS of it....I gotta stop!
I know saturated fats are bad.....it's just that I didn't realize how much worse hydrogenated fat was.
As for my recipes....I just poison my customers LOL
but after all they aren't
eating as much of the cake and frosting I do.
Naughty Naughty me!

I agree with Auntsushi,
Eat in moderation. You can eat healthy, excercise, watch everything you do and the second you walk out your door, get hit by a car! Life is about moderation.

I like organic also, but then I start thinking, the air is polluted with chemicals, the ground is polluted with chemicals, and so is the water and these chemicals never go away. Cows eat and drink them, plants absorb them no matter how hard we try to be "clean" and then I go into a tizzy. All this worry "could be sugar induced."

But vickymacd now I am going to worry about car death stats now cuz I drive hour one each way for work daily. No hope.

Can't we call in another expert to refute this. And...what will they be saying in 15 years?

Just kidding! I know it is bad for me but try to be moderate about it.

I am fairly new to cake baking/decorating and went through the Wilton classes. So as a result I use the Wilton recipe for butter cream half crisco half butter. I also like many of the other posters like to taste test my icing and found that....how can I put this delicately.....get issues when I eat too much
But I have a few questions.
When you make butter cream with all butter does it get too soft and does you cake need to be refridgerated?
How about the other types of butter cream that have been discussed?
Thanks for your help.

Sorry....me again.....
My hubby is a melanoma cancer survivor.
His co-worker and friend in a nearby city BOTH died of melanoma while he was under treatment.
My hubby became a health food NUT.
Yes, he took all his treatments, but he did a big turnaround diet wise.
All I know is he is still here. Yea!
When I told him I was giving up my Crisco because of what I saw on Oprah he was sooooo proud of me.
He also said "I told you so."
I hate it when he's right. LOL.

I don't know people. There are so many "bad" things for us anymore. I say life is to short to give up all good tasting foods.

You hear about the people who eat fat and junk food and live to be almost 100 and then you hear about the man who eats only "good" foods, runs everyday and does everything he can to live healthy only to die from a heart attack at 40.

I really believe that when it's our time to go we go.

So I will continue to eat cake and the Crisco icing and hope for the best. If I die, well at least I got my cake