I know this question has to be in here somewhere, but I am too lazy to search. Grin.

This discussion came up in my house and you know, I don't really know the answer! What does make buttercream crust? Is it the shortening, the sugar? How do you make it crust less or crust more? Or not crust at all?

Just curious!

Good question! I always assumed that the sugar on the outside exposed to the air just dried out again and went hard, but then you get the non crusting kind and that still has PS in it so ????

You are going to get a ton of different answers
The *MAIN* thing is the amount of powdered sugar to the amount of 'fat' (butter,Criso etc).
The more sugar and less fat the more it will crust.

originally, i was told by my wilton instructor that it was merinque powder...but i did a class at earlene moore's and she said the same as mentioned above....sugar to fat ratio.....and with no MP, it still crusts! i was quite disappointed in my wilton instructor but then, who stands to gain while the MP sells?

my vote: sugar to fat!
sally

Sally, I had never heard of merinque powder until I hit CC less than 2 years ago. So based on having a good crusting BC for 25 years, I'd have to agree and say that MP has nothing to do with it!

The merengue powder just helps in the consistency of the icing. Like in RI for string work

Meringue Powder
"http://www.recipetips.com/kitchen-tips/t--184/Egg-Products.asp"
"Meringue powder is basically dried egg whites with the addition of sugar and gum. Meringue is created when the powder is added to water and is then whipped. Like all other uncooked egg products, meringue powder is pasteurized so it is very useful when preparing dishes requiring uncooked meringues. It also has a long shelf life (over one year)."
I got this off the above page & I've also used the Wilton meringue powder in their buttercream recipe & what's the purpose of it, I don't get it...I was told it was like a stablizer, is that true?

Thanks Edna! I had been wondering if I ever needed to use it again. I've looked at your photos & WOW.....you're cakes (all of them) are gorgeous. It looks like it must all come so easy to you.

Thanks Nancy!....It does come easy to me..but then again i practice a lot!...
Edna

I was told that meringue powder was a stabilizer. It helped keep the icing from breaking down and keeps colors from bleeding. Our Wilton instructor told us that there's a lot of meringue powder in red food coloring to keep it from bleeding and that's why red coloring has a "taste" to it. I just smiled and nodded.

Edna, the old saying is true "practice makes perfect", you've done it & it shows.

wow thanks guys! Whenever I have time, my step son and I are gonna play...make buttercream with less sugar and more fat and visa versa and see how they change. hahaha! So I assume that all butter buttercreams do not crust as easily as all shortening buttercreams?

I am actually sitting in Sacramento, CA in my hotel room after finishing up a WMI training from this weekend.

It is said at every meeting by our trainers that it helps it crust.

I have done so many variations of bttercream over the years that I can't say if it's true or not anymore but I know years back (when I was in my mid teens and learning to decorate) I did have a difference in my frosting crusting when I used it and when I didn't.

At times it would crust more than others.

Making icing isn't an exact science and honestly even in perfect weather conditions it could go screwy on you if the moon is in line with saturn on a day that ends in a y on the 13th of an even numbered month while the chunky man wearing pink striped pant with plaid suspenders crosses on a don't walk sign.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CakesByLJ

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadPhoeMom

originally, i was told by my wilton instructor that it was merinque powder...but i did a class at earlene moore's and she said the same as mentioned above....sugar to fat ratio.....and with no MP, it still crusts! i was quite disappointed in my wilton instructor but then, who stands to gain while the MP sells?

my vote: sugar to fat!
sally

Don't be too hard on your Wilton instructor... she was just doing what they are trained to do.......

We stand nothing to gain by what you buy or don't buy.

Honestly, many WMI's are repeating things like this from their training so don't be to harsh on her.

There is so much thrown at us with catch phrases like that at seminars and meetings that we go by faith what we are being told has truth to it.

Bottom line, if you feel it's useless then don't buy it. If you feel it is an essential to your frosting to make it turn out then buy it.

There's no right or wrong answer to this one.

I think the MP helps a lot with stablizing..I notice when I don't use it during the summer months, my buttercream has a more kind of sheen to it, but never noticed if the crusting was less or not.

I just tried Indydebi's wonderful buttercream recipe the other day and it crusts very well...much better than the wilton recipe, which has been my old faithful for the last ten years. I had never tried adding the meringue powder to the wilton recipe until recently (hadn't bought the Wilton yearbook since 2002), and I did notice that it seemed to make the Wilton recipe take color better, and not break down as fast from the heat in my kitchen.

Anyhow, if you need a good crusting buttercream, Indydebi's is the way to go. I used it on a family cake that I let my daughters decorate (my kitchen is still pink and purple ), it stood up well to my 6 year old piping borders, and everyone was crazy about the taste. My husband stood in the kitchen scooping it out of the mixing bowl with his finger and eating it until I had to whack him with the spatula. Even my mother, the pickiest woman alive, gave it rave reviews.

You'll have to post her recipe for us then! (or Debi can! grin) I didnt see it in the recipe search.

I wanted to try SugarShacks recipe for just birthday cakes, but I haven't found a consistant recipe for it...some say 5 lbs of hi ratio, some say 5 1/2, some dont have how much creamer to add, some say just 3/4 cup (doesnt seem like enough!) and I don't know where to get wedding bouquet....and some said it was a special mixture she had. Would love to see a tried and true recipe for it. And can you use whipping cream instead? I hate the smell of non dairy creamer...yeck!

Texas_rose,
When you tried indydebi's buttercream, did you use 0 trans fat crisco or some other shortening? I can either use 0 trans fat crisco or I have to make it with butter. I cannot use the regular shortening which has trans fats in it.

TIA,

I meant no disrespect CarolynGwen I was a WMI for over 12 years, and attended many of those training seminars.

Thanks Debi.

It is the ratio of sugar to fat that determines whether the icing crusts or not, but meringue powder added to an icing will stabilize it and make it crust faster and firmer than without. It does help prevent color bleeding, too. I add MP to my BC for outdoor weddings, longer deliveries in hot weather, and for designs that involve using plastic mats to imprint desgins in the BC (so it crusts faster and the imprinted design is crisper), or when making dried BC flowers.

indydebi - thanks for the recipe.

TexasSugar - pretty cake! I thought impression mats were for fondant. I don't like covering a cake in fondant, so I never gave the mats a second look.