what is the BEST frosting/buttercream to use to hold a swirl ie .. 1 m etc...

Thank you for any helpp u can give

I use IMBC personally... but anything that holds its shape will do.

I'm new to this baking lingo so could anyone tell me what IMBC stands for? I too am looking for a nice buttercream to create those elegant swirls. Thank you!

I like IMBC (italian meringue buttercream) too.

IMBC=Italian meringue buttercream!

Thank you both so much, I'm writing it down so I don't have to ask again.

Baketastic: That would be Italian Meringue Buttercream.

DivineCookie, I personally love Earlene's Cream Cheese Buttercream. Not too sweet - easy to prepare, and a dream to work with. Other's will also recommend SugarShack's buttercream.

Here's a link to Earlene's:


http://www.earlenescakes.com/icings.htm

I use SMBC (swiss meringue buttercream.. same end result as IMBC just cooked differently). It makes great swirls.

Thank you! I'm going to check out that link as well.

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-2123-Buttercream-Dream.html
This is one of my fav icings to use It will also make a beautiful swirl!
Baketastic.. I thought you were just looking for a cream cheese icing ?
I also love Sugarshacks buttercream and Indydebi,s ..You just have to try out several recipes and see what works best for you. We all have are fav!

I want to do the cream cheese icing with the red velvet, but I'm open to all types of icing for other goodies.

Oh Ok.. well you should try some of the ones talked about.

There is a thread about acronyms here somewhere, I forgot where, but let me see if I can post it here, I made a copy. It's easier to just copy - paste, here it is. I know is long, sorry, it might help someone.

ACD = American Cake Decorating magazine
AFAIK= As far as I know
BC = Buttercream or Betty Crocker
BCT = frozen Buttercream Transfer
BF = Boy/Best Friend
BIL = Brother-In-Law
BTW = By The Way
BUMP = Bring Up My Post or Bump Up My Post
CC = Cake Central
CCC = Cupcake Cake
CMD = Cake Mix Doctor
CT = Chocolate Transfer
DD = Dear Daughter/Dad
DF = Dear Father/Friend
DH = Dear Husband or Duncan Hines
DM = Dear Mother
DIL= Daughter in law
DOS = Day of Sharing
DS = Dear Son/Sister
DW = Dear Wife
EI = Edible Image
ESBC= Extra special butter cream (recipe)
FAQ = Frequently Asked Questions
FBCT = Frozen Buttercream Transfer
FIL = Father-In-Law
FWIW= For what is worth
GFY = Good For You
GMT = Greenwich Mean Time
GP = Gum Paste
HTH = Hope That Helps
ICES = The International Cake Exploration Societe'
IIRC= If I recall correctly
IMBC = Italian Meringue Buttercream
IMHO = In My Humble Opinion
IMO = In My Opinion
ISO = In Search Of
JMO = Just My Opinion
KA = KitchenAid Mixer
KK = Kopykake
KWIM= Know what I mean
LOL = Laughing Out Loud
LP= Life Partner
MBN = Mailbox News magazine
MIL = Mother-In-Law
MMF = Marshmallow Fondant
MOB = Mother of the Bride
MOG = Mother of the Groom
NFSC = No Fail Sugar Cookies
OP = Opening Post or Poster
OPBBTL= Old post brought back to life
OT = Off Topic
PITA = Pain in the A
PM = Private Message
PS = Powdered Sugar
RAK= Random act of kindness
RBC = Rolled Buttercream
RCT = Rice Crispie Treats
RI = Royal Icing
RKT = Rice Krispie Treats
ROFL = Rolling On Floor Laughing
ROFLMAO = Rolling On Floor Laughing My A** Off
SIL = Sister/Son-In-Law
SPS- Single plate separator
SMBC = Swiss Meringue Buttercream
TFL= Thanks for looking
TIA = Thanks In Advance
TY = Thank You
WASC = White Almond Sour Cream Cake
WBH = The Whimsical Bakehouse
WMI = Wilton Method Instructor
WTG = Way To Go
YB = Yearbook (Wilton)


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Thank you so much for that!!!

And I'll definitely try your icing recipes.

Baketastic.. You should post some pictures,Love the avatar!

Will do, soon as I get a technique down, I just started the baking thing, but its a lot of fun so far. The avatar is not my creation, I found it on Photobucket, but its my inspiration for this weekend. The more I look at it the more I feel I can do it!

I will put up pictures of my lame-o starter cupcakes though.

Oh Im sure you will do great we all started somewhere ! In your avatar is the heart made Of choc or fondant do you know and are you adding it to ? If you want a taller swirl ? Cause that one looks like more of a flat swirl just build up as you go around the cupcake.

It's chocolate (or so it appears in the bigger picture) and I'm going to do a much fluffier swirl on mine.

I just uploaded my first picture but its sideways, not sure why it did that.

ETA: I'm not sure what's going on and how I can get it to show up on my Photos link, so I am just going to do this instead.

Here is a picture of my first attempt at a swirl, as you can see, it flopped so I tried to make it pretty with sugar crystals, haha. And the green is my husband's doing, kind of goofy but fun.

http://s12.photobucket.com/albums/a216/Newyorks_Chynadoll/?action=view¤t=Cupcake1.jpg

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a216/Newyorks_Chynadoll/DSC_0031.jpg

I guess you have to start somewhere, here is my finished product, haha, I feel embarrassed! I gave up on the swirls!

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a216/Newyorks_Chynadoll/DSC_0032.jpg

Baketastic, I think your cupcakes are looking good. Keep practicing! If you find your swirl keeps flopping, you might want to try making your icing stiffer (i.e., add more powdered sugar).

Thank you so much for the compliment, I do have to remind myself everyone starts somewhere and this was my first time making cupcakes and using the tips. I used canned (oops!) icing because it was for my 2 yr old to eat and he has severe allergies. But he didn't care for the cupcakes so now I am free to make them however I'd like, haha. (At least until he gets older). Thanks again!

Baketastic-I like the spikey one! That is very cute. What tip did you use?

He used the Wilton star tip #17.

Baketastic.. Those are very cute ! I will say that I think you will need a stiffer icing to get the big fluffy swirl you want . They look very fun though!
Go ahead and add some powdered sugar to the canned icing just to practice though.

Thank you! I will try the sugar if I decide to try again with canned frosting for him, though I did locate a dairy free recipe this morning, yay!!

Shootfire, Baketastic! Your cupcakes look well on their way toward your goal! Here's a picture of one of my cupcakes piped using just the large round tip (with Earlene's Cream Cheese Buttercream.) BTW, I forgot to tell you the Butavan she speaks of IS NOT mandatory in her recipe. You can use any flavoring you desire. I use vanilla and just a tad of almond --maybe a quarter teaspoon. Also, if you want it to stand up, add a tablespoon of meringue powder.

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-photo_1284604.html

Just keep practicing... you have nothing to be ashamed of!

Win.. Those are gorgeous! Did you make the daisy ? real ?

Those are beautiful!! Thanks for the note on the Butavan, I just wrote down that is is not mandatory.

You are all very sweet, I'm glad I signed up on here, you are giving me the encouragement I need to give this another go! Now that I'm attempting home made icing and cupcakes I am trying to convince my husband to let me get a KitchenAid hand mixer and quite possibly stand mixer over time. Haha. I've been eying the Martha Stewart Blue one for a while and its on sale at Macy's.

Baketastic, , didn't know you were looking for dairy-free but should have realized it when you speak of children with severe food allergies. If you found one using a shortening base, make sure you don't use Crisco. They have taken all the trans fats out of their formula which keeps frostings soft. Store brands tend to work well if they have not removed trans fats. A friend told me Wilton has reconfigured their recipe to accommodate the lack of trans fats in shortenings... she was not much impressed with the new recipe.

Fiddlesticks, I wish! Those are real. I have been working on gum paste ones since and am getting closer to having them look real; however. Thanks for the compliment!

Thanks for the help Win, I'm okay though, apparently my 2 year old is strange and doesn't like cupcakes. Haha. I tried giving him one of tonights chocolate cupcakes and he pulled away and screamed YUCK! I guess he doesn't know what he's missing since I never allowed him these sweets before.

My husband went out and bought me the 1M tip tonight, how sweet (I think he just wanted me to bake him chocolate cupcakes). Anyway, I made another boxed/canned variety since its all we have here (shopping on Thursday!) and they came out great! Here are a couple pictures I want to share. And thank you again for all the great advice, I think I'm getting better than the previous pictures!!! Honestly, please tell me if I need to work on something in particular or if these cupcakes look weird.

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a216/Newyorks_Chynadoll/Cupcakes%20-%20Birthdays/DSC_0037.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a216/Newyorks_Chynadoll/Cupcakes%20-%20Birthdays/DSC_0039.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a216/Newyorks_Chynadoll/Cupcakes%20-%20Birthdays/DSC_0043.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a216/Newyorks_Chynadoll/Cupcakes%20-%20Birthdays/DSC_0046.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a216/Newyorks_Chynadoll/Cupcakes%20-%20Birthdays/DSC_0050.jpg

Can someone teach me how to add pictures an easier way or is this okay to do?