Hi,

I was just wondering what makes buttercream crust? Is it the Powder sugar? I've seen different recipes here, some use merengue powder, other don't. I have a recipe but it doesn't ask for merengue powder, I always use IMBC for my cakes, but I wanted to try "american" BC for my niece's cakes this weekend, and also would like to practice edna's technique.

Thank you
Anna

Meringue powder isn't the crusting factor, though Wilton makes it sound that way.

Crusting is based off the sugar to fat ratio.

The more sugar the recipe has, the more it will crust. The more fat the recipe has the slower it will crust.

When looking at recipes I think about a 1lb sugar to 1 cup fat ratio. This is a ratio that I know crusts, so it works for me to use as base. If a recipe is 2 cups fat to 1 lb powder sugar then it will crust slower. If it is 1 cup fat to 2lbs sugar it will crust faster.

I used to make wilton's BC, until I discovered Indydebi BC recipe http://cakecentral.com/recipes/6992/indydebis-crisco-based-buttercream-icing. This recipe it's excellent, it crust very well, and taste great. In my case, what I think makes my buttercream crust is that after I frost it I put it in the refrigerator for at least 5 to 10 minutes

Thank you ladies....

Another question...Is there a way to make IMBC crust ? I tried adding some Powder sugar but it didn't work.

Pearlydi..Can Indy's recipe be kept without refrigeration, since it's make with milk?...

TexasSugar...thanks for sharing your ratios!

No. IMBC or SMBC will not crust because they are made with egg whites, dissolved granulated sugar, and butter. The crusting buttercream recipes use shortening and powdered sugar. The meringue based buttercreams will become firm with refrigeration, but will soften again, like butter, at room temperature. No crust forms on them.

LuvLyrics - You don't need to refridgerate Indydebi's BC - the high sugar ratio "cooks" the milk.

Thank you !!!!

You don't need to put the butter/crisco and powder sugar recipes in the fridge to make them crust. Since I love in a humid area, I actually try to avoid putting my cakes in the fridge so I don't have to deal with condensation issues.

Any of the cooked buttercreams, SMBC and IMBC as examples are not going to crust, that is just there nature.

And there are some buttercreams made with powder sugar and butter/crisco that will not crust. I want to say the Whimsical Bakehouse has a recipe that doesn't. Those are usually the ones that have a really high fat content compaired to the sugar ratio.