Does anyone use margarine instead of butter in their buttercream?
I usually use half Crisco/half butter but was wondering what results margarine would have in terms of taste and texture.

(I searched in the forums, but did not see threads on this).

Thanks!

If you're not going to use butter you might as well use all crisco.

I always use half margarine half crisco for buttercream. Works for me!

Ok; thanks ladies.

I agree with Tiggy...margarine is pretty much the same as shortening. That's not to say that you can't use it, but it's the equivalent of using all shortening.

I use margarine in my BC recipe all the time because butter is too expensive.I have tried both ways and tested it on my family and friends without them knowing which one was which and everyone said they couldn't tell the difference.Now I realize many will say that isn't true BC and it may be dishonest to call it "Buttercream"icing (not going to get into a debate about it right now) but if it works and my customers are happy with the taste etc..then I don't see an issue.I can buy a 7lb flat tub of margarine for $8.00 and be able to make several batches of icing from it where as a pound of butter is $3.99 and I would need at least 1-2 pounds every batch.

I also use half crisco and half margarine. It works great for me too

Wow, $3.99/lb for butter! That's crazy! I get mad if I can't find it under $2/lb. Guess I should count my blessings, huh?

Yup..Butter is expensive here....You can never find it for less than maybe $3.39 on sale and there is always a limit of 1 or 2....

Margarine has liquid in it. Shortening or butter, which are both all fat, do not. Margarine is also designed to be spreadable when cold, so it doesn't hold up as well as shortening or butter.

Butter actually has water in it. I believe there is about 16% water in butter. Shortening is definitely all fat.

According to http://www.webexhibits.org/butter/composition.html (and my chefs at school) Commercial butter is 8082 percent milk fat, 1617 percent water, and 12 percent milk solids other than fat (sometimes referred to as curd). It may contain salt , added directly to the butter in concentrations of 1 to 2 percent. Unsalted butter is often referred to as sweet butter. This should not be confused with sweet cream butter, which may or may not be salted. European butter has a higher fat content--up to 86%, I believe.

Stick margarine is usually made with a same percentage of fat to water content as butter. This is why in most cases they can be substituted one for one.

Shortening and hi-ratio shortening are virtually 100% fat, according to the label. There are some emulsifiers in Crisco and more in hi-ratio shortenings, so it is not quite 100%. This is why Crisco says on the label that when substituting for butter or margarine you should use less and add water. With hi-ratio, for icing you can use a little more liquid in your icing or do the same sort of conversion as for Crisco for baking.

just curious when using the margerine instead of butter will it still "crust"?