i have a client who cannot have dairy, so i attempted SMBC TWICE with margarine and it is a disaster!! after beating it for 10 min, it is just thick and margarine-y. it is horrible. has anyone tried it w/ margarine successfully?

It is not going to work with margerine. The water content of the margerine will prevent the emulsion from happening, which is what you are doing when combining your meringue with butter.

I have never tried it, but I have heard of people using shortening, once it comes together add flavoring, but make sure it's strong flavors like vanilla bean paste, chocolate or fruit pruee.

Good luck!

Just wanted to mention... I'm not sure if your client can't have dairy due to lactose intolerance, or a true allergy... But margarine often has hidden dairy unless you use a select few brands (Earth Balance is one). If you read the ingredients margarines usually have Whey and/or Casein (sometimes even milk) which are the proteins in milk and can still trigger an allergic reaction. I spent a little over a year dairy free while I was nursing my son because he was intolerant! I used an American Buttercream and just used only shortening and no one ever knew there was no butter in it

Fleishman's unsalted stick margarine is one of the few margarines that doesn't have milk derivatives. I know because DH has a milk allergy and I have read every marg. label available.

As for smbc, I like this icing, too, but it doesn't work to just substitute margarine. I've experimented using mostly high ratio shortening with a little Fleishman's for flavor...the texture was great but the taste wasn't...DH didn't like it at all. Maybe someone can tell me how to make it taste better, lol!

For DH and others in my family with milk allergies, I make American style bc using Sugar Shack's recipe--but don't use coffee creamer!! it has milk derivatives!!! For the liquid, I use soy milk or sometimes soy creamer, but I always read the label just in case.