Can I sub shortening for some of the butter in SMBC to make it more stable? I need to do cupcakes for an outdoor event and I'm worried a full-butter version won't stand up to the heat/humidity. I can't use a reg. American buttercream- bride says it's too sweet.

Anybody? This seems like it would work, but I'm not sure how much I could/should substitute without affecting the flavor....If there's another way to make SMBC more stable, let me know....I just can't use American and I have to make 100 cupcakes to hold up outside @ 3 pm in the south!

Have you tried the Whimsical Bakehouse buttercream? It's very light and not quite as sweet as american buttercream.

http://www.whimsicalbakehouse.com/bake/bake_detail_house_buttercream.html

I haven't tried subbing shortening for butter in SMBC, but the Whimsical Bakehouse recipe uses all shortening.

It doesn't look like a bad recipe, but 6C of confectioner's sugar is still probably going to be too sweet. My normal SMBC recipe only calls for 10oz of granulated sugar.

I never have but have friends who do. I'm not 100% positive but I think I remember it being 1/3 of the butter you can replace with shortening. Hope that helps a little.