AI recently made a cake for as friend using Warren Brown's IMBC. Made 2 batches because my KA mixer is small. 1 with unsalted butter and the other with salted. She claimed it tasted like I whipped butter and slathered the cake with it. Ugh, guessing I should have asked her if she wanted Crisco and powdered sugar or a meringue buttercream. My gripe is everyone wants that supermarket cake and icing. If that's what your expectations are then go to a supermarket.

i don't know--i have a boat load of butter in my smbc and i've never heard anyone say it's too buttery--not that that proves anything but i never heard that comment and my son was a chef--he woulda let me have it!

but how much flavoring did you have in it???

i use one tablespoon of vanilla to 1 & 1/3 cup butter and 3 egg whties

often the amount of vanilla or flavoring used seems to offset the too much butter complaints

 just a thought

It does taste like whipped butter!  My recipe calls for 6 sticks of butter, but I only add 4.  It's still buttery, but much better.  Also, add lots of good quality flavor - even if it's just vanilla.  Seriously, cutting down on the butter doesn't affect the stability, and it tastes much better!

ANot sure what your ratios are, but for SMBC which is similar to IMBC (I think). I use the 1:2:2 ratio instead of 1:2:3 which is eggs:sugar:butter. It doesn't affect the stability as mentioned above but does make it taste better, I actually forgot to add vanilla once and everyone still loved the taste.

AI did add vanilla, about 2 tsp....I used it on my son's birthday cake. Everyone loved it. Although everybody I know is so stuck on this generic box mix, icing from a can or flash frozen cake and a block of mix n frost...not that that is awful. Open your eyes and see how great other things are. My fiance hates icing, but loved the IMBC. It was 5 egg whites, 1 & a quarter cup sugar, quarter cup water, a pound of butter and 2 tsp vanilla. I love it...to each his own :)

I make my cake and icings from scratch...im not a huge fan of smbc or imbc.  I can understand why some people don't like it.  When I want something sweet, I want it sinfully sweet.

for those who don't like basic American buttercreams, I usually throw a block of softened cream cheese in with my American buttercream recipe and it cuts some of the sweetness and adds a little tang.  

As many scratch cupcakes and icings that I do, I still love Kroger's (grocery store) pre made buttercream, lol.

It's a matter of taste - I've come to appreciate SMBC over time but when I first made it I couldn't understand the appeal of eating what tastes and feels like whipped butter. My British husband hates it, but all my American friends have raved over every cake that's had it on. Some people love butter, some people don't. It's not about being uneducated or unwilling to try anything that's not from a box. 

Once, I accidentally picked up salted butter rather than unsalted.  I found the salted IMBC had a much more buttery taste and it took TONS of vanilla to flavor the icing.  

I also like to add melted white chocolate to my prepared IMBC.   Yum!  

I will say that I prefer IMBC on things like whoopie pies.  I'm making some imbc and whoopie pies as we speak (er type)

AI guess it's just matter of personal taste, I find American buttercream too sweet for my liking and I hate making it seeing all that powdered sugar go everywhere. My favourite icings are chantilly cream or crème pâtissier but since they're perishable fillings I don't really use them. But yes I agree it's just a matter of personal taste what one might not like another will love. Don't be disheartened by the comments.

Both SMBC and IMBC taste better when eaten at room temperature.  If you can't wait and eat a cupcake straight out of the fridge, the icing is more like chilled butter.  8 seconds in the microwave makes a world of difference.  A large chilled cake can take a couple of hours to get to the right temperature.

I think that anytime you make it with salted butter it is going to overwhelm the sweetness of the BC. For one thing, there is no standard measurement for the amount of salt from one brand to the next.  Secondly, you can use up to 6 oz of flavoring in a 4 cup batch of IMBC, so it's possible you could have added more vanilla for a stronger/sweeter flavor.

I have found that the tides are turning with my requests for ABC to SMBC.  And I will also do combo cakes with the SMBC mixed with fruit as a filling and the ABC on the exterior simply for the versatility for being outdoors (any SMBC cake must be kept inside due to the non-crusting prop and elements).  At tastings I will present the two options for the buttercream.  

When making a salted caramel SMBC, I will add in up to 1.5 cups of powder sugar to a recipe that calls for 1 lb of butter to balance and help sweeten up the caramel. 

Thank you for your help and comments. Guess I'll stick with american buttercream and give them an option for IMBC and a description of all I know how to make and offer.

And don't forget to increase the amount of vanilla extract, it makes a HUGE difference. On average about 1-2 Tablespoons of high quality real vanilla extract is what I've seen used by MBC cakers.

Also remember to let it come to room temp, if it is cold you will taste mostly the butter but once at room temp "Delish" 

Also, American Buttercream doesn't HAVE to mean shortening. We use all butter in our ABC and people love it. It IS still really sweet, but at least it has the rich taste of butter to balance out the sugar. We also use half salted butter or use a pinch of salt, which also cuts the sweet of it and gives it some savor. 

I don't care for SMBC or IMBC myself, but to each his (or her) own!