Hello there,

I have a curiosity, when you make more than the necessary amount of frosting (italian meringue, buttercream, royal icing etc..) what do you do with the rest? can you keep it? if so, how, where, and for how long?

thank you :)

I make ABC and freeze the left overs. I've never made Italian BC. When I have royal left over, I pipe it on to toothpicks and when they are dry, I use them for centers of gum paste roses. I just store them in a drawer in my cake room.

Jan

AI mix peanut butter in with my left over buttercream, store in the fridge for a couple days (if it lasts that long) and my family snacks on it. We usually dip pretzels or something in it!

I usually don't have any Italian Meringue Buttercream left over but when I do, I put it in a small bowl, covered with plastic wrap and freeze it.  Then use it to top cake samples for taste tests.  Saves me a lot of time and since samples are small, you don't have to create a full batch so it saves money also.

I freeze any imbc, smbc or abc, etc. I keep r/i in the fridge. I make all ahead of time and it is ready for my cakes. It makes decorating day so much enjoyable.

ACan you freeze it and use it again for decorations? And how can you get the constancy back? Sounds difficult huh.

Hi! You can freeze smbc, defrost it and use it for decorations. This is how I do it. I take the smbc from the freezer the day before I need it and let it slowly defrost in the fridge. Then on the day of decorating I take it out and let it stand in room temperature till it really softens up (whipping consistency). Maybe an hour or more depending on how warm it is. I then whip it using the paddle fixture on my mixer and it is ready to go. I haven't had any problems this far but I've heard that at this stage it can still be a little grainy and not quite the same lovely satiny consistency. If this happens the advice out there is to take about 1/3 of the frosting and heat it gently in the micro (making sure it does't melt) and then whip it in with the rest. Resulting in beautiful, satiny smbc that's ready to pretty up any cake and/or cupcake :) Hope this helps!
 

AThank you all for your comments. Excuse my ignorance, but I got me confused with abbreviations you're using. What do imbc, smbc, and abc stand for? Sorry, I'm pretty new at this.

Hi!

abc - american buttercream

imbc - italian meringue buttercream

smbc - swiss meringue butte cream
 

Was also confused at first LOL!! :)

..and that's swiss meringue buttercream :)

AWhy are they all called buttercream? I thought buttercream was a frosting made with butter and glazed sugar? I've seen one called Italian meringue in the style of buttercream which is the original Italian meringue with butter added at the end. I'm even more confused now. There's a lot more to learn here. People think this profession is not a big deal, but indeed it is!

Hi!

I think they are called buttercream because they are usually made by creaming butter and sugar together. I think buttercream is a very broad word used to cover different types of frostings or icings that contain only butter (and powdered sugar of course), a combo of butter and shortening or just shortening. There are lots of debates out there as to whether they should be called buttercream if they contain shortening, but that's whole different story :) I have never made buttercream frosting with butter and glazed sugar. How do you do it? Italian meringue buttercream is made by heating granulated sugar and water to make a sugar syrup which is then poured in a steady stream into whipped egg whites. The mixture is then whipped until it cools and then butter is slowly added a little piece at a time, beating well after each addition. Swiss meringue buttercream is made by heating egg whites and granulated sugar and then whipping the meringue till it cools. Butter is then added in the same way as for italian meringue buttercream. You can also make buttercream by cooking flour, granulated sugar and milk to a thick paste and letting it cool. This mixture is then added to butter that has been beaten for a few minutes. This mixture is then beaten until it becomes light and fluffy. As you can see there are many different ways of making buttercream out there and I'm sure there are many members here on CC who can tell you much more. This is just a little explanation. There are lots of recipes on the internet...all you need to do is look them up...try a couple and see what works best for you. My favorite so far is Swiss meringue buttercream :) Love the texture and taste as it is not as sweet as buttercreams made with butter and powdered sugar.
 

Great post from Rohini!

You can freeze whatever is left. Just defrost and re-beat/re-whip.

AWow Rohini, that was great. I certainly know more about Italian meringue cause that is what we frequenly use in my contry but its know as Suspiro. I for sure have learned alot since I started my researches on cake recipes now I've found this page that is even better. Thank you :)

You're most welcome cakelove2105 .....glad to help :) I've only described three different ways of making buttercream but there are lots more. Still another way is to whip or beat butter that has been at room temperature and then slowly add powdered sugar and beat well until you have a nice creamy texture. You then usually add a little milk (sometimes even cream) to get the right consistency (i.e. light and fluffy), beat well and then add any flavor you want and beat well again to incorporate the flavor.

Thank you sweetiescakery1 for the kind comment :)
 

AI freeze it and pull it out when I have a "practice" cake.

AHow long smb can be freeze?