I made one that is 3 cups shortening/butter, lessened the Crisco and added more butter and with 2 pounds of 10x, it's still too sweet for me. I added in about a 1/4 tsp. of salt, maybe more (I didn't measure...I know!) and it's still too sugary. Does anyone have a good bc recipe that is buttery and not sweet that will still crust (is that possible)?

Thanks!

You might consider trying an Italian Meringue Buttercream. It tastes completely different than traditional bc. You can add liqueurs to cut back some of the butteryness if you need to . Martha Stewart has one on her site that lots of folks here swear by!

Try the Italian Meringue Buttercream. Anything with powdered sugar is going to be very sweet, and the taste seems to get worse with Crisco. Always use the best unsalted butter you can find, and you'll always be happy with the results.

Yes, I used unsalted. I think BC is just sweet and there isn't much I can do, one is just sweeter than another. ? Will IMBC crust for me?

IMBC doesn't crust but it ices really well and it pipes like a dream. I really liked working with it the time I used it but it is so different from what people think of when they think " buttercream" that my crowd isn't in to it. But I am going to try adding a favored liqueur and see what happens!
IMBC doesn't use any powdered sugar or crisco. It uses egg whites, cooked sugar and butter.

Here is a link to the recipe:

http://www.marthastewart.com/page.jhtml?type=content&id=recipe1980&contentGroup=MSL&site=living

just a quick question....
is IMBC safe for children to eat? I'm a little scared about putting raw eggs in my frosting. Thanks.

Salt bring out the sweetness of anything with sugar in the recipe. Crop the salt and it might help too.

I don't use Crisco, so I've no idea if that makes it sweeter too, or not.

The sugar is heated to over 200 degrees but if it were me I would use a thermometer to make sure the egg whites reach at least 160 degrees. You can also buy packaged egg whites which are safe to use!

i too have also searched for a crusting buttercream that is not ridiculously sweet. I tried IMBC and love it for my adult cake. I still want a crusting icing because i can use the viva method to smooth it. I was unable to get as clean of an edge with the IMBC, but i dont know could have been doing something wrong.

I use IMBC all the time. I too am a little afraid of using raw egg whites so I use merigue powder. It works the same. A lot of my customers prefer the less sweet taste of IMBC.

Thanks everyone, I'm going to try it. Will it smooth out well at least with a hot spatula?

AlamoSweets, how do you substitute and doesn't affect the taste?

How does the IMBC Take coloring. I would think, rather well. Or do I need a special candy coloring, rather than the icing color??

I'd be interested in trying it. I love merrangue, French, American, and never tried Italian. It sounds scrummy!!

Not sure but I do add almond flavoring with a little vanilla. It has always been a hit. One of my most particular clients requests it everytime.

I use swiss meringue buttercream and am desperate to make it whiter. Any ideas? I tried the food coloring but I put in 1/2 a bottle and it is still yellow.

I think I read somewhere here that organic butter you can buy at a health food store is relatively white in color. I don't know from experience, but it might be worth checking out.

Unfortunately that butter is twice the price which I am trying to avoid since I charge for my cakes. I was hoping for some info on the white food color. Thanks!

I stock up on butter either when its on sale (you can freeze butter) or I get it at Sam's Club where it is about $2/lb.

I read on another post (thank you to whoever posted this tip!!!) that you can add just a bit of violet to make the icing whiter and it actually works! Something about violet is opposite of yellow on the color wheel. You just have to add a tiny, tiny bit at a time. I do that until it looks pretty good then I add some of the wilton white to finish it off. The poster said if you get too much violet you can add a touch of yellow to go back the other color direction.

I too almost had a heart attack when I saw how much the natural maket butter was!

Where can you find a color wheel? I REALLY need one of those. It's seems when ever I try and GUESS the color, I just always guess wrong.

thanks dodibug!

I will have to check at Joann and see if they have one. Guessing just never works, lol It's like I always think "no problem", add some such and such to alittle such and such and whoala.... pukegrey! LOL

Instead of purchasing a color wheel try this link instead. Hope this helps.
http://cakecentral.com/article2-How-To-Color-Your-Icing.html

I don't think JoAnn will have a color wheel. Try Hobby Lobby or Michaels. You can get a "pocket" sized one for around $5.
(I'm an art teacher so I'm finally able to contribute something I know about! )

I just found this not sure if it would help but it's a color wheel. I found 3 sites that looked pretty good.

http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://chem.csustan.edu/JTB/HELP/COLOR/color-wheel-numbers.gif&imgrefurl=http://chem.csustan.edu/JTB/HELP/COLOR/color-index.htm&h=479&w=413&sz=22&tbnid=sQYXfFhnd3cJ:&tbnh=126&tbnw=108&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcolor%2Bwheel%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D&oi=imagesr&start=3

http://shell-shocked.org/3/images/color%20wheel.gif

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/floriculture/container-garden/lesson/colorwheel.jpg

Hope this helps
Sylvie