Question About Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Baking By stacey71 Updated 11 Aug 2010 , 12:59pm by BakingJeannie
Personally, I have never used tarter in SMBC... but before I put the whites on the double boiler, I add a pinch of salt and whisk until foamy to help with the volume and to help break up the proteins, then put over the simmering water.
Cream of Tarter is normally used to help with the volume of the whites you are whipping also to inhibit sugar crystals from forming (if i remember my chem classes correctly) and to give a creamy texture. When you are whisking the whites, while they are cooling, it whips a lot of air into them...as for the texture, as long as all the sugar is melted you should not have that issue, plus the butter helps (also beating the crap out of it in the mixer!!) and I have never had an issue with crystals forming, because I am constantly whisking the mixture while it is over the water.
I hope this helps..someone else may have a better answer than me... but I thought I would throw my two cents in!! 
Not at all. As long as you use real egg whites, there is no problem with them whipping up nicely. You might need to use the cream of tartar if you use pre-packaged egg whites are egg white substitutes, but if you aren't using either, then you should be just fine without it.
Well, I went ahead and made the swiss meringue buttercream and while it was good, it tasted almost exactly like the mary kay frosting I made. Ive never tried the smbc before so I really couldnt compare mine with others.
For those of you who have tried or made the mary kay frosting, have you found that it tastes very similar to the smbc too?
I have made SMBC all the time and never used cream of tartar, however, the Italian Meringue Butter Cream (IMBC) may ask for it since you will add the hot syrup to the whipped egg whites.
Also not familar to Mary Kay Frosting.
Cheers!
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