I tried Toba Garrett's recipe today and iced a vanilla genoise with it.

YUCK!

It tastes like butter and a little bit of sugar, except it's light!

I must be a butter cream hater, because EVERY recipe I try is gross!

And I don't know if the butter cream will be good in terms of taste to "normal" people, because my whole family hates butter cream and thus, the lack of lab rats.

How do I make it less buttery?!

ShirleyW's, Italian Meringue B/C recipe:

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-2426-0-Italian-Meringue-Buttercream--Shirleys-Method.html

Uses only 12 oz. butter, instead of the usual 16 oz.

Sorry, I wasn't of more help; the mbc's are too buttery for me.

I tried something cool ...I personally adore SMBC and IMBC but I read on another board that if you mix the usual buttercream made with icing sugar and butter and SMBC, it tastes great.

I tried this and indeed it tastes wonderful..it is not as easy to work with as SMBC but not bad...it is less buttery but is very light and I can see why people request this type of icing. If you want to see how it looks, it is the lilac cake in my gallery..last cake uploaded.

HTH

Yes, do try Shirley's recipe. It's really good. The butter flavor is less prominent and the orange extract is a great addition.

Plus, adding flavorings is a really good idea. It changes the whole flavor. I made a coconut version and a strawberry version this weekend. The butter flavor takes a back seat to the flavoring you add.

Then again, I love butter.

I'm really surprised by how many people love shortening-based buttercream. I didn't realize it was the more common icing until I started coming to cake central. I grew up eating my mom's all-butter powdered sugar buttercream. That's the type of icing I decorated with exclusively at first. Now I still use it, but I also use IMBC, too.

Thanks for the tip Janek. I'll see if I can make some of the Wilton recipe?? tomrrow and mix it in with my SMBC.

JanH, I used Toba's recipe and it uses 12 oz. as well. I 1/3ed it.

You have to understand that most people grew up eating some sort of shortning-based icing, usually from the grocery store. That's why when they tast a REAL buttercream, they usually don't like it.

Probably because it's less sweet.

Mmmm, the recipe I have for Toba's smbc uses 3 lbs. butter:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/109239

Well, if your Toba recipe only uses 2 1/4 lbs., Shirely's recipe wouldn't be much help.

Sorry!!!!

I divided it in three.

I use Sylvia Weinstock's recipe for IMBC, but I add almond extract in place of half of the vanilla. I really think the almond extract helps. It's still buttery tasting, but not like "eating a stick of butter" (to quote Giada de Laurentiis from one of those challenges). I add it to my cookies as well. It just adds "something" that needs to be there, IMO.

I know this doesn't really help you with your current recipe, but maybe you could try adding some almond extract.