Italian Buttercream Vs All Butter Bc
Decorating By notjustcake Updated 1 Sep 2006 , 10:29pm by Sweetcakes23
What is the difference?? I want to try all butter BC icing but people talk about how good italian BC is, I have read some recipes and they both sound like the same thing
Italian bC uses eggs (sometimes whole, sometimes just whites). It involves beating eggs until light then adding boiled sugar & water in hard ball stage. Yes it isn't too sweet but you can't make elaborate decorations with it as it melts easily. Also cakes iced with it should be kept refrigerated. IMO
Italian bC uses eggs (sometimes whole, sometimes just whites). It involves beating eggs until light then adding boiled sugar & water in hard ball stage. Yes it isn't too sweet but you can't make elaborate decorations with it as it melts easily. Also cakes iced with it should be kept refrigerated. IMO
Actually, some of this is false. You do not have to refrigerator meringue type buttercreams. The eggs, either whites or yolks, are cooked or sterilized with the either whisking over a pot of boiling water or adding hot sugar liquid to the eggs. It is not the ideal icing to do piping work, but you can do some basic piping techniques, like borders and such. It tastes so smooth and much better than the powdered sugar varieties, in my opinion, and yes, less sweet.
There are many different types of buttercream. Italian and Swiss use egg whites, the French is richer and uses egg yolks.
Here are some basic recipes including my favorite IMB from Dede Wilson;
http://www.pastrysampler.com/Questions_and_Answers/buttercream.htm
Thank you for the link I guess this is real good if you need a simple and smooth cake.
if no refrigeration is required, how long can it sit outside the fridge?
Just like any powdered sugar icing. If you are not going to ice the cake immediately, then yes, put the meringue buttercream in the fridge and re-whip when ready to use. It holds up well in most warm weather, around 75 degrees or so, but if hotter than that, you should refrigerate because meringue buttercreams are made with all butter (although I have used half hi-ratio shortening and butter before for even more stability.)
There are meringue powder buttercreams you can also make, whipping meringue powder, sugar and hot water together into stiff peaks and then butter and flavorings are added, sometimes with some powdered sugar, these are really good as well and solves any egg worries.
Thank you for the link I guess this is real good if you need a simple and smooth cake.
You can pipe more with a buttercream made with all egg whites (Italian buttercream) than with all egg yolks (French buttercream). Check out my pictures -- the cake with the purple and blue flowers is iced and decorated entirely in Italian buttercream. So there is actually a lot of decorating possible with Italian buttercream!
How do Y'all get the IMBC smooth?
Ruthwells, your flower cake there in your photos is REALLY SMOOTH!
Never tried the imbc before, but I just got my new KITCHENAID yesterday evening, soo---?
Do y'all use the hot knife thing with this frosting? Do tell.
--Knox--
i used to use swiss butter cream and my old job and i hated the taste, when i made buttercream at home i used a shortening based recipe that i really liked... i just made the whimsical bakehouse's house buttercream and omg.. its the best.. light and fluffy and reminds me of the texture of swiss buttercream .. i am now changing the recipe i use
This sounds yummy. I have a couple questions though. How is the Italian Buttercream different from the Wilton's boiled icing? Has anyone tried that icing? And what were the results. I've thought about doing that Icing, but, I wasn't sure how it tasted.
How do Y'all get the IMBC smooth?
It is smooth by its own nature, very different texture than the powdered sugar varieties, which can be stiffer and sometimes gritty from all the sugar.
Here is a tip for the IMB recipes if you do not want to use a thermometer. Once the sugar and water comes to a boil, set a timer for 7 minutes and keep boiling the sugar. At the 5 minute mark, start beating your egg whites in the KA or by hand. When the timer goes off, your boiled sugar is at the correct temperature and you can then add it to the egg whites.
That tip was from the Whimsical Bakehouse book, so easy.
This sounds yummy. I have a couple questions though. How is the Italian Buttercream different from the Wilton's boiled icing? Has anyone tried that icing? And what were the results. I've thought about doing that Icing, but, I wasn't sure how it tasted.
Italian buttercream is a completely different animal from a boiled icing. The buttercream involves an Italian meringue (hence the name), in which a sugar syrup at 248* is slowly added to whipped egg whites, whipping all the while. After the meringue has cooled, you add your softened (but not too mushy) butter.
I did a demo of this buttercream on egullet some time ago -- check it out, if you're interested.
http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=87490&hl=
How do Y'all get the IMBC smooth?
Ruthwells, your flower cake there in your photos is REALLY SMOOTH!
Never tried the imbc before, but I just got my new KITCHENAID yesterday evening, soo---?
Do y'all use the hot knife thing with this frosting? Do tell.
--Knox--
Thanks, Knox! Yes, I use a hot offset spatula to smooth the buttercream. Since it's a non-crusting buttercream, using paper towels or computer paper to smooth, like some decorators do, is not an option. I don't mind the extra fuss, though, since I find this buttercream to be so much more delicious than a confectioners sugar icing.
Can anyone help me with my IMBC. I am doing a wedding cake as we speak, but when i did the test cake, it cracked after I got it iced. Why did this happen? It was cold from being in the freezer. I had frozen the cake after filling, coring, and crumb coating it. Then I iced it with IMBC and decorated each tier and placed it back in the freezer to keep it cold until delivery the next day. When I took it out the next day, it started to warm and I noticed a couple cracks developing in a couple of the tiers. I was able to fill them with extra icing and smooth them but I am concerned about why this happened and what to expect with this one?
Anyone know what I'm doing wrong? The cake had been simple syruped and tasted wonderful, was moist and the fillings were good too so that was all good.....
Sweetcakes23
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