Need Help With Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Decorating By byinvitation Updated 14 Oct 2006 , 2:53pm by Rodneyck
Even those it requires a lot of patience to makeI prefer to frost with swiss meringe buttercream than the wilton class buttercream even when it is made w/ 1/2 butter. Well anyhow I have notice that when the cake sits out and frosting is allowed to soften it looks VERY shinny. Can it be avoided? also have you ever tried to make it med and stiff consitancy for decorating and how did you do it.
I use the Swiss meringue almost exclusively and one of the things I love about it (besides the taste!) is that it is shiny. Since the recipe is pretty exacting, you really can't "thicken" it up or play with it too much or you'll ruin the emulsion of the butter and egg whites. I decorate with it, but it's really too soft for roses or other things that require a stiff consistency, so I mainly use it for borders. For anything else, I whip up a batch of Toba Garrett's "buttercream for roses" recipe. I can't stand the Wilton buttercream recipe...how can it be buttercream when it has no butter? Even the half butter half crisco version is nasty! Toba's recipe is all butter and it's delicious. Customers who usually won't eat bakery icing because it's too sweet and greasy love this recipe and I get loads of compliments on it. I don't have the recipe handy, but if you want it PM me and I'll send it to you. 
I will have to look into Toba's recipe, sounds interesting......
I only make Swiss Meringue as well - it's my favourite to make and work with as well as eat!
I too don't see how you can "thicken" it up, I have made roses with it and some other details as well. I've never made Wilton BC to know how thick it is, but I find if you are fast enough (by the way I'm not great at BC roses!!!) with the SMBC, you can make a rose that won't fall flat.
One tip is to put your piping bag in the fridge for a bit to let the SMBC harden up a bit to make it "thicker" - not a long time though. Then make all your roses on pieces of parchment paper, place them on a tray, and pop them in the fridge - once they are hard, you can place them on the cake with ease.
As for other details, I find it good enough for any of the piping I do, I use fondant for most of my cakes.
I also use smbc exclusively and though I can't make a rose to save my life, I did work with a decorator who was able to make them no problem with the smbc. I think it just takes a little practice working with it and it also helps if you substitute a little bit of the butter with hi-ratio shortening. As far as the shine- well, I don't mind it and it's a sign that you used real butter!
Has anyone tried adding meringue powder to smbc? I'm wondering if it would do anything for the consistancy without sacrificing flavor...
Amber
For smbc you heat the egg whites and sugar (I take mine to 160) then beat them in a mixer until they cool and form a meringue. Then add the butter. You do not want to beat this over heat like a 7 minute frosting.
Amber
I meant the first part is similar to 7 minute. I might need to try it and compare to Italian. I always feel like I'm making divinity when I'm pouring the sugar syrup over the eggwhites with the IMBC. 
I really like the fact that it is a less sweet. more mature taste. I use it on my wedding cakes that don't call for Cream Cheese Icing. My birthday cakes are usually star tip cakes for kids, so they get powder sugar.
Thanks for the ideas. I gues shinny is good. But as far as using it for decoration I gues there is mix reviews. I was wondering if when you are putting the frost in and out of the fridge or have to leave the frosting out to soften it (so you can pipe)-that the fat content in the butter seperates. I have been experimenting with my recipe leaving out 1/2 stick to 1 stick per batch. My recipe starts with whipping egg whites adding some granulated sugar when the egg whites turns to meringue stage then adding sugar syrup letting it cool before adding butter.
Your recipe is an Italian meringue, not Swiss- however, I think most of the same rules apply. When you want to use it after it has been refrigerated, you should let it warm up a little at room temp and then beat it again in the mixer (using the paddle this time) to re-emulsify the buttercream. If you eliminate any portion of the butter in your recipe without replacing it with shortening you will negatively affect the stability of your buttercream. Hope this helps you some!
Amber
IMBC does not allow for high enough temperature to pasteurize the eggs for them to be considered "safe." Author Harold McGee points this out in his book;
Because much of the syrups heat is lost to the bowl...the foam mass normally gets no hotter than 130 or 135 degrees F, which is insufficient to kill salmonella.
So, he recommends either using store bought pasteurized eggs or using the SMB method as 160 degrees for 15 seconds will pasteurize them.
If you want any of the meringue type buttercreams to become thicker for detailed piping work, you can beat in powdered sugar (sifted) in the end, but just note that you are making the icing sweeter and loosing the smoothness characteristic with each addition.
I never have problems with piping work without the powdered sugar if I work cold. What helps is to have two piping bags going at the same time, one in the fridge/freezer as you work, then switch as it starts to become to moist.
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