Hey if you're not done with this part of the topic: re the "uncooked" egg whites. My first decorated cake I ever made was for a baby shower so I refused to use egg whites b/c I didnt' think the mom-to-be would appreciate my putting her health at risk, no matter how small (the risk to non-pregnant adults is really really low, but I still couldn't chance a pg woman being the 1 in 20,000 person to get a bad egg)...so I used the pasteurized egg whites in the "perfect scramble" (or some such thing) at Trader Joe's. I've heard that regular pasteurized egg whites from your supermarket won't form peaks (even says that on the carton)- did not try that because the TJ's whites worked perfectly. I continue to use them for all of my IMBC cakes (not that I have that many). Believe it or not powdered whites work too - I tried it and although it smelled weird while whipping, by the time it was all done it tasted 100% normal, only slightly less perfect than frosting done w/regular whites.
Do you eat Lemon meringue pie?? Same difference.
I use only SMBC for all my cakes. I have used it for seven years and all my clients are still alive and well!
Yes I know I have had meringue in pie before, and I have no doubt it totally safe (as I have said I see it on food network all the time) but I have issues with food.......I love Ceasar salad...but I rarely eat it because I know it has anchovie (sp) paste in the dressing....I know that is dumb....cause I know that I LIKE IT......its just so hard for me to eat it now! Also like tuna steak...it tastes so good..but I could only eat one bite because I know its raw in the middle (again I know its safe) but its the thought of it that I cant stand! Like I said....I am a weird duck! I hope you didnt take my comments to mean that I thought it was unsafe in any way!
I've heard you can make IMBC with pasteurized egg whites. That would solve safety concerns. As for the gross factor, I can't help you there.
I'm very squeamish about eggs--when I make scrambled eggs etc. I have to cook them until almost rubbery. No runny yolks for me!
However, I do love meringue buttercream. I just try not to think about the eggs.
Okay, all, don't freak out 
!! The recipe I use, which comes from Rose Levy Berenbaum's book, "The Cake Bible" calls for (and this is from memory):
5 egg whites
1/2 tsp. + 1/8 tsp. cream of tartar
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 pound softened unsalted butter
eau-de-vie or liquor (I believe 1/3 cup, but I generally leave this out with no problems)
Separate eggs, finding another use for the yolks. Whip whites with whip attachment until frothy. Add cream of tartar. Continue to whip. When whites are at a soft peak stage, gradually add 1/4 cup of the sugar and whip until stiff peaks.
Put 3/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup water in saucepan on stove. Bring to boil until the thermometer reaches 248 - 250 degrees F. Take off stove immediately* and pour in a steady stream into the meringue while the mixer is running. Continue to whip until room temperature. This is going to take some time. [Go read an article in the paper, hug your grandchild, have a cup of coffee..... ]
When the mixer bowl is cool to the touch, add butter at low speed a tablespoon at a time, mixing well after each addition. [NOTE: when you are adding the butter, the icing may appear to "break" and appear to become grainy and separated near the end of the additions. Don't worry. Continue to add all the butter and whip the icing. It really will come together. 
]
Optional [in my mind]: add eau-de-vie or liquor (franjelico is nice, so is amaretto) slowly with mixer at lowest speed until completely combined. This gives the icing a really lovely scent and, depending on what you use, it may give a gorgeous pale coloration to the icing, as well as a lovely patina when it is spread on. This is nice for a wedding where they want an ivory color to the icing ... it looks like candelight colored satin! Gorgeous!
*In her book, Rose suggests that you pour the hot sugar syrup into a glass measuring cup to stop the cooking process. I have found that this step is admirable, but I don't do it; I just add the syrup to the whites right away (less to wash). She also says that if you are using a KA or other such type of stand mixer, where there is very little room between the whip and the bowl, you should stop the mixer, add a small amount of the hot syrup, mix for 5 seconds on high (tempering the whites), stop the mixer, add about 1/3 of the syrup, mix on high for 5 seconds, stop the mixer .... you get the picture. The reason for this is so the syrup doesn't hit the top of the whip and end up on the bowl and not in your whites. Actually, if you try hard enough, there is a small area of space between the whip and the bowl ... you can successfully pour the syrup here in a steady stream with no problems .... it just takes some practice.
Now, lest anyone get upset about uncooked egg whites, think about this: if you're a happy little egg (yolk, white, or whole), just going about your day, minding your own business, 
and you've been whipped with sugar (which is already going to start to "cook" you), 
and then you take a shower in 250 degree sugar syrup (cooking you more), and you stay in that heat until it dissipates (which can take anywhere from 5-20 minutes, depending on a lot of factors I won't get in to here), don't you think any nasty little germs and/or bugs you might have originally brought to the party will be killed off 
by this treatment????? A meringue spends a lot less time in the oven in many cases, and we all consider that to be pretty safe to eat, right????
Also, I have found that, in my home kitchen, I can put the sugar/water on the stove, THEN separate my eggs, put the whites on the mixer, and JUST ABOUT WHEN THE SYRUP COMES TO THE RIGHT TEMPERATURE, the eggs are ready. Usually the egg whites get done first, but that's okay ... in less than 2 minutes in most cases, I'm ready to add the syrup.
Yes, this icing takes more time to make, and yes, it stays soft (doesn't crust), but I have found that my Clients LOVE IT!!!!! It's truly a superior icing around here, and very few decorators do it, or so I've been told. (And, yes, I can decorate with it, including making some very beautiful roses. The one drawback to it that I have discovered is that it is difficult to get anything other than a pastel color to it ... but that's okay, 'cuz it isn't the issue here.)
Sorry this post is long, but I felt it might just help to clarify some issues for a few with questions!
Happy Baking One and All!!! 
Is that the one whre the drive through window is on the passenger side!
first you're crackin me up with the hair stuff......and this......well this is just too funny!!! I think the whole crew (including the people that built the place) must have been smokin something besides pot if the drive thru is on the passenger side!!! That's soooooo funny........why would it be on that side??? What if you're the only one in the car?? hahhaha...oh that's great....that's so funny!! I would tell my DH but he would just say that just reinforces his thought that people in the midwest are slower than east coasters on more than one level lol (don't take offense I'm from Ohio and moving Dh there soon) He's the east coaster on his high horse......don't worry......when we get to Ohio I'll knock him off lol
aobodessa--I have been able to achieve more intense colors in meringue buttercream with Americolor and Chefmaster colors. The Wilton colors tend to make more pastel colors, like you said.
Here's a link to one of my cakes:
http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=coppermine&file=displayimage&meta=allby&uname=HollyPJ&cat=0&pos=7
The flowers were made with a meringue buttercream. I was using Americolor for the first time and was trying to make pale flowers. I underestimated the intensity of the Americolor tints, though, and the flowers came out much darker than I had anticipated! I could have made them even darker if I'd wanted.
Candy colors are another way to get more intense color.
I'll have to try that recipe...I've been using Martha Stewart's recipes, but I'd love to see what else is out there.
Holly
aobodessa- that sounds a lot like the recipe for the IMBC that i've used from this site.........delicious frosting!!! I have just one question about your recipe.......the ingredient list says 1 cup of sugar......then you say to add sugar to the egg whites and then add 3/4 cup sugar to the water.......do you add 1/4 cup to the egg whites? Like the rest of the 1 cup that doesn't go in the water? Or do you add a cup to the egg whites and then an additional 3/4 cup to the water?? Hope I'm making sense!
Is that the one whre the drive through window is on the passenger side!
first you're crackin me up with the hair stuff......and this......well this is just too funny!!! I think the whole crew (including the people that built the place) must have been smokin something besides pot if the drive thru is on the passenger side!!! That's soooooo funny........why would it be on that side??? What if you're the only one in the car?? hahhaha...oh that's great....that's so funny!! I would tell my DH but he would just say that just reinforces his thought that people in the midwest are slower than east coasters on more than one level lol (don't take offense I'm from Ohio and moving Dh there soon) He's the east coaster on his high horse......don't worry......when we get to Ohio I'll knock him off lol
Really it used to be on the passenger side!! Iam not sure why but you would pull up and reache through the passenger window! We used to hand out over on that side of town and thought they had it pretty messed up!
MaryAnn
aobodessa- that sounds a lot like the recipe for the IMBC that i've used from this site.........delicious frosting!!! I have just one question about your recipe.......the ingredient list says 1 cup of sugar......then you say to add sugar to the egg whites and then add 3/4 cup sugar to the water.......do you add 1/4 cup to the egg whites? Like the rest of the 1 cup that doesn't go in the water? Or do you add a cup to the egg whites and then an additional 3/4 cup to the water?? Hope I'm making sense!
Yes, I probably should have said "1 cup sugar, divided" or something like that. There is only 1 cup sugar in total in this recipe ... 1/4 cup goes into the meringue and 3/4 cup goes into the sugar syrup. Hope this helps.
aobodessa--I have been able to achieve more intense colors in meringue buttercream with and Chefmaster colors. The Wilton colors tend to make more pastel colors, like you said.
Here's a link to one of my cakes:
http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=coppermine&file=displayimage&meta=allby&uname=HollyPJ&cat=0&pos=7
The flowers were made with a meringue buttercream. I was using for the first time and was trying to make pale flowers. I underestimated the intensity of the tints, though, and the flowers came out much darker than I had anticipated! I could have made them even darker if I'd wanted.
Candy colors are another way to get more intense color.
I'll have to try that recipe...I've been using Martha Stewart's recipes, but I'd love to see what else is out there.
Holly
Thanks for the heads up, Holly. I don't use Wilton (another long story for another dull day .. yawn ..), and I don't have access to
Americolor or Chefmaster locally. If I order one more thing for cakes online, I think that Hubby just might boot my big ol' behind out the door, and then where will I bake?????? 
I have often wondered about switching to Americolor, I see their ads here all the time, but I use gel colors in a tube from CK and I really like them. I get them at my local shop and I've been really pleased with their performance. I have tossed almost all of my Wilton colors, mostly because they ooze out of the little jars if the jars get turned on their sides and by the time you discover it, all your things are ruined .
Anyway, thanks for the info. Maybe my Christmas list just got a lot bigger!
Odessa
You know, I think Wilton makes some nice colors, but those little jars are insane! Dabbing color into my icing with a toothpick isn't my idea of a fun time. And they dry up so quickly--not good for someone like me who only makes cakes once in a while.
Though it may be perceived as obsessive and paranoid, I feel a need to mention that I have used my digital thermometer to test the temperature of my egg whites after adding the hot sugar syrup. (Syrup at 248 degrees) Having done it repeatedly, I've never had the mixture reach more than 140 degrees fahrenheit. To kill salmonella, it is commonly agreed that 160 is the magic number. Do whatever works for you, but I think I'll stick with my pasteurized, dried egg whites. The chances are very slim tht there will be a problem with regular eggs in the shell, but I'd rather not take a chance at all.
BTW, this is supposedly a fairly recent prlbem in US egg production. The reason it wasn't seen as a prlbem in the past seems to be because salmonella is actually more prevalent in the chicken population today than it was in the past.
Though it may be perceived as obsessive and paranoid, I feel a need to mention that I have used my digital thermometer to test the temperature of my egg whites after adding the hot sugar syrup. (Syrup at 248 degrees) Having done it repeatedly, I've never had the mixture reach more than 140 degrees fahrenheit. To kill salmonella, it is commonly agreed that 160 is the magic number. Do whatever works for you, but I think I'll stick with my pasteurized, dried egg whites. The chances are very slim tht there will be a problem with regular eggs in the shell, but I'd rather not take a chance at all.
BTW, this is supposedly a fairly recent prlbem in US egg production. The reason it wasn't seen as a prlbem in the past seems to be because salmonella is actually more prevalent in the chicken population today than it was in the past.
You've got a good point here, itsacake, and no, I don't think you're obsessive and paranoid. I wonder how long it took for your thermometer to register the full and accurate temp? I ask because I might just want to check this out with mine as well.
Something else I learn in my Pampered-Chef-Lady-days, it apparently is thought that the salmonella in eggs actually gets transferred there by the shell, which is why sifting the egg contents back and forth from the shell to the shell to separate them is not advised. I thought back then (and still feel today) that this is a really great marketing ploy to sell more egg separators (naturally, this "study" came out at eggactly the same time the new "tool" was being hawked for the first time). It doesn't matter to me, though, then or now ... I just use my "impeccably clean hands" (as Sarah Moulton puts it) to separate my eggs. I find it's the fastest method for me and I run less risk of breaking a yolk.
And finally, we should really make sure we are using fresh eggs. Old eggs can become suspect as the shells are not completely non-gas-permeable. The freshness date will be stamped on the carton. I always check to find out if I'm buying the freshest eggs in the case. Yes, people do look at me as if I'm nuts when I shop, but why take an unnecessary chance, especially if the things I'm baking are for people other than my family???
Lots of good hints about this on this thread! Thanks one and all!
Odessa
Great post aobodessa. I should have mentioned that I use the IMBC recipe from the Cake Bible - i.e. exact same recipe, although I've never tried it w/your timesaving suggestions.
I actually made that recipe 3x and did a taste test: powdered egg whites, normal egg whites, and pasteurized. The normal ew definitely came in 1st but honestly the difference between that version and the pasteurized or powdered was nominal. Salmonella is in something like 1 in 20,000 eggs and if a healthy person chances to encounter a tainted egg they may not ever even know it or may just become a little ill. However, anyone immunocompromised (pregnant, child, immunodeficiency) could get quite sick.
My husband thought I was nuts to even care about such a low risk cuz his mom, for over 30 years, has made a family frosting where you beat in a RAW EGG at the final step! Ick! Well, I mean it doesn't taste bad but the thought gives me the shivers, esp. since they also don't refrigerate the leftovers!! They've eaten this frosting for years and nobody has ever gotten sick, but I wouldn't touch it when I was pg nor would I eat raw cookie dough, etc. I don't think anyone who makes IMBC the traditional way is crazy because the risk is soooooooooooooo low, but for me, I'd rather be paranoid than sorry!
By the way I now eat cookie dough, raw cake batter, pancake mix, etc. with reckless abandon
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