Buttercream -- Help! I Deeeeespise Shortening

Decorating By gothgate Updated 5 Nov 2006 , 7:10am by MillyCakes

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gothgate Posted 31 Oct 2006 , 1:18am
post #1 of 23

i'm new to this board, so please forgive me if it's been asked a million times before...

every time i taste homemade "butter"cream all i can taste is slippery slimy greasy crisco. icon_razz.gif i am in search of a true buttercream for decorating and for crumb-coating.

i love the buttercream i remember from when i was a kid -- dinkel's bakery in chicago during the 60s -- but i don't remember buttercream as having a crust on it. yet all the frostings now have that crust on it. can someone explain why that is? theirs was soft and yet still held the shells & flowers & shapes. i think that the cakes back then did have to be refrigerated until shortly before serving. but as i'm baking for my family & my kids' share-day at school, not for sale, that wouldn't be a problem. besides, everything needs refrigeration down here in the humid city anyway.

so... does anyone have a true buttercream recipe out there they'd be willing to share? one that doesn't use any shortening of any kind?

as an aside, thinking of dinkel's, they used to put these great melt-in-your-mouth translucent wafer roses on their cakes. (i thought they tasted kinda like communion wafers. icon_evil.gif) i'd love to know how they were made or where they could be ordered from if they're not makeable.

22 replies
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GrannieJ Posted 31 Oct 2006 , 1:23am
post #2 of 23

bump ...

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beachcakes Posted 31 Oct 2006 , 1:26am
post #3 of 23

You can make BC with butter instead of shortening. Also, you can make IMBC or SMBC which don't crust at all - they're harder to smooth, but yummy. Martha Stewart's website has a great recipe for IMBC.

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starrchaser Posted 31 Oct 2006 , 1:32am
post #4 of 23

The recepie i use for my own use ( as i hate the taste of shortening as well) is 2lbs icing sugar, tsp vanilla, tsp almond(or wahtever flav you prefer) 2 cups butter or margaring(the margaring gives a better consistency i find) and a few tbsp of milk. You can always tweak the recepie to your desired consistemcy. thinner for crumb coating. thicker for decorating. Hope that helps.

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gothgate Posted 31 Oct 2006 , 1:32am
post #5 of 23

um... there needs to be an acronym translation page on this site somewhere icon_smile.gif

what is imbc and smbc?

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dragonwarlord1969 Posted 31 Oct 2006 , 1:43am
post #6 of 23
Quote:
Originally Posted by beachcakes

You can make BC with butter instead of shortening. Also, you can make IMBC or SMBC which don't crust at all - they're harder to smooth, but yummy. Martha Stewart's website has a great recipe for IMBC.




Here's a recipe I got from my aunt. NO shortning and it tastes great! It does not crust and unless you can find butter w/o yellow dye added, it will have muted colors to it. Also, it's harder to work with as compared to regular buttercream. But it does taste great!

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup butter

Cream well, add:

2/3 cup warm milk

Beat until sugar is completely dissolved and of spreading consistency.

Add clear vanilla to taste.


Joe

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dodibug Posted 31 Oct 2006 , 1:49am
post #7 of 23

imbc-Italian meringue buttercream

smbc-Swiss meringue buttercream

Some people are funny about using these because they do use lots of raw eggs white that may or may not get brought up to the "safe" temp so imho it's not recommended to be eaten by small ones, pregnant types, those with compromised immune systems because there is a small chance for contaminiation. Now if you use a good thermometer and get the whites up to temp (either 140 or 160 degrees-can't remember!) Then you are good to go!

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sweetamber Posted 31 Oct 2006 , 1:49am
post #8 of 23
Quote:
Originally Posted by gothgate

um... there needs to be an acronym translation page on this site somewhere icon_smile.gif

what is imbc and smbc?




There is icon_smile.gif
http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-2926.html

I also hate the shortening "butter"creams and am not a fan of the crusting ones either! You can get a beautifully smooth cake with them, but I really prefer the flavor of a meringue buttercream. There are recipes all over- including in the recipes section of this site!

Amber

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gothgate Posted 31 Oct 2006 , 3:50pm
post #10 of 23

wow! thanks for all the links, jan & amber. i'm really looking foward to making up some real buttercream and will definitely be ordering some of that wafer paper.

thanks everybody!

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milosmami Posted 31 Oct 2006 , 4:12pm
post #11 of 23

the IMBC and SMBC melt quickly, so here in texas it is soooooooooooo horrible to work with.
I made two cakes that almost completely seperated in the humidity(even in the fall) so be careful. it does taste sooooooooo good, and once you make it the right way(i found it took some practice on just making it) then it is hard to go back to the crisco stuff...........

good luck!

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Diesel Posted 31 Oct 2006 , 4:23pm
post #12 of 23

I also tried this last weekend and heard it tasted fantastic. I use the Buttercream Dream recipe from this site but instead of the shortening I just increase the amount of butter. So, I put in two sticks of salted butter and two sticks of unsalted butter and it tasted fantastic. I also mix up my flavorings a little buy putting in vanilla, butter and almond extracts.

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littlecake Posted 31 Oct 2006 , 5:44pm
post #13 of 23

i'm guessing the icing from your favorite bakery could have been pre mixed and sold to them by a food distributer...they sell them 50 pound icing "cubes" ...just carve hunks off...but in the mixer...add water...viola!

i personally like equal amounts of butter and shortening...it's a cream color...not "white".....but it tastes great...and is easy to decorate with...i use salted butter....it really cuts the "too sweet" taste.

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MrsAB Posted 31 Oct 2006 , 5:49pm
post #14 of 23

JanH, you posted a link on wafer paper.

What is this used for? Perhaps I missed something in my reading.

Thanks.

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JanH Posted 2 Nov 2006 , 5:16am
post #15 of 23

MrsAB,

gothgate asked about the wafer paper. I've never used it, but I found even more info:

http://www.sugarcraft.com/catalog/misc/waferpaper.htm

HTH

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Kitagrl Posted 2 Nov 2006 , 5:22am
post #16 of 23

We have a real creamy icing recipe we use at work (and I have started to use it for some cakes at home)...its non crusting and contains evaporated milk, pwdr sugar, alot of butter, a little shortening, and vanilla and almond flavorings.

Its very light and seems "too soft" but it does hold its shape remarkably well for borders, roses, stars, etc.

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JanH Posted 2 Nov 2006 , 5:28am
post #17 of 23

Kitagrl,

Will you share your recipe - please, please, please icon_cry.gificon_cry.gif

We promise we won't share with anyone else tapedshut.gif

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JanH Posted 2 Nov 2006 , 5:28am
post #18 of 23

Kitagrl,

Will you share your recipe - please, please, please icon_cry.gificon_cry.gif

We promise we won't share with anyone else tapedshut.gif

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Kitagrl Posted 2 Nov 2006 , 12:57pm
post #19 of 23

Okay here it is...but its kind of tempermental, you have to be patient and let it mix a long time. And it HAS to cover the paddle, or the air won't beat out of it. I double this batch for my 6 qt mixer and it ends up perfectly over the paddle. The icing will be slightly off-white but most people won't notice.

Combine: 2 lbs powdered sugar and a 12 oz. can evaporated milk. Blend until very smooth with a paddle attachment. Save back a little bit of milk to smooth in at the end if needed.

Add 1 1/2 lbs unsalted soft butter and 1/2 lb Crisco. If the weather is warm, you might switch to half and half butter and Crisco. Beat for a long time. Add pure vanilla and almond flavor to taste (start with 2 tsp pure vanilla and 1/2 tsp almond and add more if you like). Add the rest of the milk you saved back and let blend in. I usually go find something else to do for about 15-20 min as the mixer goes on medium low.

If the icing covers the paddle in your mixer, it will eventually beat very smooth and creamy (it does look ugly for quite awhile first, fair warning). This icing stays good in your refrigerator for quite awhile, or freezer. Just rebeat before using. The icing can stand at room temperature for serving.

He taught me to use a putty knife to smooth the sides and top, and even a business card or insurance card to get the edges nice and flat...and it works great.

If you have any questions just let me know!

I used this recipe on my raspberry wedding cake, and my individual monogrammed cakes, and my basketweave berries cake, to name a few examples.

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mvigil Posted 2 Nov 2006 , 1:27pm
post #20 of 23

Kitagrl -Thanks for the recipe !!

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licia Posted 4 Nov 2006 , 12:32pm
post #21 of 23

Buttercream w/ evapoated milk

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JanH Posted 5 Nov 2006 , 6:50am
post #22 of 23

Kitagrl,

Thanks so much!!!!!! And I don't care if it starts out "ugly" (too funny)!

licia,

Yep, evaporated milk in buttercream frosting. Also have an Italian buttercream w/evaporated milk. And some recipes, I've yet to try, made with sweetened condensed milk.

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MillyCakes Posted 5 Nov 2006 , 7:10am
post #23 of 23

I use the buttercream dream recipe here. I also increase the butter and decrease the crisco. I use a combination of salted and unsalted butter and a combo of flavors depending on what I need. I have read so much on hi-ratio shortening, but have yet to buy some! I wonder if you might not hate that as much!

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