Okay... so I tried to make SMBC for the first time. It's wonderfully light and fluffy. The taste is awesome and not too sweet. It's what I've been looking for.

But what I don't know... What is the consistency supposed to be like? Can I pipe decorations with it? It looks a little too soft for roses or anything like that. Can you over beat it?

How does it hold up to heat and humidity?

Can you add cream of tartar to help it keep its shape?

I used unsalted butter like the recipe calls for. Will it taste good with salted butter?

I'd love some insight.

You can get away with minimal decorations. I don't think you can over beat it. It is not stable in hot weather. I don't think cream of tartar wil help, but you could alway try adding some to a small portion.

Salted butter can work, but only if the butter is not too salty. The salt will vary from brand to brand, even from batch to batch. Taste your butter.

It's true it's not stable in hot weather would not work outdoors but I mean you have to keep your cake protected from heat anyway. So that's all I use in Memphis and it's hot here.

I made another batch (1 wasn't going to be enough). But I had only purchased 1 pound of unsalted butter. So in the 2nd batch I used the last stick of unsalted and 2 sticks of salted. Then I combined both batches in the mixer so the taste would be uniform. I have to say I like it better. The little bit of saltiness cuts the sweet a little and gives the icing a better flavor.

I assume if you want things like roses but you want a lighter icing you can ice with the SMBC and decorate with the traditional buttercream. Is that how some of you do it? If not, how to you get it to be stiff enough for roses and things without "wilting".

Since I've never used this stuff before and I've got no point of reference, I'm really questioning if I did it right now that I'm attempting to ice and decorate with this stuff.

It is just melting all over the place. I LOVE the taste and the consistency as far as my mouth is concerned. But from a decorating stand point, it's a battle!

Traditional buttercream with shortening and powdered sugar is so stable and very dry in comparison.

This is droopy, melty, shiny, and seems like it is breaking down. Did I do something wrong? Can I substitute the 1/2 the butter for shortening to give it more stability?

For those of you who only use SMBC, what consistency do you have and how do you prevent it from melting all over. What recipe do you use?

http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-6927-1-Very-Vanilla-Swiss-Meringue-Buttercream.html
This is the recipe Im going to try ! If you look in her photos she has some decor done with it! I dont know what recipe you used ? I hope to try this one today depending on time ! Others on CC say this is a great recipe !

Stick it in the fridge and let it cool down before handling it again. It pipes beautifully (I love to do borders with it). I've never tried roses for the same reason but many say they have no issues.

The longer you whip it the whiter it becomes but I've never had it fall apart on me just because I whipped it for extended periods of time. I have had it fall apart because I didn't whip it long enough but I generally toss everything in the fridge to cool down and it firms back up to a very quick usable BC.

My experience: You really can not mess it up. Nothing that more beating or a cooldown in the fridge won't take care of.

Also, you can substitute brown sugar for the white sugar. Throw in some peanut butter. yum yum.

Also, you can add or subtract sticks of butter from the recipe. 3 is the minimum I would go but I've seen recipes with up to 6 sticks. I like butter but not that much!

Okay... so maybe I didn't whip long enough. I was afraid to whip it too long. It was getting air pockets.

aswartzw.. Thats so funny !! I went ahead and made mine and I heard the sloshing sound!! All of a sudden im like what ?? and I thought ohhh thats the sound!! LOL!! Thanks for the tip !!

Can you tell me after this goes on the cake does it firm/harden at all or always keep the same texture ? And How long can you store( leftovers ) in the fridge?

smbc is pretty much all i used for my cakes. i've done roses with it, no problem. just make sure its not hot in your kitchen cause that will cause the buttercream to get too soft. oh, and i used 3 sticks of salted butter and 1/2 cup of smart balance shortening (trans-fat free) to make it more stable.

aswartzw.. Thanks for that reply !!!I made some SMBC cupcakes ( in my photos) for the 4th ! So IF one can get this icing to make flowers etc ! You would want to store it in the fridge and bring to more of a room temp before serving ? Other wise the decor would probably start to loose its shape ?

argh. you guys are sooooooooo tempting me to try this recipe.

fiddlesticks, is this your first time making it?

i've made smbc before using the 1-2-3 recipe and it tasted like eating sweet butter, i didn't really care for it much. but it looks like i can mix unsalted butter and salted butter.

dailey, does the shortening make it taste less like butter?

cupcakeshoppe.. Yes First time making and tasting it !I used the very vanilla SMBC here on CC! I have to say I do love it cold out of the fridge ! Im intrested in how you get it to make flowers and smoothing it on a cake ? Seems To soft to form flowers ? The cakes I have seen done with lots of flowers and leafs on it are just beautiful !But if it has to spend all of the time sitting in the fridge ?

As I've never attempted flowers with SMBC, I have no idea. But I have successfully piped with it and it does maintain it's shape well at RT.

I've heard the more flavoring (like Tablespoons) the less like butter it tastes.

SMBC is actually pretty stable. i've made cupcakes decorated with roses/flowers, kept them at room temp for a couple day, *then* delivered to a friends house and they never lost their shape. of course, the key is keeping them at AT LEAST at room temp. or cooler.

as far as adding the shortening, yes, it does make the icing more neutral, not as buttery as normal smbc. i really like using smart balance as opposed to regular shortening because it doesn't have the same greasy feel/taste. oh, and the recipe i used is by nick malgeri (sp?), the only things i do different is sub half a cup of smart balance for one stick of butter and also i eliminate the pinch of salt called for in the original recipe and used salted butter instead unsalted.

Does anyone care to post a link to/or share a recipe with the changes they make. Like I said I used the very vanilla recipe here on CC has anyone used it ? I loved the flavor of it cold.

I love Martha Stewart's recipe, I do 1/2 salted & 1/2 unsalted. It pipes well but never tried to doe anything else with it. There are 2 Valenites cakes in my photos's one with a little teddy & one with a posy of oses they are both done with SMBC.

Dailey, Your recipe sounds like a real good one. Could you possibly post all of the ingredients & how you make it? I'd like to try it.

Yes Dailey, it does sound good & may I ask, what is Smart Balance?

Smart Balance is a "healthy" shortening that you can find in your grocery store next to the crisco. i've used the new crisco before and thought it performed horribly compared to the SB. at any rate, here is the recipe i used...i *love* it!

5 egg whites
1 1/2 cups of sugar (i weigh everything...300 grams)
3 sticks of salted butter
1/2 cup of smart balance
1 teaspoon lorann double strength vanilla

dailey This is you SMBC recipe ? Do you have any photos of flowers or borders with it ?Thanks so much for posting that !

dailey omg !! Thats beautiful !!!!Yes thats what im looking for And you can pipe like that right after making the recipe wth out sitting the icing in the fridge at all first ! The one I tried never would of done that its way to soft ! I did get a very nice swirl out of it ! I dont want to knock anyones recipe that was nice enough to share and maybe just didnt work like I needed it to !