What do you suppose is the best way to make strawberry smbc? I was thinking I would like to use something fresh or frozen as opposed to jam/preserves. Could I just puree up some fresh strawberries or would frozen (in syrup or not) work better?

Not sure about SMBC, but in IMBC, I sub seedless jam for half of the sugar when making the syrup and reduce the water in the syrup by two tablespoons.

hmm, that's interesting. I havent made IMBC though. For some reason I am scared of the hot sugar.

Really? I find IMBC so much easier to make than SMBC! I just use a candy thermometer to make sure the syrup gets to the right temp, then I pour the syrup s---l---o---w---l---y into the egg whites (whipped to STIFF peaks, no matter how many recipes say soft!). I make it in my kitchen aid stand mixer. I have a pyrex pot with a pouring spout that I use for the syrup. I just pour it in down the side of the bowl. I've yet to burn myself with the syrup. Plus, I use meringue powder for the egg whites! Don't have to worry about undercooked eggs or separating eggs, plus cheaper than the cartons of egg whites.

well maybe I will have to try it sometime. I think I am scared because once I burned myself just a little bit making those sugar beer bottles you know? it's probably not really the same thing though

You can also use a fruit compound like amouretti or hero.

I've always have had issues with fresh strawberries in BC. It might just be me being new, but whenever I add them in my BC gets soupy because of the liquid in the strawberries. Now I use strawberry preserves to make my BC. It's really yummy! Maybe someone else can help figure out how to add real strawberries!

Over the years, I have found that fresh fruit is superior to use on top of a cake or in strawberry shortcake, i.e. It is quite volatile when it comes to controlling the moisture, as you are not privy to the moisture content of the berries you have chosen. To eliminate the possible bleeding throughout the cake of strawberry juice, I have decided to use the best strawberry preserves I can find. They are more stable and dependable.

Look on the CC Recipe Tab for my strawberry buttercream icing recipe... it has never failed me and people come up to me telling me how much they loved my cakes at events they have attended... " especially the strawberry buttercream!" Try it... you will like it.

p.s. Not pushing my recipe, but thought you might be able to use it.

lol, thanks, I will take a look!

I made some strawberry SMBC a few weeks ago by pureeing a bag of unsweetened, frozen, whole strawberries with a quarter cup or so of sugar, 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and just a little bit of lemon juice. I cooked the puree for a few minutes until it boiled to thicken it up and then I added some puree to taste to the SMBC I had already made up. Heaven! It tasted like strawberry ice cream.

I also added a thin layer of the leftover puree over the top of the strawberry SMBC when I torted and filled the cake just to amp up the strawberry flavor a little bit more. The boyfriend gave it two thumbs up and he isn't a huge cake fan.

ok..Yeah...gonna have to try that!!! sounds AWESOME!!

yum, thanks for the idea