Hi Ladies,

I was trying to create IMBC with meringue powder instead of fresh egg. However, I noticed that my buttercream tasted sourish. Is that due to the cream of tartar in the meringue powder ? FYI, I used Wilton Meringue Powder.

apart from this, there were times, as soon as all the sugar has been incorporated into the meringue mixture, it turned dry and harden. Do i have to put in more water in the meringue mixture??


Hope some one could explain on what is the actual reason to the above

Wilton meringue powder has a lot more chemicals in it than just cream of tartar. I do IMBC with real egg whites and I put cream of tartar into the meringue, it doesn't throw the flavor off. It's probably the added "extras" in the meringue powder that's giving you that flavor.

I'd try it by using real egg whites instead of a meringue powder. The powders aren't really made for that purpose, so they don't work the same way.

You can also try a powdered pasteurized egg product if you still want to use the egg powders, they don't have anything in them other than eggs. Or the Just Whites that are pasteurized. I've heard that some people use them for IMBCs, but on the label if says that it won't work for meringues, so I don't know. Maybe someone who's used them can respond to that question...

Here's the link for a description of the powdered egg whites. Notice that the only ingredient in them is egg whites, nothing added to it.

http://www.carbsmart.com/jw3.html

Hi costumeczar, thank you so much for the info. Really appreciate this.
Yeah, I guess it is not meant for that purpose. In where I lived, can hardly find powdered egg white. I guess, i would have to stick to fresh egg whites.

Tks again