I live in a hot climate and I use IMBC as my BC under fondant, and also for whenever I do BC cakes which admittedly is not that often. I think IMBC holds up very well in hot weather. I like piping with IMBC, it is so much easier on your hands. I also love the shine you get from using meringue based BC, so pretty. I bought the Whimsical Bakehouse book early on in my cake decorating "career" and it was the flowers in there that convinced me that I had to learn to pipe and had to use IMBC instead of powdered sugar BC.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0609608967/?tag=cakecentral-20

First I'd like to say: I think EVERYONE makes wonderful and beautiful creations when making there cakes. We all have our likes and dislikes. I for one, love working in B/C, I tend to fight with Fondant. We dont get along. To me, I love the challenge of "trying" to make a cake that might be made out of fondant. Im still new at this, so not much luck so far...

I dont have the patience for working with it, and "I" myself dont care for the taste of Fondant, BUT...what makes the world go round, are the differences between people. Im so thankful there are all kinds of cakes to admire one's work. and should someone want a cake from Fondant, that I can point them to someone.

Fondant decoraters you all ARE AWESOME!!!! and do some BEAUTIFUL work ....And...to those of your who work in Butter cream...since I work in that form, I would love to one day be talented enough to work like all of you.

Thanks so much for all the tips, Jeanne! I will be trying your Well Dressed Cake recipe.

nikkidoc - coconut smbc is fabulous, yummy! i make mine with equal parts vanilla and coconut extract. i make lemon smbc with lemon curd (lemon extract in smbc doesn't taste quite right to me) and am thinking that i will try lime curd in smbc to see if i can get that flavor.

i have real trouble piping flowers in smbc...hot hands. serious cakes has a video where she made a "porta-fridge" (two cake pans with frozen water between) to lay her piping bags in to keep cold as she rotates her bags. i thought that was a great idea and am going to try it when i next attempt smbc flowers.

this may be a dumb, but i was thinking that the bc flowers on the garden cake might "slide" off the fondant...i hope not, that was a beautiful, beautiful cake.

No problem at all Nikki... There's also a thread called Making SMBC (http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-594605-smbc.html) that I started... it has pictures of the process and many tips and ideas for flavorings and working with it too. All the same can be said for IMBC as well... you just have different preparations. I prefer SMBC because I don't like fiddling with the sugar syrup. I just cook the sugar and egg whites in my mixer bowl over a pot of boiling water (whisking contantly) to 160-ish degrees and pop it on the mixer. To me it's easier that way and I can make sure the mixture gets to a good high temp throughout.

Lime curd in IMBC is REEEEEAAALLLLYYY GOOD! You should also try peanut butter in it if you've never done that before, with a chocolate fudge cake. YUUUUUMMMMM.

why does reading the forum always make me hungry, lol.

do you make your own lime curd or is there a ready made brand that is really good?

for peanut butter, do you just add the pb straight from the container or do you have to warm it first?

diane

Room temp PB will mix into it just fine, and I always make my own curds... they taste way better than the jarred stuff. You can also add lime zest and juice right to the SMBC/IMBC too.

I have a question regarding the egg whites. Have any of you sucessfully used the pasturized egg whites in the cartons to make IMBC or SMBC? If yes, what brand are you using? Thanks!

Arainna Forth

I don't like the carton egg whites for IMBC. It never worked the same way for me, the icing did not get as stiff as if I use regular egg whites. No idea why not though, it should work the same I would have thought.

I like an orange rum liquor mixture for my IMBC.

Add me to the list of people carton eggwhites didn't work well for. I just use good ole' eggs and never have an issue. I'd love to know if there is a brand that works 100% of the time for meringue... it'd save me some time for sure.