Ok so this may turn into a bit of a rant...just warnin' ya now.

Allright so I've had a super busy day: woke at 9 AM, out the door by 9:30, drive 45 min to students' house for a baton twirling lesson, ready to teach lesson at about 10 AM (only to wait on my student till 11!), finish lesson by 3 PM and travel 45 min back to the house. THEN...wash dishes (by hand!) and bake three layers of cake using only 1 pan, make buttercream, meanwhile boiling sweetened condensed milk (for the first time!) to make some caramel filling. THEN...stack, fill, carve cake, and crumb coat.

NOW...here lies my conundrum: while placing my beautifully stacked, carved, and frosted cake into the refrigerator, it dawns on me that I forgot to add merengue powder to my buttercream! AAAHHH!!! So I'm holding this cake (trying REALLY HARD not to throw it across the kitchen - only because I'm too d^%$ tired to clean up the mess! ) and wondering what the non-heaven do I do now? I know...pray to the cake gods!

So here I go...Please tell me my cake will be ok....oh please please please cake gods!

Did I mention that I'll be covering it in fondant tomorrow? Yeah...fun.

Just a newbie here, but I know I did that more than once while taking my Wilton classes. Nothing bad happened, and the taste was fine. After such a long day I hope those who know for sure will tell you it's ok. {{{hugs}}}!

You don't have to have meringue powder in your icing......sometimes I use it and other times not, not a biggie

I've never used MP in my icing.

I never even knew wilton had added it to the recipe until about two years ago. It didn't seem to make any difference in their buttercream for me. I think you'll be fine.

Oh thank goodness!!!!

Ditto for me on never using it in buttercream.

Whew!

I used to use it when I made the Wilton recipe, but since using my own recipe I never use it. I think it is just to sort of stabilize the colors to keep them from bleeding so much. Not sure about that though.

not sure what the MP is in the recipe for - I thought it might be for crusting? If that is the case, you will be fine, just may have to work harder at smoothing since your BC won't crust. But I always use IMBC underneath fondant and that doesn't crust either, so no biggie

I think the purpose of the MP IS for crusting purposes, so you're fine!

Baton twirling? THAT IS AWESOME!

Anyways, I've never made icing with meringue powder but hopefully you are fine.

You should be fine I never use MP in my buttercream.

I have made many egg free cakes and skipped the MP in the recipes with good results. I don't even think to use it for regular cakes. Let us know how your cake turned out.

Crusting is a result of the fat/sugar ratio. Since I never used MP for 30 years, I'd venture to say that MP has nothing to do with the crusting process.

I don't use MP in my buttercream, and it crusts just fine, tastes just fine, I don't see the point, unless it's for Wilton to sell another product.

I don't use MP in my buttercream, and it crusts just fine, tastes just fine, I don't see the point, unless it's for Wilton to sell another product.

I'm fairly certain the MP is in there just to get you to purchase another Wilton product.

After you take the classes you think it needs it but I don't use it anymore. I wonder if it does anything re color not running... Not sure why they have you use it...