Hi all,
I made a cake yesterday, 8 inch, 4 layer white cake. I filled and crumb coated, chilled, but I couldn't ice. It was HOT! (The weather, not the cake). I was cooking a chicken. Our kitchen is tiny. It is the middle of summer. I made a standard buttercream but by the time I'd finished piping a rose, the middle was a melted blob. I chilled the cake, but by the time I'd got the MMF on it was melting...I know what you mean by 'bulges' and 'sag' and 'stretching' now lol.

But, I noticed some IMBC I'd made to try was still firm in the bowl. Is it more stable in heat than regular buttercream? I didn't use it as I assumed, with all that butter, that it would melt easier. What is others experience?

I'm also thinking it might be better for the wedding cake I am due to do.

Forgot to say, I did use some meringue powder in the BC and also thickened it right up with more icing sugar to pipe some on the top, result was that it was too thick to pipe smoothly and I got the rough edges on my piping...and it STILL melted.

Kiwigal, I'm in Texas and have learned that I can't bake and ice/decorate cakes on the same night. My kitchen gets way to hot and I have icing issues.

Did you use butter or shortening in your buttercream? Butter has a lower melting point and will soften up in the heat.

I don't have experience with IMBC so I cna't help you with that one.

By AMBC do you mean the powdered sugar plus fat (butter or shortening or a combination)?

If so, then, no, IMBC is not more stable.

Remember, shortening is solid at room temp, butter is not!

Also, meringue powder has absolutely no effect on stabilization. The ONLY reason Wilton has people adding that to BC is so they can sell more of it.

There are any number of reasons the IMBC was not melty, not the least because it was sitting there undisturbed (stirring, using frosting causes friction, which causes heat, which causes melty).

The best advice I can give you is to never ever try to do a cake while cooking something else in the oven. A cool kitchen is icing's best friend!

Ahh, I did use all butter, we don't really have shortening in the town I use. We have one brand, and it's horrendously expensive, about twice the cost of butter.

I did say 'Ahhh, I see now why people bake one day and ice the next'.
Thanks for the idea. I'll split the tasks next time and try to add some shortening.

the hotter and more humid it is the more shortening you should use. Typical recipe is 1/2 butter 1/2 shortening - more humid/hot use less butter and more shortening.

HTH

Really? Okay I'll take your word for it. Wilton only added it to their recipe after I'd sworn to never use their recipe again (hate the taste) and switched to IMBC. Since Wilton's recipe hadn't had it in there for decades and their icing worked just fine all that time, I figured it was all about the $$$$.

It could be in my head, but I did notice a difference when I use it when it comes to the hot and humidity.

prterrell.. i am a little confused. is the recipe that you have on your site.. is this what you are calling imbc.. you are using meringue powder. butter.. crisco.. etc.. i printed it some months ago. but haven,t made it yet... it is different than any imbc recipes that i have see.. if this is it.. so . the one on your site...you also call it promises buttercream .. so this is not the imbc you use. right. just need to get this straight.. before i make it.. thank you

Yup, that is a variation on IMBC I developed to be shelf-stable in the hot humid summers (springs and falls, too actually) we have here in GA. Basically you are using the meringue powder and reconstituting it to make the meringue portion of the buttercream instead of using fresh egg whites. I do this because it's pasturized so I know it's safe and so I don't have a bunch of extra yolks sitting around and I've never had meringue fail on me made with meringue powder, but egg whites are sometimes finicky. The tiny bit of shortening (so far have only used regular shortening, but hi-ratio would work even better, I need to order some for a wedding I have this May) really helps it hold up to the heat and humidity. In the winter I use all butter, but in the summer it just doesn't hold up as well if it's all butter.

In general, though, icer101, when I say IMBC, I mean the standard version that most are familiar with. I don't assume that everyone is familiar with, let alone using, the variation I posted.

Random comment, off the original topic: Wilton recommended adding meringue powder to icing when the shortening manufacturers in the US went trans-fat free. People started having more issues with thier icing being too loose, and getting an oily separation without the hydrogenated fat... it's supposed to help with that, though I don't kow if it does, because I don't use it!

The meringue powder is supposed to act as an emulsifier. It's probably the gum arabic in it that makes it work, if it does.

Wilton's recipe has never worked for me, whether I bake the same day I decorate, or bake the next day or a month later. Indydebi's recipe works (no gum arabic in dream whip, but there are other emulsifiers in it) even during the summer.

ok prterrell.... just got back on here.. i understand what you are saying. i make imbc and smbc a lot of times... it is the other method... with all butter.. and toba's recipe and wbh recipe. dede wilsons recipe. love them... anyway.. i am going to try your meringue based buttercream soon.. thanks

Thanks for the info guys. Here, our government (and people) are really down on transfats. So all our ingredients are preferred low. But I got the brand of shortening we have and I will have another go (in the cool kitchen). I've heard so much about IndyDebs recipe for BC, but we dont' have that whip stuff, or any substitute, or for that matter, coffee creamers. But I'll try the shortening and I'm sure it will be better
I appreciate the explanations, if I can see the reason behind it, it's really helpful for working out other things.