Buttercream Or Crisco-Cream?
Decorating By crazycakes-eu Updated 20 Jun 2014 , 3:30pm by AnnieCahill
who puts a cake in the sun? i wouldn't expect a twinkie to taset good if it was in the sun
A bride who has no concept of why an outdoor wedding in Arizona in August with no shade is a good idea.
I miss Arizona...
Yep. We have those in Arkansas as well. It's hot AND humid here in the summer. Still people insist on having outdoor weddings.
Awwww but is soooooo romantic!!!!....
to see people sweating up a storm in their sunday finest. LOL
who puts a cake in the sun? i wouldn't expect a twinkie to taset good if it was in the sun
A bride who has no concept of why an outdoor wedding in Arizona in August with no shade is a good idea.
I miss Arizona... Yep. We have those in Arkansas as well. It's hot AND humid here in the summer. Still people insist on having outdoor weddings.Keeping a cake outside just sounds disgusting to me...never mind the melting icing...what about insects?! Flies come to mind... YUK!
I agree personally I don't attend outdoor weddings in the summer. I am in the air conditioning or in my pool. I will not put on makeup and dress up for a wedding to sit in 110 degrees and melt. No thank you. I will make the cake if our catering company is catering the wedding but that's an far as I go with outdoor weddings. I HATE hot weather.
Summer weddings seem like a bad idea to me all the way around be they indoors or out. That being said, my neice is getting married on July 17 here in Ohio. I'm dreading it. I hate hot weather too, unless I'm in the swimming pool with a good book in one hand and a nice cold margarita in the other. Wonder if she'd change her venue to my backyard...?
Summer weddings seem like a bad idea to me all the way around be they indoors or out. That being said, my neice is getting married on July 17 here in Ohio. I'm dreading it. I hate hot weather too, unless I'm in the swimming pool with a good book in one hand and a nice cold margarita in the other. Wonder if she'd change her venue to my backyard...?
Um... are we related? That sounds like it came directly out of MY mouth!! Or... my keyboard!
Summer weddings seem like a bad idea to me all the way around be they indoors or out. That being said, my neice is getting married on July 17 here in Ohio. I'm dreading it. I hate hot weather too, unless I'm in the swimming pool with a good book in one hand and a nice cold margarita in the other. Wonder if she'd change her venue to my backyard...?
Um... are we related? That sounds like it came directly out of MY mouth!! Or... my keyboard!
LOL!! We could be. I'm glad I'm not the only one. I wanted to add... and a pitcher of nice cold margaritas on the edge of the pool for easy access.
Well, I think that fat from a can is worse than from a cow, but you are right---no butter cream (or cake!)is healthy. That's why they taste so flippin' good. A person's preference just comes down to simply taste and workability. 
In hot climates like mine, you can't use all-butter buttercream because the heat melts it as you spread and pipe. Believe me, I've ruined many a birthday cake trying! I use a half-butter, half-shortening recipe and beat it to death so that it's light and fluffy. It tastes just as good as the all-butter variant, especially with a lot of vanilla and almond extract plus just a touch of butter flavoring. Let's face it: saturated fat from a can is no better or worse than saturated from a cow and no buttercream is particularly good for you (even if id does wonders for your sense of well-being!). That's why cake is only for special occasions. Strangely enough, however, I've noticed that in this climate the half-shortening buttercream tastes just fine, but when I've made the same recipe in a cooler climate it does leave a greasy residue in the mouth, so it may depend on where you're decorating as to whether you think this is a good recipe or not.
I was just thinking of this very thing today. I have hated crisco frostings for my entire adult life, so this is scary to me. I keep seeing that the best frostings for decorating have at least some amount of shortening in them. So, it seems they should be called criscocream, and not buttercream. In the past I have always made my frostings with 100% butter, and they have always been deliscious.
Can I add meringue powder to an all butter buttercream recipe and get some of the ability to decorate with it?
I don't use crisco at all, I prefer hi-ratio. IMHO using 1/2 butter and 1/2 hi-ratio gets me the great taste (no greasiness taste at all) and the stability for decorating.
Hi, there. I've tried that before and found the all butter icing to be a bit more stable, but still not like the crisco cream. hth
I was just thinking of this very thing today. I have hated crisco frostings for my entire adult life, so this is scary to me. I keep seeing that the best frostings for decorating have at least some amount of shortening in them. So, it seems they should be called criscocream, and not buttercream. In the past I have always made my frostings with 100% butter, and they have always been deliscious.
Can I add meringue powder to an all butter buttercream recipe and get some of the ability to decorate with it?
Momma28, does your recipe enable you to decorate with it - is it stable enough for borders and flowers, etc? Do you know, if I add egg white meringue powder to a real buttercream recipe, will that make it stable enough for cool weather decorating? (like an air conditioned house?)
Momma28, does your recipe enable you to decorate with it - is it stable enough for borders and flowers, etc? Do you know, if I add egg white meringue powder to a real buttercream recipe, will that make it stable enough for cool weather decorating? (like an air conditioned house?)
I dont generally do buttercream flowers, only gp, but I can do borders and scrolls and such with no problem. I guess when you have never used a shortening based buttercream you just learn to use the butter based. I really have no idea how much easier it might be (based on other peoples ecperiences) to use a shortening based icing and I really dont want to know LOL
I never use shortening, its actually a selling point for me and my cusstomers love that I use real butter in everything. I prefer to use smbc but even my american buttercream has no shortening in it.
There is a little bakery in Somerville NJ that advertises the same thing. At first I thought she was stating the obvious. Then I started reading about the different variations of buttercream here. Now I get it. 
Sylvia Weinstock in her book "Sensational Cakes" (or something like that) states she uses nothing but buttercream, not even fondant. She put in her BC recipe and it is all butter. I believe it is IMBC from the directions, but it has been a while since I read it. It could be SMBC. Anyway from the photos, her cakes look like the frosting is pretty stable. I haven't tried it yet. But then again, I don't make cakes for 200+ people, just 5 people and one layer. I don't need to worry about these things. I'll leave that to your professionals out there.
Well, I think that fat from a can is worse than from a cow, but you are right---no butter cream (or cake!)is healthy. That's why they taste so flippin' good. A person's preference just comes down to simply taste and workability.
I agree with the part about fat from a can. And it's not about the source of the fat, because Crisco is vegetable based, but the process by which they make it solid. But it is that solid structure that you want for the frosting, so what are you going to do?
I have made a policy to eat my own desserts for about 6 months now. My theory is that is I know exactly what the ingredients are and they are not processed and made with real ingredients that A) they would taste better B) I wouldn't gain as much weight because it would be a natural ingredient. We have been doing this now for about 6 months eating dessert on the average of 3-4 times a week (more than we would normally do). DH has not gained any weight. I fluctuate between the same 3 lbs up and down. But going all natural has worked for us.
I keep saying I'm going to make my own butter someday. There are tutorials on the internet on how to do this with a food processor. It looks easy and fun. I just want to see what I get and what it tastes like. Someday....
I never use shortening, its actually a selling point for me and my cusstomers love that I use real butter in everything. I prefer to use smbc but even my american buttercream has no shortening in it.
There is a little bakery in Somerville NJ that advertises the same thing. At first I thought she was stating the obvious. Then I started reading about the different variations of buttercream here. Now I get it.
Sylvia Weinstock in her book "Sensational Cakes" (or something like that) states she uses nothing but buttercream, not even fondant. She put in her BC recipe and it is all butter. I believe it is IMBC from the directions, but it has been a while since I read it. It could be SMBC. Anyway from the photos, her cakes look like the frosting is pretty stable. I haven't tried it yet. But then again, I don't make cakes for 200+ people, just 5 people and one layer. I don't need to worry about these things. I'll leave that to your professionals out there.
I have just recently started to use IMBC. I love it! The only drawback I find is that it melts quickly when your hands warm it up while you are decorating. I had to keep putting my bags in the fridge while I was decorating.
Quick question (probably a dumb one) what is hi-ratio? Where can I buy it?
Hi ratio shortening is shortening made with emulsifers to hold more water and sugar. The benefits are a smoother texture, no "weeping" like you can with crisco, and it does not taste greasy!
You can buy it on... AMAZON! http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00024WNTU/?tag=cakecentral-20
As always, I prefer the taste of all butter buttercream, like SMBC, but certain humid temperatures can require shortening! Someone mentioned it here; Toba Garret has a great recipe using butter and hi ratio buttercream!
Never having made either SMBC or IMBC, this may be a ridiculous question: if you add meringue powder to the recipe, will it add stability to the frosting for decorating?
The recipe I use for IMBC has cream of tartar which is supposed to give it stability. Don't know the answer to that question. Meringue powder is powdered egg whites and since there are egg whites in the recipe I don't know if it would make a difference.
Cookiedecorator, do you share your recipe?
Yes, I sent you the recipe via pm.
KayMC, even if you make a butter based icing more stable you will still have to consider that it may start to melt from a number of factors including hot hands and room temperature. If you took the wilton class, try that recipe in the course book and sub all butter for the shortening and cut back on the liquid in the recipe. I tried that before on cupcakes and it was good. Just play around with different recipes until you find something you like.
I tried the Sylvia Winestock all butter recipe. It is quite delicious and just melts in your mouth. My daughter, on the other hand, prefers the crisco based one. I did have a little trouble as the all butter will melt in your hand as you are squeezing it out of the bag. (basketweave....many, many trips back and forth to the frig)
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Especially in the summer I wouldn't trust a all butter recipe at all. I had to deliver a cake 2 hours away in the heat of summer, it had half butter, shortening recipe. It was too soft, and I thought it had a slight rancid taste after sitting for several hours outside in the sun. So I won't use butter in the summer at all anymore. I'm with leah, I don't care for the taste of a all butter recipe.
This kind of answers a question I've been wondering. So if you use crisco AND butter...does that hold up in outside weather or it's basically an "all crisco or nothing" scenario for outside?
I only add the tiniest amount of Crisco (like 1/2 cup) and fridge the cake if it's going to be outside. Of course it depends on your climate, but for me this was enough to last in 80 ish degree weather. You might need to use more if it's hotter where you are. The only way is to try it to be sure.
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