Hi
I have always made my buttercrean with icing sugar ,butter and flavourings.
Could someone please tell me how and if the Swiss or Italian buttercreams differ. Are they easy to make and more importantly to me do they taste good and how much better are they to ice your cake with.
Thanks for any and all info.
I know the italian involves egg whts and sugar syrup, is the swiss the same?

Swiss and Italian are about the same. Nothing like american buttercream. IMO they are more difficult to make, but they are as smooth as silk in your mouth. I offer both to my clients, but not many order the IMBC. It is my DH hands down favorite icing though. There are a ton of posts on the subject.

agreed. I make american buttercream and swiss meringue. I probably do american more for birthday cakes, kids cakes etc. Usually the brides pick swiss meringue. It's not overly sweet and seems more "fancy" It's not hard to make.

May I add to this by changing the question a little?

Those who sell cakes -

What is your price differential between a serving of ABC and IMBC or SMBC?

Thanks!

Theresa

Italian and Swiss are the same result, you just go a different way to make them.

Swiss you start with your egg whites and sugar, heating them up in a double-boiler and whisking softly and then continue with beating them and then adding the butter.

Italian you start beating the egg whites in a mixer, and meanwhile you make a sugar syrup in a pot with a thermometer in place, and as soon as it hits about 248˚F, and your eggs are at soft peaks, you put in the syrup and beat until the whites are cool. Then you add the butter. Some people have a different temperature that they boil the syrup to, as well as different peaks for the eggs.

So, same thing, different ways to make them.

My favorite is Italian Meringue Buttercream, both to make and eat.

I've never made American. When people have told me "I don't like frosting, don't give me any" and they've tasted the Italian, they've changed their minds. It's not overly sweet.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream video:

thanks for the info, but does IMBC work well when using and covering your cakes with fondant?

I prefer (and so do my customers) smbc

do the eggs get cooked enough in the swiss one using the double boiler as opossed to the italian hot syrup method?

I use the pasteurized egg whites that come in a carton.

I have read that eggs don't really get hot enough in any of the two methods, but who knows? Everyone has a different opinion. I bought the Meringue DVD from the Culinary Institute of America to see what they said and if I could get any extra tips on making them, and they do think that Swiss and Italian are "cooked meringues."

I know that when I'm making Italian and my syrup is about 248 degrees F, smoke comes out while my mixer is running so I feel safer making that one.

I never measured the temperature while making the Swiss, but all it has to get to is 160˚F for the eggs to be pasteurized.

Here's instructions for IMB with photos, in case anyone is interested. There are a few blogs out there with step-by-step instructions.

http://whisk-kid.blogspot.com/2010/08/how-to-make-italian-meringue.html

A good blog if you want to read about how to ice a cake with IMBC smoothly:

http://sugarsweetcakesandtreats.blogspot.com/2010/06/music-themed-80th-birthday-cake.html

(Actually her whole blog is really nice for beginners; things are very patiently explained.)

Babycakes- you can absolutely cover an IMBC or SMBC cake in fondant. I do it almost every time.
As for the eggs, as someone else said if the sugar syrup for IMBC is hot enough it's fine. I make SMBC and I have found that the egg and sugar mixture reaches 160 degrees pretty much just after the sugar granules have completely dissolved.

Hope that helps.

Thread on IMBC or SMBC under fondant:

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopic-697280-0-days0-orderasc-.html&sid=b4502bdc5c5e5e54c76347c58b904135

As long as we're on the subject, I have a question or two.

Does anyone actually pipe anything other than borders with IMBC? I had a horrible time trying to color it for piping leaves. It separated, looked curdled and didn't pipe for squat! If you ice and border with it do you use American Buttercream for your flowers/leaves?

Once you have your cakes iced in either the SMBC or the IMBC, do you refrigerate them? Or are they good at room temp?

I've colored it and piped with it. I think if it separates, it was probably not done properly from the beginning. Or maybe it was too cold? Or maybe it was too hot? It has to be at room temperature, but your hands could get it too hot while you're piping.

Video, I think with Susan McMahon. There's a good video of her making it too, but I can't find it right now.

http://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/340660/Video-recipe--Piping-Italian-meringue-cupcake-buttercream

I see how she holds that bag, as to not warm up the IMBC that much with her hands.

MissLisa-
I haven't tried to color SMBC but I wonder if a powdered color would work better only because I have added Matcha powder (green tea) to it and it came out a fantastic green. Or perhaps add the color to your simple syrup for the IMBC?

And since I usually cover my SMBC in fondant I can't help with the flower question but it will pipe borders beautifully. Just be careful if you have hot hands.

I do refrigerate SMBC/IMBC cakes. Especially those not covered in fondant. But I usually always serve at or close to room temperature.
Hope that helps.

thanks so much everyone, I think I just may give this a try.

momma28, so the powdered egg whites work? I've been doing it forever with pasteurized egg whites, but sometimes I don't have those either. One day I bought the powdered egg whites and left in the pantry, but every time I've made sure I went to buy the carton of egg whites.

Now, if you tell me they work, I will use them! Your cakes are beautiful, and I know you have a lot of experience.

Okay..I just made the IMBC this wekend for an actual cake.I have only made it once before and it was to just make it..This time it was for a paid order.I spent over to $30.00 for the ingredients..4 lbs of unsalted butter at $5.00 a lb.Carton of egg white $3.97..cream of tartar since I didn't have any...$6.29...white granulated sugar....well I didn't determine that but you get the idea...It took me about an hour and a half to make 2 batches...Stupid me only charged her an extra $5.00....Won't ever make that mistake again...Here are my thoughts on the taste and texture....The taste is soft and silky but to me tastes buttery...Smooths like a dream and pipes nice but you have to work quicker as it tends to melt fast...The color is lousy..soft yellow but I know that is due to the butter content...It takes coloring terrible...I use alot of Super Red to get a decent red and still had to airbrush for a deeper color..I tried to make sky blue..Came out a muted dark blue because of the yellow tinge of the icing...not the color I was after....When it set up in the fridge it was very solid...Like cold butter since that essentially is what it is...I would make it again for myself but would tend to pass on a paid customer order unless they really want it and then I am charging $35.00 extra for the ingredients and time factor.HTH

If you want IMBC in a dark colour the best way to achieve that with paste colours is to add the colour to the sugar syrup. It is much harder to add it to the finished buttercream, the colour won't always emulsify properly with the buttercream so you can end up with beads of un-mixed colour, or a curdled look. Most of the time I just add colour to the finished bc, but it won't come out as deep or dark as an American bc would.

Or you can add paste colours to the egg white and sugar mixture BEFORE you add the butter, I do that all the time. But it is difficult, as with any other buttercream or fondant, to get a dark colour. All my cupcakes in my pictures are decorated with IMBC.

Thank you, momma28. And thanks for the tip on the strainer. This will free me up from having to have those cartons of egg whites in the fridge.