It's a light orangy flavour. I first added 1 Tbsp because I wasn't sure and didn't want an over powering alcohol flavour. I got DH to try and he agreed it needed more. It's a light, orange flavour. It's one of the only liqueurs I like to sip on it's own. And it goes great with chocolate. I usually add it to chocolate mousse.

Well this is annoying - for some reason I stopped getting alerts on this thread.

About refrigeration... Do what your health department says. I do. Mine says meringue buttercreams are shelf stable and do not need refrigeration. I refrigerate to make my cakes easier to handle and transport. I refrigerate my CCSMBC to keep the flavor, not because I'm afraid it's going to turn into Chernobyl being out for a few hours. But I also do not make baked goods meant to be eaten over several days. My stuff is meant to be eaten within 24 hours.

Orange Cake - I make a very tasty orange cake, I just use orange extract with some orange zest. Paired with a citrus buttercream (combination of lemon and orange extracts and a touch of lemon curd) and it's really tasty. Or just with VB buttercream, tastes like a 50/50 bar. Anyone remember those?

Thanks for all of your help on this. also thanks for answering the question about shelf stability. That makes things easier on me because I don't have to worry about keeping things in the fridge so long and waiting until the last minute to put fondant on it.

I, too, prefer that my cakes are eaten in that amount of time. Not because they wouldn't be good over a longer period of time, I just want to know that my clients and friends are getting the freshest cake possible.

Thank you for posting The CCBC recipe I currently use has PS but I love making SMBC and IMBC so I will definately try this recipe. It sounds absolutely DELISH!!!

Just a question... and it may sound dumb... but here goes anyway! (if you don't ask.. you'll never know.. right? hehe!) anyway.. I'm dying to make your (what seems like) divine SMBC... just reading all the comments has made me drool... However.. and it's a biggg however... I am not yet the proud owner of a KA! ( Is this at all possible with a handheld mixer? or are they just not powerful enough? If it issss possible... are there any changes that I would need to make to the process etc?

Thanks so much!

Vicky

Vicky, I wouldn't try it. I burned out two really good handmixers making icings for my cake decorating because I did not have a good stand mixer. They were pretty powerful handmixers as far as hand mixers go. Actually, the truth is I didn't burn out two motors. The first one burnt out the second one the motor was still good, but the two bit pieces that they put in mixers these days to hold the beaters in wore out. They were plastic of course. I couldn't understand why they would build such a nice hand mixer and then put in cheapy parts, but it happened. Don't do it unless you have the money to go get another hand mixer. Sure, they handled the icings for awhile, but the one burned out a lot faster than it normally would have, I am sure.

I agree with Jules5000 that you can't make some buttercream's with a handmixer. I definitely wouldn't make any American buttercream with one. That being said, I think you can make an SMBC with a hand mixer, and FromScratchSF says so as well. It's not a thick heavy butter cream like an American.

I'm not sure if I or anyone else posted this earlier in the thread (I didn't feel like paging through) but here's a link to her blog and her tutorial for SMBC. It's excellent and her recipe is the one I use when I need it. (I haven't tried her cream cheese modification yet.)

http://fromscratchsf.wordpress.com/2011/03/08/tutorial-swiss-meringue-buttercream/

You'd be beating the egg white sugar mixture on high, but as long as your hand mixer had a slow slow speed, I think it could be done. I realize with a KA you have the paddle but I imagine even the regular beaters, it will eventually come together. It just may take longer.

The mixer that I had that did not burn out, was a sunbeam, and it came with three different sets of beaters. A whisk, reg. beaters and dough hooks. It had 250 Watts of power. it was just the part that wore out. You might try to find one of them. It was a little black one and had a nice stand that came with it. I really liked it. Now that I have a stand mixer I would not mind getting another sunbeam hand mixer. I really miss having a hand mixer.

Well lemme tell you what my sister, the non-baker, says about mixers... she has a stand and a hand mixer. She makes my SMBC. She claims her buttercream comes out better with the HAND mixer. Now, I don't know about all that, but I do know that she gets along just fine using a hand mixer and she has yet to burn one out.

Now, if you are making 8 pounds of SMBC a day, it might be time for you to make the investment into a KA, but if you are only making the occasional cake, I think a hand mixer should be fine. Although when I finally bought myself a KA it changed my life and I don't know how I got along without one, but that's just me.

Thanks everyone for your answers! I have definitely made butter creams (american ones at that!) with this mixer... and yes.. when it's a double batch.. boy do I feel it! heheh! but SO FAR it hasn't let me down!! I'm definitely going to get a KA... eventually... my birthday is coming up so will see if anyone thinks of it... certainly been hinting a fair amount! hahaha! But just because the recipe called for putting the stuff into the standalone... i thought... hmmm.. maybe this wouldn't work with the hand-held alone? So.... besides things taking that little bit longer... no other changes to the technique??

I'm almost scared to try this... in case it all goes horribly wrong! lol! I made a buttercream a few months ago... (now for the life of me I can't remember if it was swiss or italian - please don't hate me... I know... it's sinful not to know! lolol!) and when it was finished.. it was divine... i could've eaten the whole massive bowl... refrigerated it... hoping to use it the next day for a cake for my nephew... and I couldn't get it to color! I'd put the coloring in... and it would just separate and make little water droplets... had no idea why! Since then I haven't dared... but as they say... he who dares... wins.. right? But eek I'm scared!! Anyone have any great suggestions/tips? lol!! Oh... and when it comes to smbc... is it a good texture to pipe with? Just for future reference... I won't be needing to pipe with this weekend's cake... but thought to ask for future!

Thanks again for all your input!

Vicky

vgereis, you might have made swiss or italian, but if you put these in the fridge, you have to let it come to total room temperature and whip it again before you can do anything with it.

Swiss: you heat up eggwhites and sugar in a bowl, then beat
Italian: you make a very hot sugar syrup and pour on top of beating egg whites.

As for making swiss with a handheld mixer, yes, it's possible. My boyfriend's mother has done it and it's worked OK. Of course I don't want her to make the italian because I am afraid she'd get burned.

I made SMBC using a sunbeam at my mother's house. I was so scared that it wouldn't come together but it did.....it just took a lot longer!

If I color my SMBC, I use candy colors (oil based).

HTH

I've used Americolor gels to colour my SMBC.

Thanks imagenthatnj! Perhaps it was that I hadn't brought it all the way back to room temp? But do you think that could be a reason for the color not working? And when you describe them that way.. I realize that it was Italian that I'd made! hehe!

Tigachu... did it take realllllly long? lol!

pmarks0... thanks for confirming that you've used gels before... I only have gels... some Wilton and some that are sugarflair (think those are UK brand ones?). Assume that you only color after it's all done?


Thanks again guys... Wowww I love cake central! hehe! you guys are the best!

Vicky

I've never tried colouring prior to completion, mostly because I often need several colours from the batch. FromScratchSF may be able to say when she colours as I think she will colour a whole batch at one time.

I can't wait to try this recipe for cream cheese SMBC, thanks for posting!

As far as orange cakes - the orange cake on CC by Baking Jeannie is very good - everyone who had tried it has loved it!

imaginethatnj; I have a question. I think that besides cost I have also been afraid of making italianmeringuebuttercream is that I am wondering if you are pouring that hot mixture into the eggwhites while the mixer is going then what speed do you put it on. So if you put the mixer on the slow and pour it in so the hot mixture didn't come up and burn you then isn't the stuff going to cook the eggs before you get it all in there and become a mess? So I am quite leery of trying it. most of the time when I make icing, it is while my husband is at work.

I know this is very late. But i just have only a small hand mixer. Probably the cheapest too. I use to make cakes very occasionally. I have tried both SMBS and IMBC with that. It has never burned down. It burnt when i made a batch of Royal icing. Then i bought another hand mixer for about $20 bucks from target. I make both with that. I have made 2 batches in a day and it did not burn. Crossing my fingers
I stay in a small apartment and having a kitchen Aid is difficult. So even though my DH is ready to get me i have to say no to it

I just tried a SMB and love it. it is 1c eggwh/ 2c sugar/ 2c butter. i live in miami with 80-95 degrees. which portions will probably hold better in warmer temps: this one; From Scratch 1:1:2 ; or Lindas 1:2:3.

sorry if silly question. thanks

^^ This is a great question. I was thinking about that a couple of days ago. I'm curious too.

I love SMBC, can't wait to try CCSMBC. TFS 

ASorry, CCSMBC = Cream Cheese Swiss Merengue ButterCream

Thank you for sharing your buttercream frosting recipe with us. How does this buttercream stand up to warm weather? I have a very good recipe for SMBC that I use on cupcakes, but it gets too soft to stand up very long in an room without air conditioning. Can you substitute half of the butter with a high ratio shortening?

Thanks,

Vergie

this recipe needs to be refrigerated for safety -- cream cheese is a hazardous food