Urgent Help Needed!!!! Powdered Egg White Imbc?!?!?!?

Baking By Babycakes820 Updated 15 Jan 2013 , 4:55pm by jctkrause

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Babycakes820 Posted 9 May 2011 , 9:40pm
post #1 of 18

I have a great IMBC recipe that's been foolproof until now, and I'm trying using powdered egg white instead of fresh egg white this time.

The powder took longer to whip up than I had thought, and once I finished adding the syrup, the egg whites lost their fluff and the mixture still looks soupy.

I'm still beating on high to wait for the meringue to cool down before adding the butter... I don't want to waste the butter if this won't turn out!

HELP? What did I do wrong? I have 4 dozen cupcakes I need done for tomorrow morning!!!!

Thanks...

17 replies
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FromScratchSF Posted 9 May 2011 , 10:04pm
post #2 of 18
Quote:
Originally Posted by Babycakes820

I have a great IMBC recipe that's been foolproof until now, and I'm trying using powdered egg white instead of fresh egg white this time.

The powder took longer to whip up than I had thought, and once I finished adding the syrup, the egg whites lost their fluff and the mixture still looks soupy.

I'm still beating on high to wait for the meringue to cool down before adding the butter... I don't want to waste the butter if this won't turn out!

HELP? What did I do wrong? I have 4 dozen cupcakes I need done for tomorrow morning!!!!

Thanks...





You answered your own question in your very 1st sentence - "I have a great IMBC recipe that's been foolproof until now, and I'm trying using powdered egg white instead of fresh egg white this time."

You should make a trip to the store to buy fresh real eggs ASAP and save your butter. I have never heard of anyone trying to use powdered eggs to make a gourmet meringue buttercream. I have only tried adding meringue powder once to try and supplement because I was 2 eggs short - it failed.

Jen

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Babycakes820 Posted 9 May 2011 , 10:12pm
post #3 of 18

Thanks for the quick reply! I just let the mixer keep going and the texture seemed to right itself, so I gave it a try anyway, and it looks OK.

I purposely avoided meringue powder (like the Wilton stuff, that has sugar, etc. in it), but I wanted to try powdered egg white just to avoid any food safety issue. I'm doing my first wedding cake in July and it's an outdoor wedding, so I just wanted to see if a pasteurized product (WillPower) would be a good idea for this occasion. The cupcakes for tomorrow are for - let's say, a crowd who's used to canned frosting. icon_smile.gif And it's not a paid thing - so I figured they could be my guinea pigs on this experiment.

I'm usually a nothing-from-a-mix sort of girl, so this was a departure for me... We'll see how it's reviewed!

Thanks for your help!

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dynee Posted 9 May 2011 , 10:36pm
post #4 of 18

I make SMBC with powdered egg whites all the time. Works great! I can't imagine that IMBC wouldn't work.

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calicopurr Posted 9 May 2011 , 10:53pm
post #5 of 18
Quote:
Originally Posted by dynee

I make SMBC with powdered egg whites all the time. Works great! I can't imagine that IMBC wouldn't work.



Are you willing to share the recipe for this SMBC? icon_lol.gif

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dynee Posted 9 May 2011 , 11:25pm
post #6 of 18

Swiss Meringue Butter Cream Adapted by me to use the Meringue powder or powdered egg whites from Perfect Cakes by Nick Malgeieri 3 T.+1tsp. Meringue Powder    Scant 2/3 C. water 1 ½ C. sugar(for caramel, sub. Dark-brown sugar)
Pinch of salt.    2 C.(1lb.)[4 sticks] butter room temp.
Place ingredients in mixer bowl. Fill 1 ½ qt. saucepan with ½ inch water and bring to boil and lower to simmer. Place the bowl over simmering water and gently whisk until ingredients are hot (about 130-140 degrees) and sugar is dissolved. Be sure to get ALL the un-melted sugar crystals off the sides of the bowl.Attach bowl to mixer with the wire whisk attached and whip on medium until mixture is cooled, about 5 + minutes. Outside of bowl should be cool to touch. (At this point, makes great meringue icing. Can broil until lightly browned.) Stop mixer, remove whisk and attach paddle. Beating at low speed, add butter in 8 to 10 additions. Increase speed to medium and continue to beat until butter cream is thick and smooth--up to 5 minutes longer. If icing is to be stored in freezer or refrigerator, add flavorings after it is softened. Makes about 2 lbs, enough to fill and frost a 9-inch cake. For Champagne SMBC, I use champagne instead of water.

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still_learning Posted 9 May 2011 , 11:25pm
post #7 of 18

I've made IMBC with powdered egg whites several times without any problems. I also switched to this because of the food safety debate with making IMBC with fresh egg whites. Before trying the powdered I tried a few brands of liquid egg whites with no success but have done well with reconstituted powdered whites. Glad your problem seemed to resolve itself!

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calicopurr Posted 10 May 2011 , 3:32am
post #8 of 18

Thank you Dynee. I've been wanting to try this one from Karen's Cookies. It uses meringue powder. I wonder if it would work with egg white powder because I have purchased some from Amazon? Is this a Swiss Meringue recipe?......it uses both a simple syrup and powdered sugar.
http://karenscookieblog.com/2011/01/11/cupcake-frosting/

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dynee Posted 10 May 2011 , 12:34pm
post #9 of 18

That Karensblog looks like SMBC except for the powdered sugar. I'm guessing they added that to make it more stable in warm conditions. It will look the same with or without the powdered sugar.

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Kitagrl Posted 10 May 2011 , 1:31pm
post #10 of 18

You know what, I tried IMBC and SMBC both, using powdered egg whites, and it turned out horribly. The whites whipped up okay and then turned into soup when I added the rest of the ingredients.

I decided to stick with my current icing recipes...although I have a ton of powdered egg whites I can't use now! Because I tried making royal icing with them and they didn't work for that, either. thumbsdown.gif

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calicopurr Posted 10 May 2011 , 5:48pm
post #11 of 18
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kitagrl

You know what, I tried IMBC and SMBC both, using powdered egg whites, and it turned out horribly. The whites whipped up okay and then turned into soup when I added the rest of the ingredients.

I decided to stick with my current icing recipes...although I have a ton of powdered egg whites I can't use now! Because I tried making royal icing with them and they didn't work for that, either. thumbsdown.gif




Just a hunch, but maybe something is wrong with your powdered egg whites. ?? I don't know what, but even if your royal icing doesn't come out, then I see why your batches of icings didn't come out right either. I use my powdered egg whites for royal icing and it comes out great. Have you tried using them in a cake?

On another note, I wonder why icings like meringue buttercreams don't come out with pasteurized egg whites? Before I bought the powd. egg whites, I would buy the pasteurized egg whites and freeze them in my brownie pop silicone mold. Then all I had to do is let them defrost, then I'd make royal icing.

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imagenthatnj Posted 10 May 2011 , 6:00pm
post #12 of 18

I always use liquid pasteurized egg whites in my IMBC. However, I asked once here about the powdered egg whites (which I had bought to try) and a lot of people assured me that it works.

Haven't tried yet, but here are some links:

http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=6931011&sid=0939ed3896e879d5435c88e1cd718b96

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-686322-powdered.html+egg+whites

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Kitagrl Posted 10 May 2011 , 6:13pm
post #13 of 18
Quote:
Originally Posted by calicopurr

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kitagrl

You know what, I tried IMBC and SMBC both, using powdered egg whites, and it turned out horribly. The whites whipped up okay and then turned into soup when I added the rest of the ingredients.

I decided to stick with my current icing recipes...although I have a ton of powdered egg whites I can't use now! Because I tried making royal icing with them and they didn't work for that, either. thumbsdown.gif



Just a hunch, but maybe something is wrong with your powdered egg whites. ?? I don't know what, but even if your royal icing doesn't come out, then I see why your batches of icings didn't come out right either. I use my powdered egg whites for royal icing and it comes out great. Have you tried using them in a cake?

On another note, I wonder why icings like meringue buttercreams don't come out with pasteurized egg whites? Before I bought the powd. egg whites, I would buy the pasteurized egg whites and freeze them in my brownie pop silicone mold. Then all I had to do is let them defrost, then I'd make royal icing.




It has to be something with the egg whites...unfortunately I bought a six pack of them from Amazon!!!!! Cuz yeah, my royal sorta only beat up half way, but not to a full stiffness like it always does with meringue powder. And it also did not harden as fast either. My buttercream ended up soupy and full of air bubbles and tasted like eating straight butter.

Very disappointed....will not risk that again.

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DaniNicole Posted 10 May 2011 , 6:20pm
post #14 of 18

Which brand of liquid pasturized egg whites do you use? I tried to make IMBC several times with the liquid egg whites, and it failed...so I threw the egg whites out and used fresh egg whites and it worked perfectly...I will attempt to make IMBC with powdered egg whites and see how that works too...[/quote]

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imagenthatnj Posted 10 May 2011 , 7:08pm
post #15 of 18
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaniNicole

Which brand of liquid pasturized egg whites do you use? I tried to make IMBC several times with the liquid egg whites, and it failed...so I threw the egg whites out and used fresh egg whites and it worked perfectly...I will attempt to make IMBC with powdered egg whites and see how that works too...


[/quote]

I don't remember the brand. I just get the only one that I can usually find at the ShopRite. I only made IMBC once with non-pasteurized eggs, then after that, because the cakes were for children and the grandmother was a little bit afraid, I started using the liquid egg whites.

I do start beating them way ahead of time because they take longer to beat. The first time I started beating them after putting the sugar to boil, the sugar got there a lot faster and I had to start putting small ice cubes to bring the temperature down! It still worked, but I knew what to do next time.

I do want to move to the powder, though, because of the convenience. After all, it's still egg whites.

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calicopurr Posted 10 May 2011 , 7:16pm
post #16 of 18

Make sure your bowl is free from oil or shortening to achieve whipped egg white volume. You can wipe it down with a wet paper towel that has been dipped in vinegar.

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imagenthatnj Posted 10 May 2011 , 7:30pm
post #17 of 18
Quote:
Originally Posted by calicopurr

Make sure your bowl is free from oil or shortening to achieve whipped egg white volume. You can wipe it down with a wet paper towel that has been dipped in vinegar.




Or vodka.

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jctkrause Posted 15 Jan 2013 , 4:55pm
post #18 of 18

I've used Deb-El shelf-stable powdered egg whites to make SMBC and found that adding tap-hot water to rehydrate the egg white powder, then beating the hot egg white-syrup mixture over ice water and a little bit less fat might make the difference.

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