Working With Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Decorating By The_Sugar_Fairy Updated 18 Nov 2011 , 1:15pm by lilmissbakesalot
Hi all! I've made some Swiss Meringue Buttercream for the first time tonight. I usually use American Buttercream (with powdered sugar) so this is a change for me. It turned out well. Question though.. how do you pipe a dam with SMB to put filling inside of? With my usual buttercream, I can stiffen it by adding more powdered sugar. You can't do that with SMB obviously. Do you just use it as it is for the dam? I hope everyone knows what I mean. Also is SMB crusting or not? Thanks! 
I just pipe the dam as-is, then refrigerate for a little bit to harden the dam. Then I fill as usual. I have never had any problems with bulging filling-just be careful not to overfill, and make sure you let your cakes settle for a little while before your final coat.
SMBC and IMBC don't crust.
Annie
Pipe a dam of regular ole smbc, fill it, and let settle for a bit. Sometimes I skip the settling process and ice right away. Putting it in the fridge after icing seems to lock it all in tight anyways. I have never had a bulging issue either way since switching to SMBC.
I use the Martha Stewart recipe. Her advice is to keep at room temp if using the same day, or transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate up to 3 days or freeze up to 1 month. before using bring to room temp and beat until smooth, about 5 mnts.
Overnight is fine at room temp, but for any length of time I chill it. You MUST let it come to room temp before you rewhip it though or it will separate on you and look like watery cottage cheese as the fat clumps together. Now... if this happens don't fret. If you let it warm up a little more it will come back to 100% beautiful, but it can be scary seeing it fall apart the first time.
You should see me when I rewhip cold SMBC. I let it sit for a bit. I get impatient. I stab it with a knife to break it into chunks. I turn the beater blade way up and pulverize it into little chunks. I let it sit. I get more impatient. I turn the burner on the stove way up and put the bowl on the flame until I have a puddle of soup in the bottom of the bowl and the bowl is hot. Then I beat the crap out of it for a couple of minutes, and it's back to silky beautiful icing. 
I am like Maria. I abuse my buttercream severely and it never lets me down.
Seriously, I want that icing to be thawed and smooth within 10 minutes of removing from fridge. I'm exaggerating a bit, I probably let it sit about a half hour, chunked up in the bowl. But it's still hard little chunks when I go to work on it as described above. I don't know if it's just me, but no matter what, even when I am patient and let it come to room temp on it's own, it's never the same as it is fresh made. The color has changed, and it's just not that same consistency as fresh made. If I freeze or fridge any of it, it's for filling only, or for icing if it will be covered in fondant.
OMG bakencake! I was just about to ask the same thing.. as made the 3d Durable choc cake from the recipe files.. and it's all with egg whites... so have a bunch of egg yolks! Was about to ask if anyone has any great ideas for using just yolks! lol!!
First, don't worry about heart attacks from the incredible edible egg. High cholesterol is caused by saturated fat in foods, not from cholesterol in foods. If you notice, most shellfish is extremely high in cholesterol but it's very good for you. End soapbox.
You can freeze egg yolks with no problems:
http://whatscookingamerica.net/Eggs/FreezingEgg.htm
If you want to use them right away, how about making a pastry cream? You can eat it plain, use it as a filling for eclairs and fruit tarts, or use it for a cake filling.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/pastry-cream/detail.aspx
http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-731914-egg.html+yolks
http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-732513-yolks.html
Lemon curd
Flan/creme brulee/burnt creme
etc.
Well, I gave it a good try. I have a major sweet tooth and I'm just not finding the SMB sweet enough. I find it very greasy in my mouth and not enough flavour, so I'll go back to my regular buttercream (I'm using a variation of Indydebi's and I really like it). At least I know how to make it now though if someone wants an icing that's not sweet. Thanks for all the help.
I add more sugar to my recipe. I use Warren Brown's recipe for IMBC which you can find on YouTube. I add 1/4 cup more to the meringue and 1/4 cup more to the syrup. It comes out great. Then I add about three tablespoons of vanilla for flavor.
Give it another try with more sugar. And for the MBC noobs, make sure you use unsalted butter!
That sounds like a good idea, thanks Annie! I will try that. And yes, I've used unsalted butter.
I find if you let it get a little too warm and whip it back up the consistency is perfect. (this is for SMBC/IMBC that has been chilled).
If you think it's not sweet enough add some more sugar like AnnieCahill said. If there's not enough flavor... add more. For a 6 egg recipe I add at LEAST 1 TBSP of vanilla. Also... try adding something else to it... raspberry puree... caramel... ganache... peanut butter... it takes all flavors well.
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