Hello,

So for years now I have made the american buttercream... but after repeatedly enjoying the amazing cupcakes at my local shop (should anyone be from Toronto... I'm talking about Wedding Cake Shoppe on College street's amazing buttery cupcake frosting!!!)

So now I want to try a new recipe to get a less sweet and more smooth butter taste. I know that which one to use is all preference and what people like better.

So after searching on here for a good IMBC and a SMBC I am finding so many. Can someone please suggest to me their favourite IMBC and SMBC so that I could do 2 tests runs and get baking

Should anyone be willing to share their thoughts as to taste and which they prefer in terms of a silky smooth butter taste I would greatly appreciate it!

Also, I recently broke my candy thermometer... I'm assuming I can't make either of these recipes without one right? I should probably go out and buy 1 before I start.

Thanks SO much in advance!

Sara

Sara,

You can make SMBC without a candy thermometer. FromscratchSF recipe is pretty good. I have tried it myself. But i am not in for her mixing method. She asks us to put all of the butter at once and mix it on low. But sometimes i find there is too much butter. I prefer to do it a tbsp at a time. Sometimes we do not need a full lb of butter. You can look her her blog on wordpress. She has the recipe there.

For IMBC i prefer The cake bible version with little changes. Comes out good and tastes not too sweet. But surely you do need a candy thermometer.

I think the texture of both would be very similar. I've only ever made IMBC, but from what I undersatnd the results are almost the same, with the IMBC being a bit firmer and more stable. But other than that, same product. As for recipes, I use Warren Brown's Cake Love IMBC. Depending on ingredients it can vary wildly in taste. If I use salted butter...TERRIBLE. Same if you don't use a lot of vanilla, I use more than the recipe calls for. It cuts down on the buttery taste.

what about crusting ones for both and do they hold up under fondant?

neither will crust. crusting happens when the ratio to fat and sugar is in favour of the sugar. In this case there isn't a hope in hell of achieving that!! There is a lot of fat, not so much sugar.

I've never used it under fondant, but have been told it's fine.

I use a combination of Cakejournal's tutorial and the video 'how to make boiled icing (Italian Meringue)' on youtube. Ingredients based on video. My thermometer's figures were washed off. I set my timer on 5 minutes once the syrup starts boiling on very high heat. Then I start whiping whites. As soon as the timer sets off I start pouring the syrup into the whites. I follow the video recipe to the end. The video will not go up to the buttercream stage. I then blend pastry fat with margarine in another bowl to make the marge stable. (I have not seen shortening in our shops and butter price is high around here) I mix with the IM a little at a time until the right consistency. Yum-o!

I make IMBC because I don't like standing over a stove constantly whisking. Go to YouTube and look up Warren Brown's IMBC recipe. That's the exact recipe I use, except I add more sugar.

Both types of buttercream are basically the same thing and it's just in the preparation methods that they are different. Just make sure you use good unsalted butter and plenty of flavoring and it will turn out well.

Annie

It's written puff pastry fat on package and used for pies. It's more stable than butter/margarine. No flavor. Not sure how it compares with your shortening.

so how do you smooth it. Or is for under fondant only?

I used the SMBC from smittenkitchen's blog and the IMBC from Warren Brown's cakelove site. I plan to give fromscratchsf's cream cheese SMBC very soon-her recipes are great

Both are silky smooth and the vanilla and chocolate reminds me of ice cream. I, too use a lot of flavoring and have never heard the complaint of it being too buttery. It frosts easily and any problems I encountered from either of them were user error for sure. I try different butter creams but always come back to SMBC and IMBC.

By the way, always use unsalted butter....
HTH

The only difference i notice between IMBC and SMBC are that IMBC is more firm and more stable. SMBC is a little on the soft side. But not a great deal on difference in texture and taste. Just the method of making it. When the egg Whites are at room temperature i go with IMBC. When i have not time to wait for that i do SMBC

IMBC is easier to make in my opinion. It's pretty much foolproof.

I won't post the whole process as it's the same on pretty much every recipe, but I wanted to post my recipe as it is so easy to scale.

It's basically 1 egg white/10g sugar... 50g sugar/20ml water... 100g unsalted butter and just multiply it by how many egg whites you want to use. I usually make a 5 egg white recipe so it's 5 E.W, 50g sugar... 250g sugar/ 100ml water... 500g unsalted butter... easy peasy!

thanks tigachu! I tried both of those recipes the SMBC and the IMBC and well wow don't know what I was so afraid of they really weren't that hard to make and I LOVE them both! I agree they are very similar in taste I find the SMBC a touch more of a silkier butter taste.

Can I pick your brains with a few more questions:

1) I guess I put it in the fridge since there's butter in it? And when I want to use it, do I just let it come down to room temperature or do I have to whip it again?

2) How would I make chocolate? Do I ad cocoa powder or melted chocolate? and at what stage of the mixing do I add it?

3) How do I go about creating some of the following flavors? they are some of my favourites at local bakeries... do I add flavorings like Lorann's or do I use purees??

Some I would like to create are:
Almond.... I guess just add almond extract?
Banana buttercream?
Mocha buttercream?
Maple buttercream?
Cappucino buttercream? (maybe mix in espresso?)
Hazelnut? do I add nutella or ground hazelnut??
Irish cream? (add irish cream liquor I guess??)
Peanut butter buttercream?
Orange buttercream?
Lemon buttercream?
Raspberry buttercream?
Strawberry buttercream?

Again... with american buttercream I would probably just add some extract or pureed strawberries but I'm not sure if I can do that here? I would like the flavor to be as natural as possible and I would prefer to use yummy ingredients as apose to extracts.

Thank you all SO much in advance! I am in love with SMBC and IMBC!!! Can't wait to learn to expand it!

Sara

thanks everyone!!!!

Chocolate: I add melted and cooled chocolate about 6 oz per recipe.

Almond: Extract
Mocha: Instant espresso with or without Chocolate
Hazelnut: Hazelnut Praline paste
Peanut butter: I would add smooth peanut butter until i can taste it.
Orange: Orange Oil and zest.
Lemon: Lemon oil and zest
Raspberry: Raspberry preserves /puree
Strawberry: Strawberry preserves/puree
Irish cream: Liquor
Caramel: Caramel Sauce

I would love to hear how other make these flavors..

Whew I'm glad I'm home. I almost died 50 times tonight due to treacherous road conditions.

Anyway, I have personally left my IMBC out for a few days. I would say no more than three. To be on the safe side, you should refrigerate it and let it come to room temperature before using it or serving it. It's kind of gross cold.

You can add melted cooled chocolate to make it chocolate. For your fruit flavors, use oils or extracts to taste. There is really no wrong way to modify this buttercream. It can take a lot of flavor without the texture being affected.

You can use peanut butter or Nutella in place of some of the butter. Again, do it to taste. I would replace one stick with an equal amount of PB and see how you like it. You can tweak it until you get the flavor you want.

I tend to stay away from the Lorann oils because some of them just taste cheap to me. I have used their lemon oil and it was fine. Try to use fruit purees or a good quality preserves for raspberry, blueberry, apricot, strawberry, etc. If you have a copy of The Cake Bible there are a few recipes in there for concentrated fruit purees.

Annie

[quote="sarascakecreations"]thanks tigachu! I tried both of those recipes the SMBC and the IMBC and well wow don't know what I was so afraid of they really weren't that hard to make and I LOVE them both! I agree they are very similar in taste I find the SMBC a touch more of a silkier butter taste.

Can I pick your brains with a few more questions:

1) I guess I put it in the fridge since there's butter in it? And when I want to use it, do I just let it come down to room temperature or do I have to whip it again? I would typically make it 2-3 days before I need it and let it sit out at room temperature until I need it. If I put it in the fridge, I let it sit out at room temperature for about an hour or two then whip with a whisk. I also agree that it freezes beautifully! I just pack it into a freezer safe, airtight container.

2) How would I make chocolate? Do I ad cocoa powder or melted chocolate? and at what stage of the mixing do I add it? I melt about 8oz of good quality chocolate; let it get to room temp, and add it after the buttercream has already come together. Sometimes I add the chocolate after it has cooled to make little "chunky chips"

3) How do I go about creating some of the following flavors? they are some of my favourites at local bakeries... do I add flavorings like Lorann's or do I use purees??

Some I would like to create are:
Almond.... I guess just add almond extract? Yes, almond extract would be great
Banana buttercream? I agree-pureed bananas, banana liquor or a natural banana extract
Mocha buttercream? Coffee as suggested above or natural extract
Maple buttercream? Use good quality maple syrup
Cappucino buttercream? (maybe mix in espresso?) use natural extract, coffee, or add instant espresso to hot water to dissolve
Hazelnut? do I add nutella or ground hazelnut?? Yes or use amoretto or amoretto extract
Irish cream? (add irish cream liquor I guess??) Yup
Peanut butter buttercream? Not sure, I don't like peanut butter
Orange buttercream?orange zest, pure orange extract, orange oil, or add true orange (under the true lemon line) to water or orange juice to dissolve a bit
Lemon buttercream?lemon zest, pure lemon extract, lemon oil, or add true lemon to water to dissolve
Raspberry buttercream? natural/organic raspberry preserves, natural raspberry extract or powdered raspberries (from nuts online)
Strawberry buttercream? natural/organic strawberry preserves, natural strawberry extract, or powdered strawberries (from nuts online)

Scp introduced me to the natural extracts from olive nation . com. They are awesome!!
Experiment and have fun with it

[quote="sarascakecreations"]thanks tigachu! I tried both of those recipes the SMBC and the IMBC and well wow don't know what I was so afraid of they really weren't that hard to make and I LOVE them both! I agree they are very similar in taste I find the SMBC a touch more of a silkier butter taste.

Can I pick your brains with a few more questions:

1) I guess I put it in the fridge since there's butter in it? And when I want to use it, do I just let it come down to room temperature or do I have to whip it again? I would typically make it 2-3 days before I need it and let it sit out at room temperature until I need it. If I put it in the fridge, I let it sit out at room temperature for about an hour or two then whip with a whisk. I also agree that it freezes beautifully! I just pack it into a freezer safe, airtight container.

2) How would I make chocolate? Do I ad cocoa powder or melted chocolate? and at what stage of the mixing do I add it? I melt about 8oz of good quality chocolate; let it get to room temp, and add it after the buttercream has already come together. Sometimes I add the chocolate after it has cooled to make little "chunky chips"

3) How do I go about creating some of the following flavors? they are some of my favourites at local bakeries... do I add flavorings like Lorann's or do I use purees??

Some I would like to create are:
Almond.... I guess just add almond extract? Yes, almond extract would be great
Banana buttercream? I agree-pureed bananas, banana liquor or a natural banana extract
Mocha buttercream? Coffee as suggested above or natural extract
Maple buttercream? Use good quality maple syrup
Cappucino buttercream? (maybe mix in espresso?) use natural extract, coffee, or add instant espresso to hot water to dissolve
Hazelnut? do I add nutella or ground hazelnut?? Yes or use amoretto or amoretto extract
Irish cream? (add irish cream liquor I guess??) Yup
Peanut butter buttercream? Not sure, I don't like peanut butter
Orange buttercream?orange zest, pure orange extract, orange oil, or add true orange (under the true lemon line) to water or orange juice to dissolve a bit
Lemon buttercream?lemon zest, pure lemon extract, lemon oil, or add true lemon to water to dissolve
Raspberry buttercream? natural/organic raspberry preserves, natural raspberry extract or powdered raspberries (from nuts online)
Strawberry buttercream? natural/organic strawberry preserves, natural strawberry extract, or powdered strawberries (from nuts online)

Scp introduced me to the natural extracts from olive nation . com. They are awesome!!
Experiment and have fun with it

Thank you all SO much I am in love with this frosting! It is definately what I was looking for!

Quick question, when adding color can I just fold it into the batter with a spatual like I used to with american buttercream or do I have to whip it in? And if I need to get a dark color, navy blue or brown etc... will adding alot of color thin the batter out?

I know that when making american butercream if for what ever reason my batter got too thin or lose I would just add some powdered sugar and that fixed the problem.... is there such a quick fix to SMBC?

Thanks, Sar

Just stir in your color like you usually would. For darker colors, it's best to use candy colors because they are oil based so they blend into the BC better.

Don't add PS to this. If it's too loose, put it in the fridge for a couple of minutes. Too stiff, beat it a bit or warm the bowl up over a double boiler.

Quick question about adding peanut butter. At what point do you add it? and do you have to whip the PB first and make it soft or does blends right in? sorry for all the questions but I've never made IMBC

The best tasting imbc for me is whimsical bake house imbc. I like dede wilson's also. Imbc is a little firmer than smbc, but not that much. I love the feel and taste of both. I use dyanbakes recipe on youtube to make smbc. I just like the way she shows how to make it. It is creamy and smooth and delicious. I never just like a vanilla taste(never). I have to add pure lemon ext. I never leave it as is. For peanut butter, i just add it straight from the jar. delicious. for chocolate, i melt either white or dk. chocolate on low in microwave and then add how much i need. I add to taste with anything. Strawberry jams or raspberry jams, etc. I add to taste. I add any of this after i have completey made the meringue. Lemon curd, whatever. I could go on and on. ha!! hth Oh, yeah, and NUTELLA !!!delicious!!! I also make fresh strawberry or raspberry puree to use.It is all good.!!

Wow! Sara thank you soo much for starting this topic and THANK YOU ALL for the replies. She has asked every single question I could ever think of and they've all been answered fabulously.

I have a question.

When frozen how long can you keep IMBC/SMBC? How long in the fridge? How long setting out at room temp (I believe I read 3 days?)

Thank you all again!

I'm beginer....what meen,SM and IM...BC...i'm suppose bc it'butter cream.
Thanks

Thank you !and what recipe did you use?
I'll like to know if we can use under fondant to.
Thanks..
If i'm make mistake,i'm sorry i'm french...and my english is better for read than writh.

Yes it can be used under fondant you just have to chill the buttercream really well once it's on the cake then apply the fondant.