I've been contemplating the idea of trying smbc. So I finally caved. All the recipes were about the same. 1c gran sugar. 5 egg whites. 4 sticks unsalted butter. Van x... Cooking etc.... So I made it... And the egg white and sugar mix after the mixer had it's way with it, Was pretty good. But once the butter went in.... It just tasted like straight butter xs 5.... I couldn't put that on my cake! I don't even think i would put it on my French toast cupcakes and they use a very butter rich icing.

Is this normal? I even made another batch of the sugar egg white mix to dilute the butter with no luck. I mean I know butter cream should taste like butter... But it was more buttery than my toast this morning!!!

Any comments?

I never used smbc for the past 2 years for that exact reason ...way too buttery. Until I came on here and started trying recipes. I don't remember the name of the recipe exactly ( well dressed smbc might be close) but it is 1 cup granulated sugar , 3 sticks of butter , 5 egg whites and when I made it ..LOVED it. So smooth and definitely not overwhelming butter flavour. Also holds other flavouring well. Maybe that extra 1/2 cup butter made the difference?

I LOVE smbc. I wish I could use only that for the rest of forever!

However...I have heard tell of the blasphemy of using shortening as a sub for some of the butter to lighten up on the butter flavor.

If you are used to ABC, you have trained your taste buds to expect super sweet icing so when you taste SMBC, all you think you taste is butter. Once you readjust your taste buds you won't be able to go back to ABC.

But think of it like this... I'd never eat a stick of butter straight. YUCK. But slather butter on bread? Yum yum. Unflavored SMBC is fantastic on cake because it enhances the flavor of the cake without overpowering it with extra flavorings.

But the biggest benefit of SMBC is it can hold a ton more natural flavorings then ABC. If you are only using a tsp of vanilla or something you are totally missing it's potential. Try a tbsp or more of vanilla bean paste, 1/4 cup strawberry puree, 1/2 cup raspberry preserves, or fold in 8oz of melted but cooled chocolate as variations. It's divine!

I use margarine in all recipes because of the price of butter in our area. I found the recipe amount too much so I just add a little at a time to the meringue till right consistency.

Hmm glad it's not just me lol. I liked the method behind it. I hate hate hate super sweet icings. I'm strong believer that the inventor of icing intended it to have a taste besides sugar! I've been trying to shy away from shortening based icings as well as it's either all in with ps or it tastes like straight shortening. We have family whose diabetic and with as much icing as my kids inhale, it's prob better to get away from the bc.

I will say this. After adding the extra egg white sugar mix, essentially diluting the butter to 2 sticks per 5 whites and 1 sugar, the butter was less noticeable but still there. It took almost a whole bottle of root beer concentrate to get it to taste like root beer.... My root beer float cupcakes were an epic fail but perfection doesn't come overnight.... I had to disguise the bland cupcakes with root beer in the icing lol,,, But my kids never mind the failures for dessert!

I did have some leftover that didn't have rb concentrate in it so I added some dark cocoa powder... The butter flavor added to that and it is actually pretty good.l

What's the heat tolerance for this anyways? My meringue experience is limited to, oh last nights buttery fiasco lol... Is the egg white sugar mix the same that you can torch? Basically will my roses survive the georgia summers? Or will they wilt in the heat?

Thanks for the replies... I was so sure I did something wrong!

I use an IMBC recipe to which I add a bit of extra sugar and two to three tablespoons of NM vanilla (if I want a good vanilla taste). I use Warren Brown's recipe from Cake Love.

I think I might try imbc next. I think my next tasting I'm gonna do an icing tasting. Every couple of months I get together with some friends and a few of my loyal customers and they sample out different flavors of cakes cupcakes and cookies... Its churned up so much business lately... Once i get all these icings to a point where I think their awesome.... Thinking I'd use smbc, abc made with half butter, the rest shortening, maybe imbc and I might add this recipe I found that was similar to abc but called for whipping cream... And maybe a cream cheese... I don't do a lot with cream cheese icing, I'd like to master at one too lol am I forgetting something?

You might want to go to FromScratchSF's blog. She has the best tutorial on SMBC (which I follow for IMBC too, the end of it).

http://fromscratchsf.wordpress.com/2011/08/02/more-about-swiss-meringue-buttercream-like-my-other-post-wasnt-long-enough-i-had-to-go-write-another-epic-post/

There's a previous post before this. And there's also a delicious cream cheese SMBC tutorial.

Try Charlotte's in the Recipe section. Sort of a hybrid ABC with the MBCs, but no butter. It's all I've used for years.

I notice most recipes ask for a rsp. or 2 of vanilla. You really need to add at least a TBLS. and a half, if not 2 TBLS.

Leah, I searched for Charlotte's recipe but I couldn't find it. Would you point me to it? Thanks

Yeah it's weird but the recipe is missing. And the search function is just double weird. anyway, although the Charlotte's name was dropped, this is the recipe. http://cakecentral.com/recipe/whipped-cream-buttercream-frosting

agree...SMBC or IMBC are the best. we have been trained to accept that over sweet artificial taste of shortening buttercream. it should taste like light sweet butter, as the name says "butter-cream" not "sugar" or "lard" cream. the buttercream should enhance the flavor of the cake and fillings not over-power them. tho i can eat plain IMBC. just melts in your mouth.
the biggest advantage to the Meringue type is the stability. IMBC is the most stable in the AZ heat it will hold longer than any ABC...unless using straight veg shortening.
if you need to sweeten it just add PS. or play with the salt content, unsalted butter, salted butter or unsalted butter and add salt (you can control it that way) a fellow baker uses no salt and she loves it tho i find i bland, some people don't. the brand of butter will also factor in too.
good luck...

interesting, and everyone is entitled to his/her opinion. I personally think IMBC and SMBC are horrid. And yes, as culinary school trained pastry chef I know how to make them correctly.

Thanks Leah for taking the time and posting the recipe for us. I am going to try it.

Its all in the Flavoring. use a good quality Vanilla Paste. ANd Use like a Tbsp. It will taste good and not like just butter. I am use to both IMBC and SMBC. I find ABC very sweet and it stands out more than the cake. With meringue based buttercreams we can taste the cake and they compliment well.

Thanks for the recipe, Leah! Looking forward to trying it...people I know and bake for don't like the taste of the MBCs, and I have to say I agree. Maybe that's just my uneducated palate but I'm hoping the hybrid version strikes a nice balance.

Tara, you will like it. I have used it for a lot of my cakes (the Tangled cake and the flamingo cake in my pictures). I have used all butter, half butter and half shortening, 75/25 mix, and all shortening. I think it tastes the best with some butter, but it's good without it too.

This recipe smooths well and does not crust. I do not recommend using the Wilton meringue powder because to me it has a very sour taste. I think Leah uses the CK brand of meringue powder but I am not sure. I have also used powdered egg whites but they get clumpy after reconstituting so they are not ideal. I am going to order some CK when I go cake supply shopping again.

Annie

Boxed egg whites work great here. I have used them many times as i do not want to be left with so many yolks, Tastes better than Meringue powder.

I do use CK brand meringue powder. I used to order it in 15 pound boxes, back in the day.

AND since I'm pretty much out of the biz now, I'll point you to my version of Charlotte's. Go to Google and search for "Chef Leah's version of Charlotte's Whipped Cream Buttercream". It's easier to put together. No part 1 and part 2 needed. You're welcome.

I would never give this out while I was making a living in cakes.

Oh, and I have decreased the veg shortening to 3/4 pound per 1 pound of sugar, IF you're using Hi-Ratio. This is a nice bc, don't use Crisco.