Am I the only one who ever feels this way?  

I HATE, HATE, HATE with a passion American buttercream.  I'm sorry--I don't care how much flavoring you add and how well it crusts, it tastes like crap  (no offense to anyone who likes it).  

I've tried them with butter, with shortening, with half butter/half shortening, shortening that tastes like butter and it still just taste like crappy nasty powdered sugar mess.  I just HATE that stuff.  And most people I know hate it too... 

BUT it's flippin' easy and quick to make.  

Now - Swiss Meringue buttercream is a little more palatable in my opinion and takes much better to flavorings than standard ABC.  I think you can actually make a decent flavored SMBC, BUT it's a pain in the ASSets to make.  It takes a long time and requires more babysitting.  Not to mention I can only make about one batch at a time in my 5 qt KitchenAid stand mixer.  And it doesn't crust, which makes smoothing harder.

At least with ABC I can throw it in a huge bowl and just use a hand mixer to make large batches.  

I don't have the fridge/freezer space to keep large quantities of icing on hand and I don't think they last all that long in the fridge/freezer anyway.  Even in my brand new fridge they just taste sort of bland and "stale" after a while. 

I can honestly say that making frostings is the most tedious and worst part of caking for me.  I hate it.  Does anyone else ever feel this way?  Just me??  Ugghhhhh! /*Rant over*/

P.S. if you have some miracle recipe you would like to share, I would be more than happy to hear it :D (PLEASE?!?! )

I'm a hobby baker--I've had friends and families pay for ingredients if they wanted me to bring a fancy cake somewhere--but I really just do it for the fun :) Most of the pictures in my gallery are birthday cakes for my family (i.e. the chocolate chess cake I made for my brother out of white and dark chocolate) or just random fun projects (i.e. the dogs I made for PAWS for People where my puppy and I are a therapy team, etc.)

And thank you so much--what an awesome compliment!!  I can't believe the talent on Cake Central.  I've only been decorating for about a year now, so it's a bit intimidating coming on here and seeing so many talented people! 

One of these days, I am going to try SMBC frosting. I am told that once I try it, I will love it. I am not crazy about fondant in the same way that you do not like butter cream icing. Most people I know that have fondant always peel off the layer and do not eat it. I have heard there are some fondants that taste better than the Wilton one.  I love just about any homemade butter cream frosting especially real cream whipped frosting. One time I tried the flour icing and it was pretty good. I guess everyone has different tastes.

I do understand that some cakes have to be fondant depending on what the people want on their cakes. I am glad I am just a hobby baker. All of the people here have some pretty amazing cakes and are very talented.  I took a peak at your cakes and they all look fantastic!!!

Have you tried ganache?  I personally don't mind either butter creams but I have been using ganache to cover my cakes in more recently and love it!  

I am at a loss then, your poor friend, I do not know how I would survive with out chocolate :) I also checked out your cakes, nice work.

Thank you!

I personally love SMBC I have tried several different methods of buttercream so far and find this to be one of the easiest to throw together. I also have a 5 quart mixer and I can do at least a double batch of the SMBC each time. I find that it is very adaptable to flavors whether using a liquor or a fruit puree to flavor it always comes out very tasty. I would agree that it takes more time than the powdered sugar frosting but personally I don't think that powdered sugar frosting is the same as a true buttercream. The other thing I like about the SMBC is that upon the suggestion of a good friend that went to pastry school, I tried using the carton egg whites for making it and it comes out beautifully each time. I now no longer have the issue of left over egg yolks and trying to figure out if I really want to make a gallon of lemon curd.

AIn my experience, the longer you whip ABC, they lighter, fluffier and tastier it gets. I think most people don't whip it long enough.

that's interesting-- i think of the cake as the blank canvas and then

the splashes, frostings and fillings are thee, ahh... what would you call it?  

the frosting on the cake!  the thing that makes the cake sparkle and shine

including abc -- otherwise to me it's like a mechanic saying he hates wrenches or something -- idk

I like American BC. I have tasted not-so-nice versions of it before made by non-bakers (suspect it's not been whipped enough, as Rosegin said, or they haven't used full fat butter or whatever), and it is definitely too sweet for some, but the kind I use on my cakes always goes down really well.

Funnily enough, I've tried SMBC a few times now and my family/friends don't take well to it at all. I've had the odd person say they liked it, but the overwhelming majority prefer ABC.

I like both.

I live in USA 18 years now and never tried American Butter Cream from scratch, until cupcake shop opened near my house. They make everything from scratch and their ABC is so delicious that I decided to research some ABC recipes and make my own ABC recipe.

Now I make SMBC using FromScratchSF recipe, but I add more sugar and twice as less butter, it is kind of airy but I like not so buttery taste.

Thanks for the hint to whip it ( ABC), long enough.

thank you, mb ♥

Another thing I like about SMBC that it hardens in fridge, it makes it easy make sharp edges & to cover with fondant. 

..............In my experience, the longer you whip ABC, they lighter, fluffier and tastier it gets. I think most people don't whip it long enough...........

Yes, YES :)   But...... not whipped - just slow beaten  (like the lowest setting on a Kitchen Aid mixer).  20-30 minutes at least. 

AI am also not a big fan of frosting but this is my favorite recipe. I always use heavy cream for the liquid and I flavor it with vanilla bean paste. Give it a try!

http://www.veenaartofcakes.com/american-buttercream/

Keep in mind you don't HAVE to use all the powdered sugar that a recipe calls for.  I use anywhere from 1.5-2 lbs depending on how sweet I want my recipe.  I use all butter in mine plus lots of heavy cream and TONS of vanilla.  A non-crusting BC is much easier for me to use.  There are hybrid recipes out there that are really, really good but they don't crust.  If you want something that crusts I'm afraid you are going to be limited to the very sweet powdered-sugar based icings.  I personally don't prefer meringue buttercreams unless they are sweeter and more generously flavored (I actually add 1/2 cup more sugar to my IMBC recipe than what it calls for).

AThanks all... Hope I didn't offend anyone by mentioning my disdain for frostings. I've had well whipped ABC, I just don't like it personally. I like SMBC, I just don't like making it... I didn't mean to say frosting is the devil or anything just that I don't particularly like to make it. Sorry for the late replies... I was wedding dress shopping!