Painting Or Fondant On Swiss Buttercream?

Decorating By jilliam Updated 21 Jan 2018 , 10:08am by Smckinney07

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jilliam Posted 18 Jan 2018 , 2:53pm
post #1 of 9

Can I paint or use fondant on swiss buttercream? Or is it too soft? My daughter has requested this cake? My daughter is requesting this cake:


https://i.pinimg.com/originals/93/3c/12/933c12d90d7e7fa0f6ab1ee347411526.jpg


Do you have suggestions on how to do this?


Thanks!

8 replies
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Freckles0829 Posted 18 Jan 2018 , 3:47pm
post #2 of 9

Yes you can use SMB under fondant.  I have never used Swiss but have used Italian MB quite a bit (they both stay soft at room temp) and I usually let my frosted cake sit in the fridge for about 20-30 minutes to allow it to harden just a bit before covering in fondant.  I just find, for me, that it is easier to work with when it is cold, but I know others cover their cake right away.

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Freckles0829 Posted 18 Jan 2018 , 3:48pm
post #3 of 9

Yes you can use SMB under fondant.  I have never used Swiss but have used Italian MB quite a bit (they both stay soft at room temp) and I usually let my frosted cake sit in the fridge for about 20-30 minutes to allow it to harden just a bit before covering in fondant.  I just find, for me, that it is easier to work with when it is cold, but I know others cover their cake right away.

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jilliam Posted 18 Jan 2018 , 3:51pm
post #4 of 9

Can I paint on the SMB instead of using fondant, if I put it in the fridge?

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jilliam Posted 18 Jan 2018 , 3:51pm
post #5 of 9

Can I paint on the SMB instead of using fondant, if I put it in the fridge?

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Freckles0829 Posted 18 Jan 2018 , 4:09pm
post #6 of 9

That I am not 100% sure of this since I have never tried it.  I am sure another member may have some insight into this.  But you could always give it a whirl on a practice swatch.  I know with Italian MB it gets pretty darn hard when it sits in the fridge so if Swiss acts the same as Italian I don't see why you couldn't.  You could always do a test run on a small amount of Swiss that you spread out on a cookie sheet.

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jilliam Posted 18 Jan 2018 , 5:19pm
post #7 of 9

That's a good idea! Thank you!


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bubs1stbirthday Posted 18 Jan 2018 , 9:36pm
post #8 of 9

Apparently you can paint on SMBC using cocoa butter mixed colours but I have never done it so can't make any statement to the validity of that. 

SMBC does set hard in the fridge but my concern would be that it would soften up too much and the paint brush would dig in to the icing. That being said it is a fairly simple shape so if you are artistic you may be able to get it done in a reasonably small amount of time before the cake softens up too much. 

If you are going to try achieve black SMBC I would try with powdered colours not gels.

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Smckinney07 Posted 21 Jan 2018 , 10:08am
post #9 of 9

The cake in the picture is painted fondant, just FYI, it will look different on BC. 

You can totally paint on BC, just make sure your cake is very cold and firm from the fridge. Or let your fondant setup a bit before painting.

Depending on your experience painting on fondant is probably going to be easier. If you don't want to use fondant and don't feel comfortable painting on BC you could use royal icing as a base and paint on those, place them onto your cake-I only mention that because working flat rather than painting onto the cake will be easier. You could also paint on fondant cutouts, let them harden a bit, paint and place those on the cake. 

The photo is basically trees and background which would be fairly easy to paint onto your cake though. Using a butter-based BC like SMBC is great since it will firm up nicely in the fridge!

You can use gel colors on BC too, that's all I use. 

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