Easy Smbc With Half Shortening?? Stability In Heat??
Decorating By bterrill Updated 12 Jul 2020 , 1:31pm by jchuck
I am currently using the easy SMBC recipe (Liz Marek). I refrigerate my cakes before pick up/delivery but as the hot summer months approach, would it be wise to switch to 50% butter and 50% shortening to make this more stable? Would it work? I've also read adding a bit of cornstarch to some buttercreams makes them more stable? Any advise?
I could not really answer your question because I've never made Liz Marek's easy SMBC. I've made SMBC with all butter, but never used 50% shortening. I've made American buttercream using all butter, half and half, and all shortening, which is the most stable in heat. The cornstarch trick, I've heard of but never tried.
You can sub up to half shortening without any trouble. It's just fat, minus the water that's in butter. I wouldn't go more than that because of the flavor.
I've never heard of cornstarch in this type of buttercream, but I do add a small about of powdered sugar too my SMBC. I don't think the tiny bit of cornstarch in it really effects stability though.
In GA humidity I always dread summer. I've never tried it, but seems adding cornstarch might give it a weird mouth feel. I use a stabilizer called "whip it"
(Get it on Amazon) in all my cream cheese frosting, gives it a little more body. In the summer though I do go half and half with butter and Crisco., and it's still a battle. Even fondant droops in our climate.
MamaGeese I’ve used cornstarch in my icing. There definitely isn’t any “weird” mouth feel. You can’t tell the cornstarch is even in the icing. I made a bday cake for my grandson’s bday last summer. Held in a local park, it was hot, hot, hot...90 degrees + humidity..humidity. The cake had to sit outside for 2 hrs before it was cut. I kept the cake in the shade and it was fine. On the advice of Liz Marek/Sugar Geeks, I covered cake in 100% white ganache. Was just fine. In the summer I do a minimum of 50/50 buttercream icing and ganache.
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