News, news, news! I finally tried the Italian meringue buttercream and I just love it! Also, it has been a busy week on CakeJournal with many new visitors to the site. You’ve might noticed that the site has been very slow at the start of the week and at some points almost impossible to upload. I myself got a little shocked as well, especially when I found the reason for all this major traffic.
News for CakeJournal
Cakejournal has been featured on Cake Wrecks If you don’t know Cake Wrecks then I can tell that it is a site dedicated to…. cake wrecks! It is though a very fun and comical site and you will be guaranteed NOT to leave the site without a good laugh. But I would be very sorry if one of my cakes ended on that site or should I???
Because when I then entered Cake Wrecks I found the sweetest post about my cakes. So there was nothing for me to worry about except for all the traffic 🙂 So thank you Cake Wrecks for the very very sweet post.
I Finally Tried the Italian Meringue Buttercream!
On the baking side, I have finally thrown myself into the arms of Italian Meringue Butter Cream, or IMBC in short. Now I only wonder why I have not done it sooner because it is the most delicious buttercream. Silky, smooth, and feather-light. I can get a little confused though because there are Swiss meringue bc and Italian meringue bc. Are they the same thing? Or is it just the slightly different way they are made that gives them different names? No matter what, I will be making IMBC whenever my cupcakes or cakes call for the best-tasting frosting ever.
I made some with only vanilla flavor and the rest with raspberry puree. The best one was the raspberry it tasted almost like mousse filling but still with a nice buttery taste. So good together with chocolate cupcakes yum! I will try and take some photos next time I make IMBC.
Happy Caking
Louise
Hi Louise,
Hope you still can read this…
Can you please tell me if IMBC can be used as filling for cakes that will not be refrigerated ?
thank you !
Yes it can. I would not store it out for days but 1-2 days should be fine.
hi Louise,
i tried imbc today. i cut the recipe to 1/4, because i dont need much. i think 7 mins is too long to make the syrup (it might turn to caramel), so i just heat it about 5 mins. result after beating and adding butter, is slightly watery and it doesnt blend well with colouring. could you advise what went wrong?
thanks.
omg these are soooooooooo pretty! they’re too pretty to eat!
Snookydoodle: Thx
Astrid: mange tak 🙂 Ja Cake Wrecks er meget morsom.
aileenlnbh: i have just made you a contact on flickr. Just keep up the good work. Thank you for the help to Kimbers aswell. Its always great when we can help out each other :o)
Jennifer Foster: thank you
hong: thx, and I had no trouble eating the yummy cupcakes LOL!
Rei: Do try the way I make the IMBC but when it comes to the end they are almost the same.
Suzanne: I have added the IMBC recipe and theres a link to a swiss meringue aswell
Carleen: Thank you!
Louise excellent work, it is always interesting looking at your page. well done!
Would love to see the recipe for the swiss & italian meringue buttercreams. Thanks you.
I love Swiss meringue buttercream. Taste much much better than regular buttercream. Tried Italian meringue buttercream but I was worried about achieving the ‘soft ball’ stage.
Love the graceful colors and the white flower is excellent. So pretty and who can have the heart to eat it?!
I love cakewrecks, and I’m so glad you were on there because your cakes are stunning!
hi louise. love your site. came to you through mentions on cake central and flickr. ps ive just started my own flickr account so will try and upload some pics. im a total beginner and would love to be as crafty as you.PS. got the poured fondant from almond art and it was fantastic. if you get a chance have a wee look at my flickr, remember im only a beginner (its aileenlnbh). thanks for being inspirational. ps im doing a runout of peppapig for my daughters birthday soon, thanks for your runout tutorial.
For Kimbers – ive just started a 36 week long course at glasgow met college which is fab however if you are on the east of scotland, definitely look up lorraine mckay – louise is right, ive downloaded a couple of her tutorials on figure modelling and they are great!! She is so helpful – she also contributes to cake central and her flickr sign on is aine2. – have a look. if you are in the west of scotland, (im ayrshire), celebration cakes in clarkston does cake decoration courses most sundays and also lorraine mckay is teaching some tutorials in march in the regional british sugarcraft guild areas. let me know if i can be of any help. post if i can here and i can be in touch.
Jeg har fulgt med på CakeWrecks i et stykke tid – netop for de gode grin! Derfor syntes jeg også, at det var sjovt, da jeg læste om din blog der – og jeg skal med det samme sige, at jeg er imponeret over dine værker! Jeg kan ikke sådan noget, men inspirationen og glæden ved kagerne lyser ud af din blog, og det er skønt. Så altså – dejlig blog du har her! 🙂
these look gorgeous 🙂
I just found out about your site, I love it. I would like to share work of another great baker
https://cookingismypassion-cakes.blogspot.com/
Susieshomemade: Welcome!!!
Theresa: Funny because i find that imbc is the most easy to make 🙂 Thank you for the advice about the MS smbc.
Dayanare: Thanks and yes it will come in both flavours.
tashjeffery: Its a no.11 or 12 the yellow ones from Thermo.
Jen: Ohh it ok. I was just a bit WHAT!!!! when i checked the traffic to my site lol… I really love CW 😀 I have added CW to my blog list.
Swellcakes: Yep you are right. it is a complete different texture with the meringue bc’s. I am not that fond of BC so this imbc is a hit for sure.
Trisha: Nice that you found your way to CJ. I hope that you will have fun with the decorating class.
samele:I first tried SMBC and ended up with a soupy mess. Since my sucess with the imbc im sticking to that;-)
Karen: I know that some of my friends use the imbc under fondant. But I have not yet tried that.
Rhonda: Well I am glad too. I didn’t know that they also showed “Not cake wrecks” but it is always nice with a chance now and then.
Renee: It is not posted here yet. will do it with photos along the side 🙂
Danny: Thank you. The key to the perfect smooth fondant is to pay attention when you crumbcoat your cakes. Recipe will come….
Liz: I know…. but it is a good laugh 😉
Lisa Martins: I will post the recipe. When i think back when I once tried the smbc i found the melting sugar in the whites part so difficult. I think imbc is much easier to make.
nenu: Dont worry recipe will come..
Kimbers: Thank you I hope you will have fun browsing around CJ. Do you know Lorraine McKay??? she is amazing and are located in Scotland https://extra-icing.blogspot.com/ I can highly recomend any of her online tutorials.
Claire: It will come..
Veros: Even in the hottest days cakes with all kinds of icing have problems staying firm. I have only heard that Crisco buttercream is the only thing that can hold up. The best is to place the cake as cool as possible and eat it fast.
I have not tried imbc on very warm days. AC is a great place for storing cakes though.
I could not figure out how any of your cakes would have ever made it on Cake Wrecks! Glad to know your post was favorable!
I took one look at those cupcakes and knew they were a meringue buttercream. Beautiful job! I feel the meringues are much easier to achieve the smooth look on your cakes with, rather than an “American” buttercream. Some meringue buttercreams taste very buttery, just find the right recipe (hint-it usually has plenty of Pure Vanilla Extract).
Hi Louise! I’m sorry about all the traffic slowing down your site, but I’m glad my post helped more people find your blog! Your cakes really do inspire me, so I was thrilled to feature you over on Wrecks. It’s nice to see true cake artists like yourself once in a while, since I usually see nothing but Wrecks! 🙂
Keep up the beautiful work!
Beautiful cupcakes! I love the yellow one…can you please share which tip/nozzle you used to get that lovely swirl?
Just want to say that I love your site and I was one of the persons who came over after reading the article on Cake Wrecks.
You are very talented. 🙂
Hello, glad to hear that the honorable mention in cake works was positive!! can you give us the recipe for the IMBC, for both the vanilla and the rasberry. Those cupcakes look delicious. Kudos from Cali, US.
Louise – The only difference between IMBC and SMBC is the method of preparation. The ingredients and final product are literally the same. There are dozens of versions of this recipe. I’m glad you found one you like right away.
SMBC is the only buttercream icing I use. I find the steps to make it much easier than IMBC.
For those who want to learn about SMBC, I recommend that they start with the recipe on the Martha Stewart website, as the instructions are extremely easy to understand. Some say the taste of this icing is too sweet. Once you have the technique down, it’s easy to interpret other formula versions of this type of icing which can be found on the Internet.
Theresa
I love Cake Wrecks! I follow this site to make sure that I am never on it. But with your traffic, I might think twice about that:-)
I made a cake and crumb coated it with Swiss Meringue BC and then marshmallow fondant. It kept very well in my air conditioned home, but the person who ordered it, kept it in a home for several hours while it was 106 degrees outside (No air conditioning). The cake literally melted. I was very discouraged and thought the Swiss MBC was very stable. What do bakeries do when a cake is ordered for a Summer Wedding? Please help me with your advise. Confetti Cakes author, Lisa Strauss recommends SMBC as well. Is an air conditioned room the only option for a fondant covered cake?
Veros
Have not heard about the IMBC or SMBC before but would love to try it as I really like doing cupcakes. Could you post the recipe please? Many thanks and great website by the way.
Claire
I am another pleased blog reader, I love Cake Wrecks and love the fact it led me here. Your work is amazing, so beautiful, you’re such an artist. I’ve been looking for cake decorating classes near me in Scotland, but have had no luck. I’ll just enjoy your designs for now.
Kimbers
I’ve never visited cake wrecks but now after all this comments can’t wait to see it. And I hope you can post the IMBC recipe, I would love to try it on my cakes since the only BC recipe I use is the one from Wilton. Thank you for all your help, you have been a real inspiration for me. thank you, thank you.
Hey Louise
As always, I think your cakes rock!! Any chance you have a link to a good recipe for it (the IMBC)? I have my daughter’s birthday coming up in a couple of weeks and was going to use the Swiss Meringue Buttercream recipe. Which one is nicer in your opinion?
Anyway, keep up the excellent work.
Lisa
Loved “Cake Wrecks”, I did come away laughing. Very funny, but not if people have parted with hard earned cash for some of these creations!
It certainly made your cakes look even more fantastic if that is at all possible.
Keep up the good work.
I’m so glad that they featured you on Cake Wrecks, too. Your site is great, your cakes are amazing. I’m still trying to figure out how to make fondant look as good as you make it. You have such a great eye for design, I love the simple, elegant appearance of your cakes. I’d love that IMBC recipe, too. Please post it!
I must have missed the Italian Meringue Butter cream recipe – did not find it here. Where is it? I am glad you are not a Cake Wreck Louise! You are definately very talented and you have amazing creatons! Renee
Congratulations for being a spotlight on Cakewrecks! I am so glad Cakewrecks decided to post some great and nice things once in a while!! I love that blog but the comments are so bashing and degrading and I know that most of them are not even cake decorators! They have no clue. I saw the blog about you but didn’t go read the comments. I’ll have to go and do that!
I’ve never made IMBC either! My granddaughter is allergic to eggs so I just haven’t tried it.
Anyway…you have a great day!!
I always make the swiss meringue and find it such a delicious and stable and versatile buttercream. It is my favorite and i use it always in my cakes.
The difference is in the preperation and in my search of what is exact the difference, I found that some say the swiss one is just a bit more stable when using it as a coat for the cakes without fondant.
yup, aint IMBC good? SMBC and IMBC are very similar except the way they are made, heating the sugar and adding to the whites creates and Italian meringue (can be used for other applications too). heating the sugar and whites then whipping creates a swiss meringue.. The method also determines how much sugar it can take I believe.. I learned this in and hour long lecture about meringues in school last semester.
I’m so glad you were featured on CakeWrecks, because that’s how I heard about your blog. And, you’ve got my interested and I’m going to take a cake decorating class next month. I’m so excited.