Italian meringue buttercream melting

by Sarah A
(Mississauga, ON. Canada)

Buttercream Roses made with Italian meringue are not as sharp

Buttercream Roses made with Italian meringue are not as sharp

Hi there,

I've been using your Italian meringue buttercream recipe ever since I was introduced to it-and it's great. But for my last cake, I had to make buttercream flowers and roses - and I struggled like mad :( It just kept melting on me for some reason. Is there something that I can add or do to make it a thicker consistency (ex: icing sugar)?
Thanks

Hi Sarah, Sorry you are having trouble with the meringue version. It is on the softer side and needs to be the right temperature for piping. It's the best tasting and the smoothest for icing a cake but it isn't the #1 choice for roses.

Try the easy buttercream recipe for making flowers and roses, or a buttercream made with shortening for your flower making. You can try adding powdered sugar to the Italian meringue too. That should thicken it up.
Here is the Wilton recipe for the shortening based icing.
* 2/3 cups water
* 4 Tablespoons meringue powder
* 1 1/4 cups solid white shortening
* 11-1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
* 3/4 teaspoons salt
* 1/4 teaspoon butter flavoring
* 1/2 teaspoon almond flavoring
* 1/2 teaspoon clear vanilla

Combine water and meringue powder and whip at high speeds until peaks form.

Add four cups sugar, one cup at a time, beating after each addition at low speed.

Alternately add shortening and remainder of sugar.

Add salt and flavorings and beat at low speed until smooth.

May be stored well covered, in refrigerator for several weeks, then brought to room temperature and re beaten.

Related post on tips for making a frosting rose with a video tutorial

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Aug 03, 2013
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starstarstarstarstar 		A Wedding Cake For My Late Niece
by: Anonymous

I am making a wedding cake for my niece who passed away yesterday at the tender age of 25. She had lived with terminal lung disease almost all of her life.

I love to bake and decorate cakes. We were planning her wedding in October. So I thought it would be nice to go ahead and make the cake for after the funeral.

I want it to be beautiful and taste good too.
I am going to follow your directions for the piping.

I need a recipe for the cakes itself
I am doing a four tier design.

Thank you
Tammy Thomas
Aug 28, 2013
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starstarstarstarstar 		Wedding Cake For Your Niece
by: Lorelie

Hi Tammy, I am so sorry for your loss. What a beautiful tribute to your niece to make her wedding cake for her after her passing.

I see the recipe you were looking at with the 11 cups of sugar. That is the Wilton one and it is made with Crisco. I prefer to use a real buttercream icing even though it's not pure white. But if you do want a really white colored frosting then that is the recipe to use. Cake Decorating Frosting. You could get away with less sugar.

You said you want a recipe for the cake itself. My top three are the Buttermilk chocolate, the Carrot, or the White which can be flavored many ways.

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Italian Meringue Buttercream

by Ilona
(PA)


My meringue buttercream is coming out very liquidy/thin. What did i do wrong, can i fix it?

Hi Llona, did you follow the wedding cake frosting recipe on this site?

If so then all I can think is that you added the hot sugar too soon and the butter became too soft. If that is the case you can put your bowl of buttercream into another bowl with ice and water. Stir the buttercream as it cools and you should be fine. This happened to me recently and it worked beautifully.

Good luck with your buttercream and comment back if it was a different scenario.

Comments


Italian Meringue
by: Michele Owen

I have had trouble with swiss meringue during humid weather. I kept beating it and eventually it came together. I don't know if it would work for Italian meringue, but if all else fails you could give it a try.

Thank you
by: Lorelie
Thanks Michelle for your helpful advice. :-)

Apr 09, 2012

wedding cake frosting
by: tanali
Do I need to make any changes on this frosting recipe for high altitude. I live in Denver Colorado and I have an outside wedding cake for July. And the decorations are black piping. Would this frosting work?


Boiling Point
by: Lorelie
Comment
For about every 500 feet above sea level, the boiling point is lowered 1ºF. So be aware of that when you are cooking the sugar and water. I don't see why the Italian meringue frosting recipe would not work for an outside wedding in Denver. You will need to add a lot of black food coloring to get the frosting really black though. Use paste food colors.

I don't see why the Italian meringue frosting recipe would not work for an outside wedding in Denver. You will need to add a lot of black food coloring to get the frosting really black though. Use paste food colors.

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Icing Seperating

I made buttercream and kept it in a covered bowl, it seems to be separating, what did I do wrong and how do I correct it? Thanx

Which recipe did you use? Was it the Italian meringue? Have you tried re whipping it? Sometimes this will bring it all together again. You may have over cooked the sugar syrup. The syrup should be cooked to 238 and then immediately added to the egg whites. If it is not cooked properly it may seep out of the mixture.

The butter should be at room temperature before adding to the meringue and the meringue has to be somewhat cooled down before adding the butter.

You may want to try adding powdered sugar to salvage the buttercream if it will not come together. Try the easy buttercream recipe out on this website. It's fool proof.

The temperature of all of the ingredients is very important when making buttercream as you can see. I hope some of this helps you out.

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Jul 08, 2023
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starstarstarstarstar 		Cooling in ice water works great NEW
by: Melanie

My butter cream kept coming out runny and I couldn’t figure out what the problem was. I may have not let the meringue cool quite enough before adding the butter. I transferred it to another bowl and stirred it in an ice bath for a couple of minutes, then returned it to the mixer and continued whipping. Worked like a charm.

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Italian Meringue is Yellowish?

by Shay
(Sacramento, CA)

Hi Lorelie,
Boy, will I have a story to tell after this cake.

I made your Italian Meringue Recipe. But your picture looks white. Mine came out a pale yellow color.

Frosting needs to be white because it will have clear sugar crystals on it. Off white-yellowish colored frosting will mess up the whole appeal.

This is a dumb question, but never know, might be a way to fix it....is there
such a thing as white dye? lol.
Help.

:(

Shay

Actually there is a white coloring available from Wilton. I have used it. The only way to get the Italian meringue frosting pretty white, besides the white food coloring, is to whip the heck out of the butter before adding the meringue to it. Also clear vanilla is important in maintaining the white color.

I'm sorry, I hope you can fix it. Unless you use Crisco based frosting (like the Wilton recipe I call cake decorating frosting its hard to get that snow white look.

I can't wait to hear all about this cake Shay :-)

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Feb 22, 2012
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starstarstarstarstar 		White SMBC
by: Debbie Cattivera

Americolor also makes a white food coloring gel that works well. The only other thing I can recommend is Lorelie's suggestion of beating the butter for at least 3-5 minutes till it's really lost all the color. I hope you can either re-make it or find the food color, though you may have to use quite a bit. Good luck!
Feb 23, 2012
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starstarstarstarstar 		White White
by: Lorelie

Thanks Debbie for the Americolor tip. Your right though about having to use a LOT of the coloring to fix the yellow buttercream. I once had to use two whole Wilton bottles of the stuff. May be better off starting over actually Shay. :-( Let us know what you decide. The Wilton product is called White White and comes in 2 ounce bottles.
Feb 23, 2012
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starstarstarstarstar 		Italian Meringue is yellowish
by: Anonymous

I have used the white color (Wilton) but you do have to use an enormous amount. I hate to say it, but scrapping it might just be your best bet. (Save the off-white one for yourself because it is soooo delicious!) Best wishes!
Feb 23, 2012
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starstarstarstarstar 		Watch your butter choice
by: Colleen

Different brands of unsalted butter are different colors. I use the IMBC on all my cakes and if it's for something that has to be really white, check your organic butters or Land O Lakes and the Americolor white is good. Are you adding cream of tartar to your meringue and a tad of sea salt? That helps the whiteness too.
Feb 23, 2012
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starstarstarstarstar 		Reply
by: Shay

Wow! Thank you, thank you, ladies!
I appreciate the quick response. I tried responding last night, but had internet error.

Anyhoo, my story is getting more interesting.
I tried the whipping tip, 1st batch (with using the whipping tip), not so good, still yellow, lighter, but more ivory than white. 2nd batch
better. Im very behind in my baking schedule, so I will have a full story with pics nxt. week.

By the way my 2nd mistake with the whipping was because of the speed, too slow. DUH!

Thanks again, will update soon.

Shay
Feb 23, 2012
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starstarstarstarstar 		Reply to Coleen
by: Shay

Thanks Coleen for the cream of tartar tip, will try that too. How much should I add?
Feb 23, 2012
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starstarstarstarstar 		cream of tartar
by: colleen

Different size batches require different amounts; add it to your egg whites when they get foamy.
These amounts are from Rose (Cake Bible)

4 1/2 cup buttercream 1/2 + 1/8 tsp c of t
7 cups / 1 tsp c of t
9 cups / 1 1/4 tsp c of t
11 cups / 1 1/2 tsp c of t
13 1/2 cups / 2 tsp c of t

Good Luck; IMBC will probably never be snow white like a Crisco based frosting simply because butter is not white. Try adding a little of the color at a time and make sure you are using clear vanilla or flavoring.
Jun 06, 2017
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starstarstarstarstar 		Coloring
by: Tammy

Hi Everyone, I made the Italian meringue last week for a graduation party. I needed to color it royal blue!! Needless to say I needed to use a lot of coloring and it changed the consistency of the frosting. It was very droopy and wouldn't stay on the cupcakes. Anyone have any advice?? What is the best way to color Italian meringue buttercream??? Thank you!
Mar 31, 2019
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starstarstarstarstar 		Curdle after coloring too!
by: Shannon

Hello! I have the same problem after I color my IMBC and its driving me crazy. I have switched food coloring brands and that was of no help to me. It will look good with a good silky consistency and then after 5 minutes it separates. Please help me and put me out of my misery...thank you!

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My swiss meringue buttercream frosting?

by Dalila
(Santa Paula, Ca )

Spreading The Meringue Buttercream

Spreading The Meringue Buttercream

I whipped the meringue and it turned soupy then it started curdling. I whipped it for a while and nothing happened I ended up throwing it down the sink, any tips to what should I do to get it right? I tried so many times and no luck?
Help please.

Hi Dalila,

The egg whites need to be whipped in a really clean bowl first of all, so make sure of that.

Try adding a pinch of cream of tartar to the egg whites while whipping. Do not over whip the whites either. They need to be stiff but not dry. Add your syrup very slowly in a steady stream. The syrup should not be over 248 preferably you should stop cooking it at 238 degrees. Do you have a candy thermometer? you need one to make sure of the temperature.

Have you tried my Italian meringue recipe? I call it wedding cake frosting Give it a try and see if that recipe works for you. I have a video on that page too.

I hope this helps you out.Please let us know how you did ok?


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Apr 12, 2011
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starstarstarstar 		Swiss Meringue Buttercream Icing
by: Diwata Galura

I like using this type of frosting as it isn't too sweet. It does have a tendency to curdle, however according to the recipe I follow, if the mixture appears to separate, or curdle, after you've added the butter, simply continue beating on medium-high speed, and it will become smooth again. Which I do and it works. By the way the recipe I follow is the one from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes: 175 Inspired Ideas for Everyone's Favorite Treat.
Apr 17, 2011
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starstarstarstarstar 		Saving Buttercream
by: Anonymous

Happened to me the first time I made Italian Meringue Buttercream and I pitched it. Then I read a thread on Rose's website about putting it in the fridge to let the butter firm up a bit and try it again. It took a couple of tries and about 1/2 hour in the fridge but it saved it.

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