Buttercream icing on a hot day, no choice but to use shortening right?

mariadnoca

Moderator
I have the cake Bible checked out from the library and the only buttercream she mentions that holds up in "warmer Temperatures" is an Italian meringue buttercream mixed with cream anglaise. But my thought is butter still melts at the same temperature, right? So I'm thinking I have to at a minimum use half butter and half shortening. I got high ratio shortening today but ever since California outlawed trans fats you really can't get anything that isn't pretty yucky when it comes to shortening taste. Just wanted to ask here in case anybody has any other ideas. Otherwise, I'll just use my half butter half shortening recipe as I know it will hold up in the heat and pipes well.

 
Hummm, think I may try this Swiss meringue buttercream with powdered sugar and shortening

I found this on Craftsy and it's called modern buttercream with Joshua and Joshua is somebody I guess from the Food Network, it's a free class so I might try to add the link if anyone is interested. In the class he notes that the addition of powdered sugar adds stability and subbing out some of the butter for shortening and hopefully high ratio shortening which I have will help with warmer climates. Seems like the taste may be better than straight up American buttercream. So here's the recipe

Ingredients
8 egg whites (about 1 cup) 1 cup granulated sugar
6 sticks unsalted butter (3 cups), at room temperature
1 cup confectioner’s sugar (sifted) Pinch salt
2 tablespoons vanilla extract

Directions
Over a double boiler, heat the whites and granulated sugar and salt, whisking constantly, until all the sugar is dissolved. Heat this slowly!! You don’t want scrambled eggs!

Place the mixture in a stand mixer and whip on high until a peak forms and the mixture is cool, about 5 minutes.
Turn the mixer to medium speed and add the softened butter a little at a time. Remember, depending on your area, you may need more or less butter.

Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and mix.

Tip: In warmer climates/seasons you will want to change the amount of butter to 4 sticks (2 cups) and also add 11⁄2 cups of vegetable shortening to the buttercream. This will give more stability when the weather is hot.

https://www.craftsy.com/cake-decorating/classes/modern-buttercream/35441

 
Maria, I wouldn't discount Beranbaum and Corriher so soon. Why not try a test run using their

Recipe on a SMALL version? I think they said that recipe was Texas-heat tested and that has to be pretty darn hot.

On the other hand, it's a wedding cake and who wants the stress of worrying about a cake melting. That is the key reason I have never accepted making the main wedding cake--too much angst involved.

 
One other option: does the cake HAVE to be outside for a long time? Can it just be moved out for

Cutting ceremony and photos--but kept inside in A/C until then?

 
One *other-other* option is Corriher's icing version which leaves out the butter completely.

This is noted in Cookwise where she lists Rosie's cream cheese wedding cake. However, Shirley prefers this icing version which leaves out the butter completely as she "lives in the warm South."

I used this icing for my niece's wedding...it was the icing for the carrot cake portion of the four desserts I made. I used Lindt white chocolate and fresh cream cheese from Penn State University Creamery ("4 Days from Cow to Ice Cream"). Note...the icing color is not PURE WHITE due to the ivory-ness of the chocolate. Not sure if this would be an issue for you. It is a wonderful taste...just enough sweetness to bring up the cream cheese to a happy level and it piped nicely. I'll see if I can dig up a photo.

Also, I used it for the flavor, not for any heat worries. It was mid-July in hot, muggy Pittsburgh, but the event was inside the hotel, so melting wasn't an issue.

White Chocolate Icing for Warmer Conditions.
Basic:
8 oz cream cheese
8 oz white chocolate.

Melt the chocolate using a water bath (bring 1" water to boil, remove from heat, and let stand for 3 minutes. Grate or chop chocolate, put in metal bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap and set in hot water for 5 minutes. Stir and repeat if all of the chocolate is not melted.

Beat the cream cheese until smooth and beat in the melted chocolate. Spread on chilled cake. Fill pastry bag and pipe a border if desired.

For a 3 tier wedding cake, she increases the basic recipe by FIVE.

PS: This is not the time to try to use white chocolate chips or bark. With only two ingredients, the flavor can't be masked. Use a high quality couverture white chocolate.

 
Oh I should mention this is not the wedding cake these are cupcakes for the shower this Saturday

Saturday. It's almost a 2 Hour Drive away and it will be 100° there. I did this a few weeks ago with flat out Swiss meringue buttercream and had a hard time getting the piping to stand up. It was so much softer than when I use American buttercream with powdered sugar butter and shortening. From what I understand someone took the last few of them outside and even though it was maybe 80° they completely melted into a puddle from what I was told. This was the best one and you can see how the petals flopped over. And everything I've read says that the meringues buttercreams pipe the best, but so far that hasn't been my experience so maybe I'm doing something wrong. I love the light and airy notice and especially love the taste of the meringue buttercream's but so far I can't get crispy edges or much stability out of piping them. I asked someone at the cake decorating store about using chocolate and she said that had an even lower melting point then butter so I felt at a loss.

I don't know what's going on with Photobucket so I link to the slideshow. I'm talking about the cupcakes here and you can see in this photo how soft the cupcakes were when I tried to make floral ones, I think they look terrible they were just melting on me all over the place when I was trying to make them they were just too soft. which goes against everything I've been reading that says the meringue based buttercreams pipe the best.

http://s788.photobucket.com/user/4ebay_bucket/library/Jenna%20Shower%206-4-2017

http://i788.photobucket.com/albums/yy163/4ebay_bucket/Jenna%20Shower%206-4-2017/7844C527-BD23-458C-A63F-966E6A9CB2C0_zpspbl7zch3.jpg

 
They can be inside for the most part I think, I'm not setting up the staging

However, it's supposed to be 104° there on Saturday and if they set up the dessert table in the same place where They normally put it may get some direct sunlight.

 
This may sound crazy, but maybe someone in your circle has one of these

that you can borrow and use outdoors? With a clear door.
You can decorate the outside and keep the cupcakes cool on tiered trays...
I know it's less than ideal....

Rent one?
Any bakeries going out of business near you?

Trying to think out of the "box." Not a baker, so that's all I got. smileys/smile.gif

Good luck!
M

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Igloo-Beverage-Wine-Center-Black/31136427?wmlspartner=wlpa&adid=22222222227022254655&wl0=&wl1=s&wl2=c&wl3=40343783432&wl4=pla-78307128992&wl5=9003467&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=online&wl12=31136427&wl13=&veh=sem#ab

 
Are they counting on having everyone pick up their dessert along with the

main course (if this is a buffet?). Then it should be fine I'd think. Maybe check on the timing/setup?

 
There were two of these at HFH for $20 each. I never thought of it as anything other than

a spot for chilled wine.

Damn.

 
Here's a cupcakes. 2/3 butter, 1/3 high ratio shortening 105

I tried edging the flowers in this powdered silver you mix with vodka and paint on it was a fun product but I don't really like it for these floral cupcakes, But I got to play around with it.

http://pin.it/WXyNQCW

 
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