Poured Buttercream

[JustKay]

Have any of you heard of this type of frosting? Supposedly it can just be poured onto a cake and the end result is perfectly smooth buttercream frosting.

I tried Googling but can't find anything except for it mentioned here

[chefpeon]

I noticed the person that wrote about using "steamcream" was a cook at home in Indonesia. Maybe it's something that's common there? Or maybe the word "steamcream" is another word for something like maybe poured fondant? Or maybe it's simply just melted buttercream?

I don't know.....I've never heard of "steamcream" either.

[helenjp]

JustKay, you would know if anybody did! Did you try logging in and asking the poster?

You don't think it might be a typical hot-weather frosting like meringue buttercream, made over steaming hot water??

[JustKay]

After discussing with a friend here, we figured out what it was and I even tried making it.

It's just melted simple buttercream. Gently melted to a pouring consistency and poured over the cake not unlike poured fondant. But the resulting frosting is thicker than poured fondant and taste like buttercream (of course! ). A novel way to frost with buttercream, I'd say. The end result is super smooth buttercream frosting.

Here's a close-up pic from my friend who frosted her cupcake with this 'melted' buttercream. Mine also resulted the same - extremely smooth finish.

Edited April 25, 2008 by JustKay (log)

[JustKay]

JustKay, you would know if anybody did! Did you try logging in and asking the poster?

You don't think it might be a typical hot-weather frosting like meringue buttercream, made over steaming hot water??

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I 'consulted' with a baker friend and I remembered over-heating my whipped ganache making it 'melt' but later when I checked it, it has set up very smooth. Remembering this and after scouring the Net and trying to read Indonesian, we figured it out. The buttercream is 'steamed' after it's all whipped up. Urgh. Actually steam is a misleading term/name.

Or maybe it's simply just melted buttercream?

Annie! You're spot on.

Edited April 25, 2008 by JustKay (log)

[K8memphis]

Would you define simple buttercream, please?

[JustKay]

Would you define simple buttercream, please?

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Equal parts butter and shortening whipped with either confectioners sugar or simple syrup for extra smoothness.

[K8memphis]

Would you define simple buttercream, please?

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Equal parts butter and shortening whipped with either confectioners sugar or simple syrup for extra smoothness.

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Gotcha, Thanks.

[alanamoana]

I'm pretty sure there's a thread on Italian meringue buttercream somewhere on eG, but we discussed this on that thread. I've 'glazed' cakes with IMBC, which gives the result you're discussing here. Just make a good IMBC and partially melt it over a bain marie (water bath) and pour over your cake. I made my friend's wedding cake this way and another eG member makes a lot of her cakes this way. Looks beautiful, tastes good, cuts clean...all better than fondant in my opinion (not that I hate fondant, just don't like eating it).

[K8memphis]

Thanks AlanaMo.

I realize we are not exactly discussing fondant but a replacement for fondant however that never stopped me from getting slightly off topic.

But the best way to promote the use and extreme edibleness of fondant is to dry it out and use it for decor. Like flowers or whatever. Oh my soul that is good stuff. As a cake covering agh no not so much at all.

So thanks for the great idea. I have one wedding cake this year that was booked long ago before the bookstore ate my brain. So I might try it on that.

But they are square tiers and I don't think I wanna deal with corners--oh maybe I will.

Wonder if Swiss meringue would work. I'll report back if I try it.

Edited April 26, 2008 by K8memphis (log)

[chefpeon]

One thing:

If you are just going to melt buttercream to pour it, there is no point in making a meringue buttercream to do that. It's sort of a waste of time and ingredients. If all you want to do is pour,

then make a "simple buttercream" (ie, butter and/or shortening, water, powdered sugar, vanilla, salt).

[alanamoana]

One thing:

If you are just going to melt buttercream to pour it, there is no point in making a meringue buttercream to do that. It's sort of a waste of time and ingredients. If all you want to do is pour,

then make a "simple buttercream" (ie, butter and/or shortening, water, powdered sugar, vanilla, salt). 

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l

while i know this is perfectly acceptable, i really like the flavor of my IMBC. i know you're losing the air incorporated in the meringue with the melting, but you really aren't melting it completely, so it does retain some of the inherent meringue-ness of the original buttercream (you lose a lot of volume when you add the butter too ).

besides, that's the only buttercream i've used for that method (and i like the results) and i don't think it is any harder to make than any other buttercream.

p.s. chefpeon...love the photo of you and your obscene cuisine mug!!!

[sugarseattle]

does it stay white when you melt it?

i use all butter. what I notice when I'm re-activating my cold buttercream, I put it in a stand mixer and aim a torch at it to melt it slightly, then re-whip it until it becomes white again.

[alanamoana]

does it stay white when you melt it?

i use all butter. what I notice when I'm re-activating my cold buttercream, I put it in a stand mixer and aim a torch at it to melt it slightly, then re-whip it until it becomes white again.

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it is an ivory color...obviously, taking the air out of it will cause it to darken slightly. but even fresh out of the mixer buttercream isn't pure white, so it is a difference of degrees of ivory

[CanadianBakin']

If I'm reading correctly, this could then be used for coating petit fours instead of using a poured fondant?

[alanamoana]

If I'm reading correctly, this could then be used for coating petit fours instead of using a poured fondant?

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yes, but it is difficult to get the consistency thin enough without overmelting (at least with IMBC) to coat evenly and thinly for a small item like a petit four. i don't know about the recipe that the op mentioned. maybe that is better/less viscous?

[chefpeon]

If I'm reading correctly, this could then be used for coating petit fours instead of using a poured fondant?

If you dip your petit fours as opposed to pouring it over them, and the buttercream wasn't too warm, it would probably work ok, but I wouldn't do it simply because it would be fairly messy when the person eating it goes to pick it up and has buttercream all over their hands. At least fondant sets up to a fairly hard shell and gives one a chance to pick it up with little left over on their fingertips.

It's important to remember when you melt down the buttercream, not to COMPLETELY melt it down.....rather than say "melt", it's probably better to say, "soften to a consistency where it JUST becomes pourable".

does it stay white when you melt it?

i use all butter. what I notice when I'm re-activating my cold buttercream, I put it in a stand mixer and aim a torch at it to melt it slightly, then re-whip it until it becomes white again.

I like that term "re-activate"! It sounds so science fiction-y.

"Captain! We're under attack! Firing photon torpedoes and re-activating buttercream!"

Sorry. Couldn't resist.

Anyway, the melted-uh, er, softened buttercream is a bit less white, but still acceptable. It also depends on how white it is to start with......if you use all butter, it will be less white, and if it's a non-meringue buttercream it will be less white. One of the advantages of an all butter meringue buttercream as opposed to an all butter simple buttercream is that it's whiter.

besides, that's the only buttercream i've used for that method (and i like the results) and i don't think it is any harder to make than any other buttercream.

Alana......sometimes without realizing it, my posts originate from a business oriented point of view, rather than a baking point of view. Rising food costs, shelf life, and stability of product influence the decisions I make a lot of the time. If none of those reasons factored into the final picture, I probably would have posted differently. For me, meringue buttercream adds to food cost, takes more time to make (labor cost-ie, separating 128 eggs every other day, etc), and because it must be refrigerated, takes more time for me to soften and re-whip, as opposed to simple buttercream which I can whip once and use it right out of my giant BC Bucket-no refrigeration necessary.

[CanadianBakin']

thanks for your input Annie! I can see it would be pretty messy. I guess it's best saved for pouring over a cake like you would a chocolate glaze.

[JustKay]

Captain Annie, I've detected an object point five light years away.

Coming into visual range. It looks like a messy mass of ..... hang on a minute.... our sensors have identified it as a massive blob of melted simple buttercream!

IMO, this poured buttercream does not substitute for poured fondant. I would say that it is for people who aren't able to make a smooth and perfect buttercream frosting to now effortlessly do so.

And yes, I would not go to the trouble of making a meringue based buttercream if I am going this poured buttercream way, especially when I am already using sugar syrup instead of confectioner's sugar when making the simple buttercream.

If this was discussed previously, I would like to have a link to that thread because I ran a search and came up with nothing.

And yes, the whipped up simple buttercream should be gently and slowly 'melted' just until it reaches pouring consistency. Go overboard just a tad and it will be broken and turn into an oily mass.

Also, my friend said that to go this route, meringue based or egg based buttercream doesn't work as well as just simple buttercream. I have not tried doing it with any egg or meringue based buttercream, so I can't comment from experience.

Edited April 28, 2008 by JustKay (log)

[alanamoana]

IMO, this poured buttercream does not substitute for poured fondant. I would say that it is for people who aren't able to make a smooth and perfect buttercream frosting to now effortlessly do so.

And yes, I would not go to the trouble of making a meringue based buttercream if I am going this poured buttercream way, especially when I am already using sugar syrup instead of confectioner's sugar when making the simple buttercream...

Also, my friend said that to go this route, meringue based or egg based buttercream doesn't work as well as just simple buttercream. I have not tried doing it with any egg or meringue based buttercream, so I can't comment from experience.

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The poured fondant that is usually used for petit fours isn't something I would use to coat an entire cake. That would be rolled fondant and a completely different product with completely different results.

I don't think that glazing with buttercream is effortless. You still need to be able to make perfect cake layers and understand how to do a crumb coat. Then the actual glazing has to be perfect down the sides. Not very easy at all. As a matter of fact, it is easier to ice a cake with a spatula because you can go back and fix things. Once you've glazed the cake, if it is imperfect, you have to scrape everything off and start over again. Not necessarily easy or a time saver.

Again, I've only used Italian meringue buttercream with this process and never had a problem. To be honest, I don't know what simple buttercream is (well, I do now, but I've never made it...doesn't it crust if you use powdered sugar?).

I totally understand what chefpeon is talking about when she mentions labor costs, etc. But, you can use pasteurized egg whites to save in separating eggs and if you already have IMBC around for other uses, you can always use it for glazing and reconstitute it when you need it for something else.

I looked for the old thread with the photo of my cake using this technique, and the picture doesn't work anymore (old imagegullet, I guess). I'll try to post another pic if I can.