I’m planning to cover the cake in SMB, but I want the best frosting for these two applications.
what is the best between American and SMB for piping and smoothing a flat image like the dog?
what is the best between American and SMB for vintage style cake piped details like shell borders, ruffles, etc. (looking for best frosting to hold crisp details of piping)
thank you so much!
by EloiseTheElephante
4 Comments
Besides preference of taste, I think the main determining factor is what do you have the most experience with/feel most comfortable doing? I use a modified American buttercream recipe that works perfectly for me, but I also know countless other decorators who create flawless cakes in SMBC. If you’re mixing them right, there’s really no visual difference between the two. SMBC seemingly comes out of the bowl smoother, but I’ve seen some people have problems with it being too runny to pipe with or the buttercream breaking/curdling in the process. ABC has less of a learning curve, but some people consider it too sweet and it can have more air bubbles when frosting and piping if not blended/emulsified well. I personally think ABC is easier to “fix” if things go sideways, but that’s also because I work with it pretty much every day so I’m biased haha. Good luck with whatever you choose!
That dog looks more like a flooded royal icing runout to me. Doubt it would look just like that in any buttercream but maybe you just want similar.
That could be done relatively easily with a buttercream transfer. I’ve done them with regular American buttercream, but one of the meringues can be smoother.
Just make a reverse image of what you want, put parchment over it, pipe it, freeze it, and then plop it on the cake and peel away. It’ll be pretty smooth and a heck of a lot easier than trying to pipe directly on the cake.
Either buttercream will work!
Easiest way for me to get flat images like this is to print/draw the image in the correct size (if orientation matters, mirrored because you’ll flip it over), then lay plastic wrap or parchment over the image. Trace the image with a piping tip, fill in and smooth as best you can. Freeze the image on the paper, then you can peel it off and place it on the cake flipped so the smooth down-side is on top.
Pipe on the edging/details, and you’re good-to-go!
Frozen buttercream softens FAST, so you have to work quickly and carefully when you bring it out of the freezer, but it’ll look way better than trying to smooth with a palette knife directly on the cake. At least for my palette skills 😂