[Sca-cooks] OOP-Buttercream Frosting

[Martha Oser]

Greetings once again! 

A question for those with experience...  I'm working on a wedding cake for a 
dear friend and we were discussing frosting options, so I gave the 
traditional, meringue-based buttercream a couple of tries. 

Alton Brown's recipe, wich has dark corn syrup and whole eggs in it, came 
out kind of caramel-colored and very, very soft.  It melted even in a 
60-degree or so kitchen.  Not a good thing for an outdoor wedding in July!  
I think perhaps I didn't cook the corn syrup/sugar mixture long enough 
before adding it to the eggs. 

Next, I tried a more traditional recipe with plain sugar syrup and just 
beaten egg whites.  This one turned out much better - very firm when 
refrigerated, but softens nicely for frosting purposes.  However, even with 
the addition of orange juice concentrate and orange zest (this sample cake 
was an orange-chocolate combination, just for fun), it is rather like eating 
a slightly orange-flavored stick of butter.  Neither the bride nor I were 
thrilled with it, and even when soft and whipped, it didn't look like the 
pictures in the book I was working from. 

Anyone have any great buttercream recipes?  Any tips on technique or method 
that might help me out?  At this point, the bride is voting for the more 
standard butter and/or crisco with powdered sugar, vanilla and milk 
frosting.  I don't have a problem with that, but I'm curious about this 
buttercream thing... 

Thanks! 

 -Helena