Cooking For Engineers

[Michael Chu]

[mrs_hittle]

Sorry for the confusion. This seems to be an issue of semantics, and i was not very clear.

The legal acceptable minimum fat content of both butter and margarine is 80%. Thus, tub margarine (often called vegetable oil spread) is not recommended for baking. From what i understand, the water content in butter is determined by the churning process-- the longer one churns the cream, the less liquid remains in the butter. Margarine, as i understand, often has water added as a fat-reducing trick. Some stick margarines do have fat contents lower than 80% (some have 60%), which is why it's important to check the label. i believe those less than 80% will be clearly labeled as such, since 80% is the minimum in order to legally call a product margarine.

That all being said, i don't use margarine, so someone with more experience using it in baking might be able to further clarify this. Thanks for pointing out my inadvertent error. :-)

[dluttmann]

I made a buttercream frosting with powdered sugar, sweet butter, vanilla and salt (per recipe). Now it tastes to salty, next time I will omit the salt, but is there anyway you can fix it?

[snowgypsy]

I've always used margarine in baking; saying it's not generally recommended is not true (most recipes tend to call for butter or margarine). That doesn't mean it's a good idea, though, simply from a health standpoint. Not that my mom knew that back when she was teaching me to cook and avoiding butter because it was supposedly bad for you and using the "better" no-cholesterol margarine. Ugh.

But the texture and taste have always come out fine. Even in some candy-making situations. And even when using cheap store brands (I know from my poor days in college). Though tubs and/or low fat sticks/spreads are always said to be a no-no since they aren't likely to get the job done.

I've never had a recipe fail me, and I'm considered quite good in my own circle. My mom's legendary! So I think I can speak with some authority on this subject. Not that it matters, since I'm abandoning margarine use due to the whole trans fat deal, anyway.

Too bad; I made a mean margarine-based faux buttercream frosting, too (even better than Mom's, which rocked). Nobody ever scraped globs of it to the side in my house; my kids sometimes eat only that part of a cake, and us grown-up kids still fight over who gets to lick the beaters. Or we did. *sigh* Makes me wonder how much better it could possibly be with eggs. And real butter, of course.

[Missouri girl]

I know the question was posted in 2006. I just ran across it today and thought I'd post the recipe I have for Fluff Frosting that sounds similar to the milk and flour version the anonymous reader asked about:

Fluff Frosting
1c milk
1/4c flour
1tsp. vanilla
1c sugar
1/2c butter
1/2c shortening

In a small saucepan, cook flour and milk until thinck. Stir well. Cover and set aside to cool.

In a bowl, beat sugar, butter and shortening at high speed until fluffy. Add the milk mixture and vanilla. Beat until frosing is very fluffy.

On another topic-
I had a wonderful French Buttercream on a cake at a party today. I found this buttercream recipe in my search to find the same type of buttercream. From conversation with the creator of the delicious dessert, I know it had egg in it. It was so creamy and smooth and so very tasty. I hope to duplicate it for my son's birthday in a couple of months.

Thanks for the website!

[Alissa Ann]

I made this recipe and it had almost no flavor but butter, I like butter but with this I might as well have took room temperature butter and spread it on my cake.

[MyHusbandIsAnEngineer]

What a wonderful site for my engineer husband! He hates it when we try to cook together, because I put in a pinch and a dash, and he is very precise when he cooks. He will love this site because the recipes actually have metric conversions! The butter cream frosting with egg yolks looks very tasty-I think I'll ask him to make it! And, while there are lots of chances to catch Salmonella from raw chickens, it is very unusual to catch it from eggs. Follow the #1 rule of food-if it stinks, don't eat it (an especially good thing to remember with fish and milk).

[Guest]

Michael Chu: I tried the recipe the first time and it turned out fantastic. Perfectly creamy and not too sickly sweet. I simply did exactly as you had suggested and took my time and it turned out great ( no fancy mixer either just a cheapie hand blender). I am glad that you had checked some culinary school books about the different kinds of buttercream. It all depends on where you are. Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, France, etc. I feel that if Spacial was so adamant about his/her recipes then perhaps he/she should have put them on there or placed a link to one.
Great recipe, and no I wouldn't try the Swiss one, real pain in the keester for my taste!!!

[Susan]

With this buttercream, how long can I keep a cake (out of the fridge, that is), say in 24 degree C weather, like today is (in sunny London!). I need to car travel with it for a gathering - will it slip and slide? Help!!

[Dilbert]

Susan -

when it gets to 34'C, you're in trouble . . .

but 24 should be good for several hours.

[Susan]

Dilbert

Thanks - it seems I may have to resort to regular buttercream frosting then, since this cake is being made on a Saturday for a Sunday event. I was hoping someone would say it could last for the following day at least.

[Dilbert]

uhhhhh, not sure I understood the question correctly!

the cake, at a cool temp will do fine for days.

I thought your concern was traveling in a car for 'a spell' in 24'C temp.
that is, the buttercream warming up and turning to soup.....

[Susan]

Thanks Dilbert! You have answered both concerns now, so I will give it a try.

[Guest]

To the person who posted in December about no longer using margarine I hope you look here still. The top quality margarines have little to no trans fats and are actually healthier then butter in many cases. It is the low quality stuff you have to watch. Bacel is especially good if it is available in your area.

[Brit]

THIS WAS THE WORST BUTTERCREAM I HAVE EVER MADE. IT TASTED EXTREAMLY EXTREAMLY BUTTERY. I TOO SHOULD HAVE JUST TOOK 4 STICKS OF BUTTER AND SMEARED THEM ON MY CAKE. THIS RECIPE IS NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO GOOOOOD. MY MOTHER AND I WERE BOTH GROSSED OUT. ALSO IT IS JUST AS YELLOW AS THE PICTURE SHOWN. I JUST ASSUMED IT WOULD GET LIGHTER, BUT WE ALL KNOW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN PEOPLE ASSUME. IF YOU LIKE BUTTER FROSTING THEN MAKE IT, BUT IF YOU WANT SWEET FROSTING LOOK ELSEWHERE. THIS IS MY FAMILY AND MY PERSONAL OPINION BUT THERE ARE SEVERAL OF US TASTING THIS MONSTROUSITY. YUCK YUCK GROSS GROSS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I JUST WASTED 4 EGG AND 4 STICKS OF BUTTER AND 1 CUP OF SUGAR AND VANILLA AND SALT MISTAKE DEFINETLY LEARNED. LOL YIKES!!!!