I have been asked for a chocolate cake which I will use your Bruce chocolate cake recipe
(always a success!) but wanted to swap out the chocolate ganache outside for a white chocolate SMBC as I need to decorate it with a train.
Do you think this is possible? I was trying to see in your posts if you had a chocolate SMBC to try, I also know that white chocolate does not always act in the same way. Any advice on this would be amazing.
Hi, I'm so sorry I missed this! I'd start with the base SMBC recipe with but with the ratio of 1:2:4 and add about 20% of the total weight in white chocolate and see how it tastes, I'd also add a decent amount of salt to counteract the sweetness
Sophie, as always, a delightfully written and informative article!
When talking temperature... What about air temperature? Up to about what air temperature would you ice cakes and cupcakes using smbc and what would you use when the temperature goes above that recommended temp?
When it comes to room temperature, about average room temperature is ideal 18°C-21°C (64°F-70°F) but obviously a lot of the time room temperature is out of our control. The best you can do is to control the temperature of your buttercream and cakes, if I'm working in a very cold kitchen (which is often for me), I will use slightly warmer buttercream to cover cakes so that I have more time to work with it. If I'm in a very warm kitchen, I'll make sure that my cake layers are chilled before stacking them (you can always freeze them before stacking) and that my buttercream isn't getting too warm and sloppy. If everything is getting too warm, I'll just put everything in the fridge for 30 minutes before continuing to decorate. You will need to re-whip the buttercream after chilling though.
As long as it isn’t sitting right in the sun for hours and hours it should be ok. I would take it out of the fridge a few hours before serving and make sure it isn’t in direct sunlight. If I was making a cake that needed to sit out for a long time I would fill it with buttercream but coat it with a really firm ganache
I've been looking everywhere for a good SMBC ratio for adding nut butter or praline paste. Looking forward to trying the 1:2:4 ratio you mentioned.
My standard SMBC is 1: 1.6: 2.1 (30 white/50 sugar/65 butter). I tend to add a lot more flavour to my SMBC than most recipes I see online, but find anything more than about 10% hazelnut praline/paste makes it way too soft. I'd like to add 15-20% which is the standard amount I add for things like caramel, chocolate, curd.
I always thought it was the extra fat from the nuts was the problem? Do you know why increasing the butter ratio would allow me to add praline and it still be stable as in my mind its a double whammy of extra fat? I always like to have a decent understanding of the science so I can apply it to other things. Also, have you found it make a difference using praline vs pure paste other than a different flavour profile/sweetness?
Hi! I find that when adding pralines to buttercream it’s less about overall fat and more about the solid fat to liquid fat ratios. So you need enough butter to suspend the liquid fats without the buttercream becoming sloppy.
You can also try adding other solid fats like cocoa butter if you don’t want as much fat overall. Cocoa butter is good because it sets totally solid so you don’t need quite as much in order to get a firm set, I’ve actually been meaning to do a cocoa butter post as I use it quite a bit but I know it’s not something most people have in their kitchen.
In terms of praline vs nut butter, I don’t think it has much effect on the stability, just the flavour. I like the caramely flavour from the praline but I sometimes use caramelised sugar in the buttercream so I don’t have to add extra sugar. I’ll cover this in the Italian meringue buttercream deep dive!
Hope this all makes sense, sorry for such a long response 😅
Thanks so much for taking the time to respond. I hadn't even considered solid vs liquid fats, and cocoa butter never even crossed my mind. Looking forward to the Italian Meringue article.
My buttercream tends to have lots of air holes in it, doesn’t look as smooth as yours. Whats that due to?
Perfect timing on this post btw! Last night my buttercream curdled for the first time because i had it in the fridge but i did bain marie + blow torch to the bowl and it went back to normal!!
Oh I forgot about the blow torch method! Need to add that to this post. My blow torch is broken to I totally forgot about it! The big air bubbles will just be due to temperature, if it’s a little warmer it will be smoother but I don’t mind bigger air bubbles for filling cakes!
I just came here to say that a kitchen torch works great for fixing a split SMBC. Also thanks for the suggestion of storing in a freezer bag. I never would have thought of that myself, but it makes so much sense and will free up much needed real estate in my freezer.
Yes freezer real estate is always short! I honestly can’t believe I forgot about the blow torch method. I haven’t been using mine much because the handle periodically sets on fire. Definitely need to invest in a new one 😂
Thank you for this post,
I have been asked for a chocolate cake which I will use your Bruce chocolate cake recipe
(always a success!) but wanted to swap out the chocolate ganache outside for a white chocolate SMBC as I need to decorate it with a train.
Do you think this is possible? I was trying to see in your posts if you had a chocolate SMBC to try, I also know that white chocolate does not always act in the same way. Any advice on this would be amazing.
Thank you x
Okay thank you! And no worries, I feel like I have sent you so many questions so I can understand if some get missed!
Hi, I'm so sorry I missed this! I'd start with the base SMBC recipe with but with the ratio of 1:2:4 and add about 20% of the total weight in white chocolate and see how it tastes, I'd also add a decent amount of salt to counteract the sweetness
Sophie, as always, a delightfully written and informative article!
When talking temperature... What about air temperature? Up to about what air temperature would you ice cakes and cupcakes using smbc and what would you use when the temperature goes above that recommended temp?
Thank you!
When it comes to room temperature, about average room temperature is ideal 18°C-21°C (64°F-70°F) but obviously a lot of the time room temperature is out of our control. The best you can do is to control the temperature of your buttercream and cakes, if I'm working in a very cold kitchen (which is often for me), I will use slightly warmer buttercream to cover cakes so that I have more time to work with it. If I'm in a very warm kitchen, I'll make sure that my cake layers are chilled before stacking them (you can always freeze them before stacking) and that my buttercream isn't getting too warm and sloppy. If everything is getting too warm, I'll just put everything in the fridge for 30 minutes before continuing to decorate. You will need to re-whip the buttercream after chilling though.
Sorry, i should have specified for serving....
Oh I see, you should eat it at room temperature. I usually store it in the fridge and remove it a few hours before serving
Yes, agreed, much better at room temperature! But you wouldn't serve it on a hot summer day, or does it hold up ok in the heat?
As long as it isn’t sitting right in the sun for hours and hours it should be ok. I would take it out of the fridge a few hours before serving and make sure it isn’t in direct sunlight. If I was making a cake that needed to sit out for a long time I would fill it with buttercream but coat it with a really firm ganache
I've been looking everywhere for a good SMBC ratio for adding nut butter or praline paste. Looking forward to trying the 1:2:4 ratio you mentioned.
My standard SMBC is 1: 1.6: 2.1 (30 white/50 sugar/65 butter). I tend to add a lot more flavour to my SMBC than most recipes I see online, but find anything more than about 10% hazelnut praline/paste makes it way too soft. I'd like to add 15-20% which is the standard amount I add for things like caramel, chocolate, curd.
I always thought it was the extra fat from the nuts was the problem? Do you know why increasing the butter ratio would allow me to add praline and it still be stable as in my mind its a double whammy of extra fat? I always like to have a decent understanding of the science so I can apply it to other things. Also, have you found it make a difference using praline vs pure paste other than a different flavour profile/sweetness?
Hi! I find that when adding pralines to buttercream it’s less about overall fat and more about the solid fat to liquid fat ratios. So you need enough butter to suspend the liquid fats without the buttercream becoming sloppy.
You can also try adding other solid fats like cocoa butter if you don’t want as much fat overall. Cocoa butter is good because it sets totally solid so you don’t need quite as much in order to get a firm set, I’ve actually been meaning to do a cocoa butter post as I use it quite a bit but I know it’s not something most people have in their kitchen.
In terms of praline vs nut butter, I don’t think it has much effect on the stability, just the flavour. I like the caramely flavour from the praline but I sometimes use caramelised sugar in the buttercream so I don’t have to add extra sugar. I’ll cover this in the Italian meringue buttercream deep dive!
Hope this all makes sense, sorry for such a long response 😅
Thanks so much for taking the time to respond. I hadn't even considered solid vs liquid fats, and cocoa butter never even crossed my mind. Looking forward to the Italian Meringue article.
Great article and timely as I made my first attempt at SMBC last week and had some of these problems - thank you!
Although ‘150 egg whites’ did make me chuckle!
Omg 🤦🏻♀️ I always miss something
😂 It always feels like about 150 when you have to figure out what to do with the yolks!
My buttercream tends to have lots of air holes in it, doesn’t look as smooth as yours. Whats that due to?
Perfect timing on this post btw! Last night my buttercream curdled for the first time because i had it in the fridge but i did bain marie + blow torch to the bowl and it went back to normal!!
Oh I forgot about the blow torch method! Need to add that to this post. My blow torch is broken to I totally forgot about it! The big air bubbles will just be due to temperature, if it’s a little warmer it will be smoother but I don’t mind bigger air bubbles for filling cakes!
I just came here to say that a kitchen torch works great for fixing a split SMBC. Also thanks for the suggestion of storing in a freezer bag. I never would have thought of that myself, but it makes so much sense and will free up much needed real estate in my freezer.
Yes freezer real estate is always short! I honestly can’t believe I forgot about the blow torch method. I haven’t been using mine much because the handle periodically sets on fire. Definitely need to invest in a new one 😂
I jumped the gun and asked my q before finishing the article 😂 classic im sorry. Thank you, ill try your tips for the outside of cakes!