Italian Meringue Buttercream

I have a task to accomplish next week which is to make a birthday cake and cuppies in which the celebration will be held at the beach. Meaning no refrigeration and will be hot if it doesn't rain. I have scrap the idea of using fondant for the decor because of the weather and had to choose to do something which can withstand the long hours outdoor. So I finally decided on Italian Meringue Buttercream due to it's heat resistance and also taste. Well I think I still prefer whipped cream but don't want the uncertainty of melted cake *LOL*

Initially it was quite daunting. The mix was really soupy after I added the butter and never came together. Then I used one of the tip by an online member at the forum that I frequent and voila !! It came together !!

After it was done, I left the cream outside for about 3hrs before I tint it and piped on the cuppies I made. It still holds the shape although the mixture looked a little limp. Taste wise, creamy and smooth despite the amount of butter being used and of course, no grainy gritty texutre. I love it lots.

Using frosting/icing sheets on fondants

Most of the time, I use frosting/icing sheet on cream cakes because that is what I do most of the time. I hardly do fondant cakes because not many people like eating fondant especially kids. However, I got my first experience covering big cakes with fondant last year for my brother's engagement. It was an extremely simple cake and I used a shortcut to get this outcome *LOL* Before anyone gets excited, the flowers were store bought .. hurhur

Back to the topic, my initial plan was to use fondant for the strips but due to lack of time, I cheated using frosting sheet. I printed out the design that I want cut it based on the diameter of the cake and have it pasted on the cake. This includes the picture of my future sister in law.

This method is nothing new really. But for everyone's benefit, I did a simple step-by-step photos on how to stick the sheets to the fondant.

1. Prepare your cake and the sheet that you will be using. Here I used a small strip of colorful stripes

2. Brush the area which you want to paste the sheet with water. Have a small brush ready to touch it up after pasting it

3. Gently paste the icing sheet on the cake. Use a small brush to touch the corners that are not glued nicely to the cake

4. The end product !

Happy trying !!