Magazine vs. butter

[Morebounceperounce]

I've just started a baking course and the lady who runs it uses Stork for all her cakes and buttercream. I've always.used butter for the flavour and as i'm a bit wary of 'fake' fats but the stork cakes are so much lighter! And the flavoured buttercream has a lighter texture and tastes fine.

Have i been missing out and do i need to get over my fake fats phobia?

Lol at magazine.

I would just use butter - yuk to fake fats especially in buttercream.

No.
Bugger the marge.

I'd say butter on flavour, but if you find you prefer it, then use it!

Margarine for cake baking, butter for icing - apparently that's what Mary Berry does as well!

I use a mixture of stork and butter for cakes (but would never make butter icing with anything other than butter, how vile). I use a mix of trex and butter for pastry.
Butter only on toast (unless you are my freakish children who like to spread stork on bread )

Apparently the high water content of Stork creates steam and makes a lighter sponge.

I really am this interesting in RL.

Ffs, stupid autocorrect, although a magazine is probably lower fat!

Glad I'm not on my own on this but, as this lady is a professional cake maker, it makes me wonder what you're paying for when you pay £30 for 20 cupcakes.

ohfor that is really interesting! The appliance of science and all that.

I always use soft marge in my sponges - it gives a much lighter texture and a longer shelf life which is important if you need a couple of days to decorate it and then it has a couple of days with a client after you've delivered it. I use swiss meringue buttercream for client orders so have to use butter for that anyway; for home cakes we have stork + icing sugar. When I take cakes into work I always get lots of comments on my "lovely fluffy icing" and am asked how I make it.
I think it's one of those things that people are snobby about but actually like it when they don't realise what they're eating

as this lady is a professional cake maker, it makes me wonder what you're paying for when you pay £30 for 20 cupcakes.

Her time in making them and for her to make a living out of it. I suggest you try making a living out of cake decorating; you'd be back to your paid work very quickly as people seem to expect the earth for very little

Although having said that I wouldn't use stork icing on customer cupcakes.

I recently converted to stork for victoria sandwiches....they have never been better!

but always always proper butter for icing.

And have you made 20 cupcakes, the icing, the tins, the papers, and spent the time making, icing and presenting them recently??

What is swiss meringue buttercream???

I always remember Stork being the 'thing' back in the days when I did A-level cookery

yes another one asking what is swiss meringue buttercream

I use butter in my baking but no worries about shelf life, they are gone as soon as the little tykes can hoover 'em up

Ive always used marg for baking...... but butter for icing and pastry. I cant tell the difference in cakes but then I like pot noodles too so I think my palate is a bit crap

cor google power

What a great blog, random, there are some brilliant looking cakes there.

ugh my mum uses marg for cakes and for "butter"cream and I always feel a bit icky after eating them.

I always use butter myself for all my baking. Interesting about the lighter sponge tho!

Brought up on Stork for everything baking related. I use it for cakes, but butter for biscuits, fridge cakes and icing (ie where you really need the taste or some crumble or it to set hard)

That's the recipe I use :) it's very good and has never failed me. I heat the egg whites up a bit hotter than Sweetapolita and don't have the splitting problem she has

I am with the woman to a good extent - butter is v.heavy and I agree sponges are normally lighter when made with marg. I use butter when it adds structure (e.g. truffles) or flavour (Madeira cake/ pastry).

Not sure about buttercream though. Would prob choose a 'fake' butter over Stork as find flavour of latter a bit greasy, but again the consistency is better than butter.

Arse - have just scanned up thread and have repeated everything Germs just said.

OhdearNigel, you are officially my cake guru :) What temperature do you heat the egg whites to?

There's a difference between Stork in a tub and block Stork. Block stork is dairy free for a start, so handy if you need a dairy/lactose free sponge.

I use block stork for some of my sponges, unless you know there really isn't much if any taste difference and I use butter for rish cakes like chocolate cakes that don't need to be carved. Shelf life of all my cakes is 7 days plus. I use butter for biscuits too.

I use butter for buttercream though and tbh, call me an old misery, but if someone is making/selling cakes professionally then they shouldn't be using stork in buttercream unless they are calling it 'filling cream' or something.

Wem, I heat it until the whites feel hot to the hand rather than blood temperature.