Why not stork for buttercream?

[Brownowlahi]

Hi, I've not been on this site before and was just reading through some of the previous posts. I've noticed you all seem to use real butter rather than stork for buttercream. Can I ask why. Is it just personal preference, or is there another reason? I always use stork and it tastes ok to me. :)

Because it would technically be 'vegetable-oil-spread-cream' rather than buttercream .

Personally I think Stork, well any margarine really, is vile when it's not cooked so while I bake with it, I'd never, ever use it for icing.

I wont even have it in the house. Mucky stuff.

We have it in our house - the Stork with the gold wrapper. Cos' then we can bake lots of goodies for my dairy-free child. So it's not mucky in our home but essential grocery purchase.
But I wouldn't make buttercream with it.

I thought the gold wrapper was the pastry version. Can you use it for sponge cakes too, Pancakeflipper? And do you use it instead of ordinary Stork or do you have to use a different recipe? I've been asked to make dairy-free cakes a couple of times but haven't found a recipe that works as well as a bog-standard Victoria sponge. If you could make a straight swap with the Stork it would be so much easier.

We don't like it, I prefer to use real food ingredients only though I have been known to use it as a cheaper option for school fetes etc etc and had no complaints

I think you win the prize for the dimmest question I have seen asked on mumsnet.

Basically the clue is in the name - buttercream. Stork is excellent for baking in cakes, but tastes utterly vile on cakes. It is nasty and unless there are health reasons why you wouldn't use butter as in Pancakeflipper's case it comes across and stingy and cheapskate.

Because it's vile. And therefore the icing would taste vile. I use it to bake with though, it's good enough for Mary Berry. Using real butter would make baking too expensive for me so I only use it for biscuits and flapjacks.

Oh, and hello and welcome :)

Harsh first line in your response Bunbaker.

But YY to stork for baking if you must but not for buttercream

Blimey, Bunbaker. Way to go on making a newbie feel welcome.

I bake with Stork because it's cheap and makes lovely light cakes. If I used butter in the cakes it would really push up the cost because 1kg of Stork is a fraction of the equivalent amount of butter, even Basics butter.

Stork is vile!!!

I can't use butter as have dairy free children but I use m&s dairy free sunflower spread which does fine margarine/buttercream. I'd take margarine over stork any day!!!

I like half stork half butter in sponge as I think it makes them lighter. But in icing? Urgh, sorry.

And like others I use Stork to save money.

Butter tastes nicer. Also Stork is full of mank.

I have been known to bake with Flora but only in a big cupcake emergency. And never use it for buttercream, yucky.

I often cook with stork, but when I used it as buttercream for my dds dairy free friend, we thought it tasted horrible, so now I use butter for butter icing and water icing for dds friend

Wheresmycaffeinedrip, I'm confused. Why is Stork so bad and the M&S version better? I'm not trying to be difficult, I'd genuinely like to know if there's a good dairy-free equivalent that still produces perfect cakes.

From what I can see, the ingredients are pretty much identical, just in very slightly different proportions. Does that make an enormous difference?

Ingredients of ordinary Stork: Vegetable oils, Water, Salt(2.25%), Buttermilk, Emulsifier (Mono- and di-glycerides of fatty acids), Preservative (Potassium sorbate), Citric acid, Flavouring, Vitamin E, Colour (Beta carotene), Vitamins A and D

Ingredients of Gold Stork: Vegetable Oils, water, salt (2.3%), emulsifier: mono- and di-glycerides of fatty acids, Flavourings, Vitamin E, Colour: beta-carotene, Vitamins A & D, Citric Acid,

Ingredients of M&S Dairy-free Sunflower spread: Water, Sunflower Oil (22%), Vegetable Oils (Palm & Linseed), Salt (1.4%), Stabiliser: E401, Vegetable Fibre, Emulsifier (E471), Citric Acid, Natural Colour (Mixed Carotenes), Natural Flavouring, Vitamins A & D

I'm another that uses Stork when I cook for school bake sales. But also, not in butter cream. And not when I cook for me/my family/friends.
But yes, Mary Berry says it's ok. And The Lovely Michel Roux Jr said he preferred the stork viccy sponge over the buttery one in a blind taste test (with MaryB).

i'm such a plonk, I'd not actually realised that Stork is dairy-free

Obviously the ordinary Stork has buttercream in which stops it being dairy-free (I'm not that dim, honest!) but I can't see any difference between the dairy-free versions.

ForYoueEyesYoni, the Stork in the yellow tub isn't dairy-free!

I don't know it just is :o. I bought the block stork after people on here raved about it and I didn't like the result at all.

I went back to the m&s stuff also bought after a recommendation as I preferred it and it tasted ok in icing.

It's like anything I guess, all butter , or all sunflower margarine is the same but we all prefer a particular brand. :) me I'm a flora girl

The yellow tub isn't dairy free, but it is very low, and so dd's friend's mum said that she uses it for cakes for her ds and he is fine, so that is why I used it. (and yes I did double check!)

Fair enough! I wondered if there was some big difference I hadn't spotted. Maybe I'll experiment with all 3 types and conduct a strict scientific analysis of the results.

::any excuse to eat cake emoticon::

All in the name if science hey :o

Absolutely!

Self-sacrificing, that's me.