what is going to happen to my icing?

[rileyandfredsmom]

So, I was making cupcakes tonight and used the last of my unsalted butter in the cupcakes so when it was time to make the cream cheese icing, I didn't have any so I substituted margarine. :o It tastes OK right now but is it going to do something weird and seperate tonight or something else equally as horrid.

I mean, they are just for DH and me so it won't be the end of the world if the icing doesn't hold until tomorrow (we ice the cupcakes as we eat them instead of pre-icing all of them) but I'm curious as to what might happen, if anything.

[laura]

Hmm, I don't think anything will happen to them outside of tasting different. It is even less likely anything will happen since you "ice as you go" so you can stir the icing before frosting each time. I wouldn't worry about it if you think the flavor is fine.

[rileyandfredsmom]

thanks Laura - I was just doing some research on the differences between salted/unsalted and margarine and I think I will be fine....I'll update if anything weird happens!

Learning to cook and bake from scratch has been my New Year's resolution and I try to keep the kitchen stocked with basics so I can do little things like make cupcakes from scratch on a Thursday night without any real planning but I tend to panic if I have to substitute! :rolleyes:

[laura]

I have always used butter/margarine and salted/unsalted pretty interchangeably (ie. if I don't have what's called for, I just use what I have). I know there are some instances where butter vs. margarine will give a different consistency, but I don't think that is the case for something basic like icing, or cupcakes. And my assistant is vegan and he substitutes margarine for butter all the time w/ no issues.

:)

[jenjunum]

I used margarine all growing up to make frosting without issues. Now I use butter because it tastes better but I think margarine would be fine. Especially since icing is kind of a to taste kind of thing and not as scientific as baking.

[karlatta]

I made icing with margarine the other day, and it didn't set up right. It was a fudge chocolate icing. I'd say that if yours is the right consistency, you're probably fine.

[jesvet]

How did it turn out?

[rileyandfredsmom]

Jesvet - there were absolutely NO issues. The icing was fine, DH, who doesn't have the most delicate of palletes, couldn't tell the difference. I made a chocolate cake for V-Day and used the same icing but made it with unsalted butter and I could tell a little bit of difference but not significant.

So, there you have it folks, unsalted/salted/margarine, all interchangeable as long as you don't have a delicate palette! :D

[jesvet]

Exxxxxcellent! [/Mr Burns voice]

Thanks for the update! :D