There has been a debate for years over the difference between frosting and true buttercream Hopefully this will
help you a little.
Whenever customers come into our pastry shop for the first time, we like to tell our philosophy about baking and
all about our desserts. We almost always lead with explaining the fact that our cakes are made with real buttercream not frosting. Many bakeries and pastry shops call what they put on the outside of their cakes buttercream, but in reality it is frosting. There is nothing wrong with frosting, which tends to be denser and sweeter; in fact we make a lemon white chocolate frosting for the icing on our lemon pound cake loaf. The truth is a real buttercream should taste rich, like….like…BUTTER!
We explain that our cakes need to be refrigerated, but they are meant to be enjoyed at room temperature, so they require little extra care, but it is well worth it. Many times when we tell our first time customers to leave the cakes out at room temperature for at least 4 to 5 hours before serving, the initial response is, “Are they frozen?”
We explain that because we use a true buttercream our cakes need to be refrigerated, but the mouth feel and
flavor is so much better when the cake and buttercream are at room temperature. The best analogy we give is
using cold butter versus room temperature butter on your bread. Most would agree that the room temperature is preferred.
I remember giving a new customer our “care for your cake” instructions and she had a certain look that said, You lost me at hello.” She came in a few weeks later, admitting that she really was not listening to my instructions, but she was trying to be polite. She said, “The cake was good cold, but OH BOY was it awesome when it was at room temperature.”
Buttercream is less sweet than frosting and is made with 100% butter instead of using shortening or margarine.
Our buttercream is made with an Italian meringue, which is cooked sugar and egg whites then we add some creamy butter and pure vanilla extract, which gives this buttercream a rich tasting, but light on the palette finish.
An Italian buttercream is relatively simple to make with five basic ingredients. Be on the lookout for instructional
video.
Sweet Jazmines Pastry Shop 
I love the italian meringue buttercream! Could you give us a suggestion for a vanilla poundcake recipe that would go well with that?
I love making italian meringue buttercream too! It is one of my favorite processes …. and i love the way it tastes! Your icing is the best 🙂
This is long overdue reply, but thank you for your comments. I am glad that you enjoy our buttercream. It takes a little more care than frosting because you have to refrigerate it, but you want to enjoy it at room temperature. I feel it is well worth the wait.