Great post! I made this type of meringue butter cream once, but it melted as I was piping it. Very messy. Will adding a little shortening as suggested in the article help? Yes, the shortening is of great help when it comes to having the frosting hold itself together and its shape; you can always refrigerate buttercream that's very soft for 15 minutes to make it behave better. Also, if you're frosting a cake, it's always a good idea to have the layers chilled if not frozen; if the cake is too hot, you can run into the trouble you describe. And it's also quite possible that you just have nice, warm hands. Mine are more toward the ice cube end of the spectrum. Susan

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